Shared Visions Foundation Inc.

Shared Visions Foundation Inc. is a small, founder-led family foundation ($7.66M in current assets, roughly $4.48M as of its FY2022 990-PF) that operates on a fundamentally different model than most grantmakers: it does not accept unsolicited proposals. Its own website states grants are awarded 'through its own initiative' — the foundation's board, led by founder Jay Miller (recorded in IRS filings as Jesse Miller III, President), Secretary Ebeth Scott-Sinclair, and directors Lindsey Head and Gary Gaddy, actively identifies and approaches organizations rather than reviewing applications. All board members serve without compensation, underscoring this is a hands-on, personally-driven philanthropy rather than a staffed institution. For grant seekers, this means the traditional LOI-to-full-proposal pipeline does not apply here. The realistic path in is relational: the foundation's grantee list (126 tracked grants, 120 of them to NC organizations) skews heavily toward organizations embedded in the Durham/Orange County nonprofit infrastructure — Club Nova, TROSA, El Futuro, Interfaith Council, UNC School of Social Work, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County — many of which received grants in 3-4 consecutive years, indicating the foundation strongly favors sustained multi-year relationships with a stable roster over one-off awards to new organizations. First-time organizations should not expect a cold application to work; instead, board visibility (via shared civic boards, committees, and sector convenings in Durham/Orange County) and direct outreach to the founder at 919-616-2190 are the documented entry points. Beyond cash grants, Shared Visions also offers 'service grants' — subsidized meeting/event space at its Old Murphey School retreat center and downtown Carrboro offices, plus hands-on advisory support in social entrepreneurship, networking, collaboration, and capacity building. Organizations already known to board members for this kind of consultative relationship are best positioned to eventually be considered for funding. Since 2023 the foundation has also extended limited, financial-only support internationally, a notable departure from its two-decade local focus.

Financial data show steady, disciplined growth rather than large swings. Total assets rose from $2.86M (FY2018) to $4.48M (FY2022) in the 990-PF financial history — a 57% increase over five years — with a more recent asset figure of $7.66M reflecting further growth and/or a fresh valuation. Total giving (which includes both cash grants and the value of in-kind service grants like retreat-center space) grew from $162,307 (FY2018) to $212,557 (FY2022), while cash grants paid alone fluctuated between $53,432 (FY2021) and $83,617 (FY2022) — the gap between 'total giving' and 'grants paid' reflects the value of the foundation's non-cash retreat-space and consulting support. Net investment income has been a major and volatile revenue source, ranging from $131,240 (FY2022) to $355,638 (FY2020), alongside contributions received ranging from $100,000 (FY2021) to $441,000 (FY2019). At the individual-grant level, the foundation's own typical-grant-size data puts the median award at just $1,000 (range $258-$9,100, average $1,670, across 32 tracked grants), and the aggregated grantee database (126 grant line items across roughly four filing years) shows a total of $238,676 distributed at an average of $1,894 per grant. The largest cumulative relationships by total dollars are Club Nova ($37,900 across 4 grants, mental illness support), The Arts Center ($31,504 across 4 grants, arts education), Interfaith Council ($24,103 across 4 grants, basic needs), UNC School of Social Work ($18,000 across 4 grants), and TROSA ($15,300, addiction recovery). Geographically, 120 of 126 tracked grants (95%) went to North Carolina organizations, with small outliers in Kentucky (2, flood relief) and Virginia (4). By program area, mental health/behavioral health and basic human services/homelessness dominate the top-recipient list, with affordable housing (Habitat for Humanity, Freedom House, Community Home Trust) and arts/culture (The Arts Center, Durham Jazz Workshop, Music Maker Relief Foundation) as secondary themes. This is a foundation of small, recurring, relationship-based grants — not a source of large one-time awards.

Shared Visions sits squarely in the middle of this asset-size peer band ($7.2M-$8.1M), all classified under the same Community Development NTEE category but scattered across five different states with no public grant-level data available for direct comparison. What distinguishes Shared Visions within this peer group is transparency and structure: it is one of the few in this band with a public website, a documented (if closed) grantmaking process, and a multi-year public grant history via 990-PF filings — most of these peers disclose no comparable programmatic detail, suggesting Shared Visions is a relatively more visible and locally embedded operator than the typical family foundation at this asset scale.

No independent press coverage of Shared Visions Foundation was found for 2025-2026; search results returned only nonprofit-directory and data-aggregator listings (Cause IQ, Candid, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, GuideStar, Grantmakers.io) rather than local news stories. The foundation's own site confirms an active 2024-2025 local grants cycle — its most recent posted cycle in an archive running back to 2004 — but does not publish specific 2024-2025 recipient names or dollar amounts on the page itself. The most concrete recent development is programmatic rather than a news event: since 2023, the foundation has extended its giving internationally for the first time in its 20+ year history, though explicitly restricted to financial support only, without the capacity-building and space-sharing services it provides locally. Historically, the foundation's most recent 990-PF (FY2021-2022, filed under EIN 56-2254231) reported approximately 48 monetary grants awarded that year, continued operation of the Shared Visions Retreat Center for subsidized nonprofit meeting/event space, ongoing board-level volunteer service and consultation for area nonprofits, and two rental properties operated in partnership with the Community Home Trust to house low-income residents at below-market rates — acquired as a gift in 2020. No leadership changes were identified; the same core leadership (Jay Miller/Jesse Miller III as President, Ebeth Scott-Sinclair as Secretary) appears across the available records. Grant seekers should treat this as a low-visibility, steady-state funder rather than one undergoing rapid change — its activity is consistent and incremental year over year rather than driven by major public announcements.

The single most important fact for any grant seeker: Shared Visions Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. Its website states grants are awarded 'through its own initiative,' meaning the board proactively identifies and approaches organizations rather than running an open RFP or LOI process. Submitting a standard grant application or cold LOI is very unlikely to result in funding — there is no listed application form, portal, or deadline because none exists for outside applicants. The realistic strategy is relationship-first: organizations that have received funding are almost all established players in the Durham/Orange County human-services and mental-health ecosystem (Club Nova, TROSA, El Futuro, Interfaith Council, Community Empowerment Fund, UNC School of Social Work), and many received grants in three or four consecutive years, suggesting the board renews relationships with known, trusted grantees rather than rotating in new ones annually. For an organization not yet on the board's radar, the most productive moves are: (1) build visibility within Durham/Orange County nonprofit networks where board members Jay Miller, Ebeth Scott-Sinclair, Lindsey Head, and Gary Gaddy are active — shared board service, sector coalitions, and community events; (2) make direct, low-pressure contact with founder Jay Miller at 919-616-2190, since the foundation's own site frames him as personally reachable, which is unusual and worth taking at face value; (3) if in Durham or Orange County and working in mental health, disability services, or basic human services, consider using the foundation's discounted meeting/event space at its Old Murphey School retreat center or Carrboro office as a lower-barrier first touchpoint that builds a track record before any funding conversation; (4) do not request support for deficit financing, lobbying, or individuals — all three are explicitly excluded. A common mistake would be treating this like a typical open-call foundation and spending time on a formal written proposal with no invitation; that effort is better spent on visibility and relationship-building within the local nonprofit community the board is already embedded in. Given median grants around $1,000-$1,900, seekers should also calibrate expectations: this is a source of modest, often-renewed support rather than large program grants.