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Blackberry Farm Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Blackberry Farm Foundation

The BLACKBERRY FARM FOUNDATION is proud to support charitable causes related to children and foodways, with special emphasis on those located in the east tennessee area, the special place that is our home.

$356k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$140k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$277kCrime & Legal$210kHuman Services$183kYouth Development$110kPhilanthropy$106kEmployment$92kEnvironment$90kArts & Culture$76kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $78k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $274k
$30,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CROSSROADS CAMPUS$140,402
THE BUSYHEAD PROJECT$83,581
PELLISSIPPI STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE$50,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF TENNESSEE VALLEY$30,000
SPECIAL OPPS INC$27,715
AMERICANA MUSIC FOUNDATION$10,148
YMCA KNOXVILLE & TENNESSEE VALLEY$10,000
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 (FY19–24, $274k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HAND IN HAND: $5k → 12%SPECIAL OPPS INC: $28k → 10%CROSSROADS CAMPUS: $140k → 14%YMCA KNOXVILLE & TENNESSEE VALLEY: $10k → 12%SPECIAL OPPS INC: $15k → 10%SPECIAL OPPS INC: $15k → 10%SPECIAL OPPS INC: $13k → 10%HARMONY FAMILY CENTER: $20k → 12%SPECIAL OPPS INC: $11k → 10%HARMONY FAMILY CENTER: $8k → 12%SPECIAL OPPS INC: $10k → 10%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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
NH
IL
NY
IA
CA
CO
AZ
TN
DC
MS
GA
FL
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.

66%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$844k · 8 repeat orgs$438k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
16

Total granted

$844k
$194k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+29%

Still filing today

88%
81%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 31% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $244k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesPhilanthropyFood & NutritionPublic Safety & DisasterYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • BC
    BLOUNT COUNTY CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $210k · revenue +18%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TENNESSEE VALL
    6× · 2019–2024 · $105k · revenue +23%
  • SO
    Special Opps Inc
    6× · 2019–2024 · $92k · revenue +259%

Funded once

  • CE
    CARPENTERS ELEMENTARY FRIENDS PROGRAM
    one grant, 2019 · $40k
  • SH
    Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina Incgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $36k · revenue +29%
  • BE
    BRETT ELDREDGE FAMILY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $22k · revenue -99%
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
Brooklyn Heights Community Garden

Brooklyn Heights Community Garden cultivates healthy community through growing food, intergenerational learning and creative play.

Community Improvement
2
Nourish Knoxville Inc

To cultivate healthy communities by supporting relationships between local farmers, producers, and the public.

Food & Nutrition
3
Big BrothersBig Sisters of Wnc Inc

Match mentoring volunteers with children in need to build and foster relationships.

—
4
Black Mountain Center Foundation

BMCF is commited to improving the lives of persons with specialized intellectual developmental disorders and persons with specialized dementia served by Black Mountain Neuro-Medical Treatment Center. We foster a culture of inclusion and…

Philanthropy
5
Brighter Bites Inc

To create communities of health through fresh food. Brighter Bites seeks to improve health outcomes among children and families in under-resourced communities by using data-driven, evidence-based strategies for providing fresh produce and…

Food & Nutrition
6
A Bridge for Kids

To build bridges to brighter futures for teenagers who have big aspirations but face barriers to achieving their full potential. provides financial benefits to teenagers based on applications demonstrating need and a worthy activity that…

Human Services
7
The Heimerdinger Foundation Inc

We nourish the bodies, minds, and hearts of those facing cancer through the power of healthy meals and nutrition education.

Health
8
Kids in Nutrition

Kids In Nutrition (KIN) is a nationwide student-led movement dedicated to food justice, sustainable systems, and improved health outcomes for youth through food literacy and access. Recognizing that lifelong habits develop early, KIN…

Food & Nutrition
9
Walk Bike Nashville Inc

Walk/bike nashville is working to build a more walkable, bikeable, and livable nashville.

Public Safety & Disaster
10
Brandworkers International Inc

Brandworkers is a non-profit organization of local food-making workers coming together for a good job and sustainable food system.

Civil Rights
11
My Brother's Keeper Inc

Reduce health disparities throughout the United States by enhancing the health and well-being of minority and marginalized populations through leadership collaboration with the public and with community healthcare practices.

Health
12
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle Inc

Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. the organization's vision is that all youth achieve their full potential.

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hand in Hand; the most unlike its peers is Brett Eldredge Family Foundation. 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

25 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. 25 of the 29 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
16/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PELLISSIPPI STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $250,000 · OtherPELLISSIPPI STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGECARPENTERS ELEMENTARY FRIENDS PROGRAM: $39,770 · OtherCARPENTERS ELEMENTARY FRIENDS PROGRA…UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI: $15,000 · OtherSecond Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina Inc: $35,840 · OtherSecond Harvest Food Bank of Metrolin…Best Buddies International Inc: $20,000 · OtherUSA CYCLING DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Other+8 more: $41,300 · Other+8 moreTHE CROSSROADS CAMPUS: $140,402 · Human ServicesTHE CROSSROADS CAMPUSSpecial Opps Inc: $91,585 · Human ServicesSpecial Opps IncHARMONY FAMILY CENTER INC: $27,500 · Human ServicesHARMONY FAMILY CENTER IN…Young Men's Christian Association of Middle Tennessee (6273): $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesBLOUNT COUNTY CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER INC: $210,000 · Crime & LegalBLOUNT COUNTY CHIL…THE BUSYHEAD PROJECT INC: $83,581 · PhilanthropyTHE BUSYHE…BRETT ELDREDGE FAMILY FOUNDATION: $22,000 · PhilanthropyBRETT ELDR…KREMPELS BRAIN INJURY CENTER: $15,000 · PhilanthropyKREMPELS B…BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TENNESSEE VALL: $105,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GI…Bellas Mentoring Inc: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentGREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS INSTITUTE INC: $80,000 · EnvironmentSIXTEEN THIRTY FUND: $5,000 · EnvironmentGREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CENTER: $60,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICANA MUSIC FOUNDATION: $10,148 · Arts & Culture
Other$416,910Human Services$274,487Crime & Legal$210,000Philanthropy$120,581Youth Development$110,000Environment$85,000Arts & Culture$70,148

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 budgetBLOUNT COUNTY CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER INC: $210,000 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetTHE CROSSROADS CAMPUS: $140,402 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TENNESSEE VALL: $105,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetSpecial Opps Inc: $91,585 over 6y, 12% of budgetTHE BUSYHEAD PROJECT INC: $83,581 over 1y, 14% of budgetGREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS INSTITUTE INC: $80,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetGREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CENTER: $60,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetSecond Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina Inc: $35,840 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARMONY FAMILY CENTER INC: $27,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBRETT ELDREDGE FAMILY FOUNDATION: $22,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetBest Buddies International Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKREMPELS BRAIN INJURY CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetUSA CYCLING DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICANA MUSIC FOUNDATION: $10,148 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetOperation Walk International: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Middle Tennessee (6273): $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBellas Mentoring Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSIXTEEN THIRTY FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUGS FOR US INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRETHINK FOOD NYC INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKELLER RESTAURANT RELIEF FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTurning Green: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHAND IN HAND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe Martin Luther King Jr Center For Nonviolent Social Change Inc: $1,000 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.

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.

Haslam Family Foundat…The Community Foundat…Variety of Eastern Te…East Tennessee Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…Natl Christian Charit…The Blackbaud Giving …Raymond James Charita…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…
Haslam Family Foundation IncTN15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Haslam Family Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · Variety of Eastern Tennessee · East Tennessee Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Blackberry Farm Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Blackberry Farm Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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.

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 29 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Blackberry Farm’s 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