Troon Foundation

The Troon Foundation is a private family philanthropy led entirely by James M. Piermarini (President) and Kathleen H. Piermarini (Treasurer/Secretary), operating from a P.O. Box in Elon, North Carolina — the seat of Alamance County. Founded in February 2012, the foundation grew from $4.1M in assets to nearly $49.1M by FY2024, while scaling annual grantmaking from $35,000 in 2012 to $2.66M in FY2025. Both founders serve without compensation in a hallmark of a lean, values-driven family philanthropy.

This foundation is entirely trustee-directed: there is no public application portal, no open RFP cycle, no published eligibility criteria, and no staff to field inquiries. Grants are awarded through the Piermarinis' personal research, existing relationships, and philanthropic priorities. The application instructions field on record is explicitly blank.

Despite this closed structure, the Piermarinis' giving reveals consistent and legible patterns. They are relationship-first funders: among the top 10 direct grantees, all have received 2–4 grants across multiple years. United Way of Alamance County has accumulated $670,000 across 4 grants; Bon Secours has received $370,755 across 4 grants for medical equipment and NICU improvements; Blue Ridge Area Food Bank received $350,000 across 3 grants for capacity building and headquarters renovation. This longitudinal loyalty signals that the Piermarinis view grantmaking as a sustained partnership, not a transactional one-time gift.

The foundation concentrates in two geographies: Alamance County, NC (where the Piermarinis live) and Virginia — particularly the Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Richmond corridors. Virginia accounts for 62 of 128 tracked grants; North Carolina accounts for 58. A small number of grants reach Ohio, New York, Arizona, and Utah, likely through personal connections.

First-time grantees typically receive $15,000–$40,000, with relationship-deepening grants scaling to $75,000–$200,000+ over 3–4 cycles. The foundation has responded to urgent community needs (COVID relief, Afghan refugee crisis), signaling openness to timely human-services requests from trusted organizations. Capital and program grants both appear in the grantee record, so organizations may present either type of need.

The Troon Foundation has distributed $9,443,943 across 128 tracked grants in available IRS filings, at a database average of $73,781 per grant. The foundation's own 990-reported typical grant metrics show a median of $30,000, with a reported range of $5,000–$1,500,000 and an average of $88,383. The gap between the $30,000 median and $88,383 average is explained by a small cluster of large outlier transfers — notably $3,735,000 in DAF contributions to the Fidelity Charitable Giving Account of James M. and Kathleen H. Piermarini across 4 transactions. These represent the Piermarinis moving capital into their donor-advised fund for subsequent distribution and inflate average grant size metrics. Excluding those DAF transfers, direct charitable grants total approximately $5.7M across ~124 awards, with a mean of roughly $46,000 per direct grant.

Annual grants_paid (as reported on 990 filings) shows clear growth trajectory: - FY2012: $35,000 | FY2013: $142,187 | FY2014: $265,000 | FY2015: $412,400 - FY2019: $1,511,000 | FY2020: $1,357,100 | FY2021: $2,651,500 - FY2022: $2,838,300 | FY2023: $2,597,043 | FY2025: $2,658,520 (43 grants)

By program area (estimated from grantee list analysis): - Human services / social welfare: ~35% (United Way, Christmas Cheer, City Gate Dream Center, Allied Churches) - Healthcare: ~20% (Bon Secours, CancerLinc, Community Clinic, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Yellow Door Foundation) - Food security / hunger: ~15% (Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Feeding America SWVA, Shalom Farms, Episcopal Farm Workers) - Education / youth development: ~12% (Alamance Community College Foundation, Big Brothers & Sisters, Young Musicians of Alamance, Benjamin Hair Swim) - Refugee / immigrant services: ~8% (International Neighbors, Gathering Humanity) - Veterans / disability: ~5% (On Our Own, Tech For Troops, Boots To Suits, Next Move Program) - Other / international: ~5% (Prosami midwife training)

By geography: Virginia ~48% of grants by count (62 of 128), North Carolina ~45% (58 of 128), Ohio ~3% (4 grants), other states ~4%.

The Troon Foundation sits in a mid-range tier of private family foundations with approximately $49M in assets. Its NTEE-matched peers are also classified under Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE T) with similar asset footprints, though most publish far less operational detail than Troon.

Troon Foundation stands out within this peer cohort in two important ways. First, it maintains a functioning public website (troonfoundation.org) with a contact email and phone number — uncommon among family foundations at this asset size, and a meaningful signal of openness to inbound relationship-building. Second, its 990 filings include detailed grant purpose descriptions (e.g., "to fund NICU cameras for 4 sites," "to fund Afghan refugee relief and administration") that provide unusually rich intelligence about giving priorities. Its grantmaking rate of approximately 5.4% of assets exceeds the minimum 5% private foundation payout requirement, and its all-volunteer leadership model (zero officer compensation) maximizes dollars available for charitable distribution.

No press releases, program announcements, or leadership changes were identified for the Troon Foundation in 2025–2026 through public web searches. The foundation maintains an intentionally low profile consistent with its private family philanthropy structure. The most current operational intelligence derives from IRS 990 filings and grant databases.

FY2025 (fiscal year ending June 2025) represents the foundation's most active grantmaking period by grant count: 43 individual awards totaling $2,658,520. This follows 37 awards in FY2024 and 28 awards in FY2023, establishing a clear upward trend in the number of organizations supported — even as total dollar volume has moderated from the FY2022 peak of $3,282,881.

Assets grew from $47.2M (FY2023) to $49.1M (FY2024), supported by $4,867,672 in total revenue. Investment income (dividends and asset sales) continues to provide the majority of operating funds alongside periodic contributions from the Piermarinis — $743,243 received in FY2023 and $315,433 in FY2022.

James M. Piermarini has served as President and Kathleen H. Piermarini as Treasurer/Secretary since the foundation's 2012 founding, with no leadership transitions evident across eight years of available 990 filings. Ongoing multi-year support for refugee resettlement organizations and an emerging cluster of veterans-focused grantees represent the most notable recent shifts in giving emphasis. No new named programs, endowment announcements, or geographic expansions have been publicly documented.

The cardinal rule for Troon Foundation outreach: there is no formal grant application process. Every grant is awarded through personal trustee discretion by James M. and Kathleen H. Piermarini. No portal exists, no LOI template is published, and no deadlines are posted. With that framing, the following strategies represent the highest-probability pathways.

Establish geographic and programmatic fit first. Virginia and North Carolina account for 93% of tracked direct grants. If your organization is not primarily serving Alamance County, NC or one of the Virginia metros (Roanoke, Charlottesville, Richmond), your path to funding is significantly narrower. Ohio has received a handful of grants, likely through personal connections. Lead every outreach communication by anchoring your geographic presence clearly.

Seek a warm introduction. The most effective approach is a referral from an established Troon grantee. United Way of Alamance County ($670,000 in cumulative support), Blue Ridge Area Food Bank ($350,000), Bon Secours ($370,755), International Neighbors ($214,000), and Big Brothers & Sisters ($280,000) all have demonstrated trust with the Piermarinis. If your organization has board overlap, co-programming, or coalition membership with any of these organizations, leverage that connection explicitly.

Send a concise letter of inquiry, not a full proposal. Address the letter to James M. Piermarini, President. Limit it to 1–2 pages covering: organizational background, the specific population served, the program or capital need, a concrete dollar request, and 2–3 measurable outcomes from prior work. Avoid jargon-heavy grant language; the Piermarinis fund because they believe in the mission, not because a proposal scored well on a rubric.

Use outcome-specific language. The 990 grant purpose descriptions reveal what resonates: "to fund NICU cameras for 4 sites," "to fund midwife training," "to fund Afghan refugee relief and administration." Lead with the concrete thing the money will fund — equipment, a position, a specific service expansion — rather than general operating support framing.

Start with a modest ask. First-time grantees cluster around $15,000–$40,000. An appropriately scoped first request signals organizational maturity and dramatically improves the probability of a second, larger grant. The relationship compounds: Prosami received four grants totaling $326,500 starting from modest initial support.

Submit year-round; follow up once. There are no published deadlines. After submitting your LOI by email (contact@troonfoundation.org) or mail (P.O. Box 20, Elon, NC 27244), wait 4–6 weeks, then follow up once by phone at (336) 584-5645. Do not send repeated follow-ups.