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Ayers Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Ayers Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$311k
Granted FY2023
9
Grants FY2023
1
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.

Education$9.9MPhilanthropy$6.8MHealth$4.2MArts & Culture$948kReligion$369kYouth Development$277kFood & Nutrition$203kHuman Services$109kOther$0
02FY2023 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k3 grants · $4k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $107k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $200k
$17,068
Median grant
1
States reached
$9.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY$200,000
LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY - LEADERSHIP TN$28,000
FOUNDATION FOR THE COLLEGE SYSTEM OF TENNESSEE$25,000
FREED-HARDMAN UNIVERSITY$25,000
Individual grant recipient$17,068
SMALL MIRACLES THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER INC$12,000
MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF THE MID-SOUTH$2,000
SECOND HARVEST FOOD$1,723
TENNESSEE CHILDREN'S HOME DONATION$500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–21, $81k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 86% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%RED CROSS: $10k → 14%THE JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN SOCIETY: $5k → 4%THE JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN SOCIETY: $5k → 4%WOMEN'S FUND OF EAST TN: $1k → 12%DOOR OF HOPE: $3k → 17%DOOR OF HOPE: $3k → 17%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $10k → 14%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $5k → 14%FIFTY FORWARD: $13k → 14%FIFTY FORWARD: $10k → 14%FIFTY FORWARD: $10k → 14%FIFTY FORWARD: $3k → 14%FIFTY FORWARD: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $500 → 14%HOPE FOR JUSTICE: $3k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$16M · 55 repeat orgs$619k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

55 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2023, 47 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
52

Total granted

$16M
$617k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+27%

Still filing today

56%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
EducationHealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • BU
    Belmont University
    5× · 2017–2022 · $7.2M · revenue +86%
  • VU
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    4× · 2019–2022 · $701k · revenue +91%
  • LU
    LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2017–2022 · $656k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • HA
    HORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC
    one grant, 2019 · $290k · revenue +2%
  • FB
    FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PARSONS
    one grant, 2022 · $27k
  • EC
    ERLANGER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Nashville Public Radio

Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.

Arts & Culture
2
Methodist Medical Center

Methodist Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

Health
3
Tennessee Hospital Association

The mission of the organization is to lead our members in advocacy for and support of community-based hospitals and health systems and to assist them in delivering accessible, cost-effective, quality health services.

—
4
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
5
Cumberland Medical Center

Cumberland Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health, regardless of the patient's ability to pay.

Health
6
Tennessee Health Care Association

To maintain high standards for nursing homes in the state of tennessee and to seek the solutions to problems common to members of the association.

—
7
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
8
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
9
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
10
Roane County Medical Center

Roane County Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health, regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

Health
11
Ut Medical Group Inc

To be a successful physician led, professionally managed medical practice that benefits our patients and our community, while supporting the UT Health Science Center's mission through clinical excellence, financial responsibility and a…

Health
12
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc; the most unlike its peers is Angel Emms Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

51 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 51 of the 109 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
51/51
Grantees still filing
42/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Belmont University: $7,168,266 · EducationBelmont UniversityHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $289,500 · Education+8 more: $500,200 · Education+8 moreTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $6,551,802 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDD…+3 more: $121,000 · PhilanthropyWEST TN HEALTHCARE: $2,528,667 · OtherWEST TN HEALTHCAREEAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY: $800,000 · OtherEAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITYLIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY: $655,865 · OtherLIPSCOMB UNIVERSITYTENNESSEE STATE COLLABORATIVE ON REFORMING EDUCATI: $410,000 · OtherTENNESSEE STATE COLLABORATIVE O…TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM: $400,000 · OtherTENNESSEE STATE MUSEUMHERMITAGE FOUNDATION: $300,000 · Other+61 more: $1,306,353 · Other+61 moreVanderbilt University Medical Center: $700,500 · HealthBALLAD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $300,000 · HealthCENTERSTONE FOUNDATION: $265,000 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $155,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $150,000 · Health+4 more: $55,300 · HealthCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $79,166 · Arts & CultureNashville Symphony Association: $55,000 · Arts & CultureANDREW JACKSON FOUNDATION FKA LADIES' HERMITAGE ASSOCIATION: $55,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE MUSEE DORSAY: $30,000 · Arts & CultureFRIST ART MUSEUM: $15,500 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $14,000 · Arts & CultureGIRL SCOUTS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentBIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS OF MIDDLE TN: $12,500 · Youth DevelopmentFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $9,000 · Youth DevelopmentSENIOR CITIZENS INC: $36,500 · Human ServicesFAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $15,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $10,000 · Human ServicesJOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN SOCIETY NASHVILLE: $10,000 · Human ServicesDoor of Hope Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesHope for Justice Inc: $3,000 · Human Services+2 more: $1,500 · Human Services
Education$7,957,966Philanthropy$6,672,802Other$6,400,885Health$1,625,800Arts & Culture$248,666Youth Development$171,500Human Services$81,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBelmont University: $7,168,266 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $6,551,802 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetVanderbilt University Medical Center: $700,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY: $655,865 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBALLAD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $289,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCENTERSTONE FOUNDATION: $265,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $215,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $155,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $150,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $150,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR THE COLLEGE SYSTEM OF TENNESSEE: $102,200 over 5y, 6.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF UNICOI COUNTY: $100,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetWEST TN AREA COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $93,000 over 4y, 6.0% of budgetCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $79,166 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLANE COLLEGE: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNashville Symphony Association: $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetANDREW JACKSON FOUNDATION FKA LADIES' HERMITAGE ASSOCIATION: $55,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetFREED-HARDEMAN UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMALL MIRACLES THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER INC: $48,000 over 4y, 5.0% of budgetSENIOR CITIZENS INC: $36,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE MUSEE DORSAY: $30,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetUNION UNIVERSITY: $29,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF WEST TENNESSEINC STARKS: $16,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetFRIST ART MUSEUM: $15,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTENNESSEANS FOR QUALITY EARLY EDUCATION POLICY AND RESEARCH: $15,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS OF MIDDLE TN: $12,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INCUNICOI COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetFISK UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN SOCIETY NASHVILLE: $10,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetTHE LAND TRUST FOR TENNESSEE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBEGIN ANEW: $7,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $7,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE THROUGH HEALING HANDS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHIGH HOPES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDoor of Hope Inc: $5,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTENNESSEE ASSOCIATION OF CRAFT ARTISTS: $4,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF THE MID-SOUTH INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOMEWORK HOTLINE INC: $3,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetHope for Justice Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTENNGREEN LAND CONSERVANCY: $2,550 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJAZZ ST LOUIS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN'S FUND OF EAST TENNESSEE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetALIVE HOSPICE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Belmont University ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BALLAD HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTERSTONE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds American Heart Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE FOUNDATION FOR THE COLLEGE SYSTEM OF TENNESSEE ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF UNICOI COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds WEST TN AREA COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds CHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds LANE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Nashville Symphony Association ↗
  • Who funds ANDREW JACKSON FOUNDATION FKA LADIES' HERMITAGE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FREED-HARDEMAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SMALL MIRACLES THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds SENIOR CITIZENS INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE MUSEE DORSAY ↗
  • Who funds UNION UNIVERSITY ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Community Foundat…The Steven & Laurie E…The Frist FoundationThe Ayers Foundation …Dorothy Cate and Thom…Memorial Foundation I…Hca Healthcare Founda…United Way of Middle …Enchiridion FoundationLouie M & Betty M Phi…The Wade-Buntin Famil…West Tn Healthcare Fo…
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee IncTN34.6× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · The Steven & Laurie Eskind Family Foundation · The Frist Foundation · The Ayers Foundation Trust · Dorothy Cate and Thomas F Frist Foundation · Memorial Foundation Inc · Hca Healthcare Foundation · United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc · Enchiridion Foundation · Louie M & Betty M Phillips Foundatn · The Wade-Buntin Family Foundation · West Tn Healthcare Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Ayers Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ayers Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Ayers Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ayers Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 109 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ayers’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home