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Community Shares Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Community Shares Inc

Community shares mission is supporting tennessee social change organizations in order to promote a more just and caring community.

$9k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$41k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$295kAnimals$225kYouth Development$128kEnvironment$107kCivil Rights$69kPublic Benefit$44kHuman Services$41kEducation$40kOther$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $228k
$27,205
Median grant
3
States reached
$972k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$40,733
Individual grant recipient$39,383
ORAU$33,106
Individual grant recipient$27,816
MECC$27,205
TECC$24,860
METRO SCHOOLS$18,064
MTSU$16,334
Individual grant recipient$8,860
NES$6,162
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 (FY17–18, $11k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER: $6k → 12%DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER: $6k → 12%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.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$803k · 17 repeat orgs$357k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against -19% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
11

Total granted

$803k
$114k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
-19%

Still filing today

88%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $243k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’22’23’24
EnvironmentCivil RightsHealthPhilanthropyAnimalsArts & 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

  • HS
    HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $181k · revenue +60%
  • IN
    IJAMS NATURE CENTER INC
    5× · 2017–2022 · $59k · revenue +112%
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $57k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • DU
    DRUMS UP GUNS DO
    one grant, 2023 · $57k
  • NS
    NEXT STEP INITIA
    one grant, 2022 · $7k
  • TH
    TN HEALTHCARE CAMPAIGN
    one grant, 2019 · $6k
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
Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood Inc

The organization wishes to encourage and protect informed individual choice regarding reproductive health care.

Education
2
Imagine Tennessee Better Inc

Social Welfare

—
3
Tennessee Democracy Network

The Tennessee Democracy Network is a nonprofit civic incubator for relational organizing and civic literacy initiatives that develop and deepen cultures of nonpartisan democratic engagement in Tennessee.

Public Benefit
4
Tennessee Advocacy Talk

Our mission is to increase the access and quality of social service resources through bettering norms and culture with advocacy, performance improvement strategies, and technology.

Health
5
Tennessee River Rescues

we exist to spay and neuter unwanted pets in our local area trying to find them a home to thrive in until the end of their time

Animals
6
Tennessee Alliance for Progress

To create a sustainable green economy that benefits all

Health
7
Tennessee Clean Water Network

To identify, prevent, and remedy water pollution statewide through a network of allies and resources.

—
8
Tennessee Geographic Alliance

Education

Education
9
Tennessee State Parks Conservancy

To support education, health and access programs that preserve, protect, and enhance Tennessee's natural areas and parks system.

Environment
10
Tennessee Justice Center Inc

The tennessee justice center (tjc) advocates on behalf of low-income tennesseans in areas of public policy having the greatest impact on their health and welfare.

Crime & Legal
11
Tennessee Public Safety Network

The Tennessee Public Safety Network was established to address the growing stress and trauma experienced by law enforcement and public safety personnel. We believe untreated stress profoundly impacts their physical and emotional well-being.

Public Safety & Disaster
12
Pregnancy Centers of Middle Tennessee Inc

Our mission is to affirm the value of life by providing a network of care. We strive to empower mothers and fathers experiencing planned and unplanned pregnancies with healthy options through medical services, education, mentoring and…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nami Tennessee; the most unlike its peers is Build for Bees. 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

23 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. 23 of the 38 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/23
Grantees still filing
15/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MIDDLE & EAST TENNESSE INC: $200,026 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MIDDLE & EAST TENNESSE INCDRUMS UP GUNS DO: $56,922 · OtherDRUMS UP GUNS DOPEOPLE FOR ANIMALS INC: $44,492 · OtherPEOPLE FOR ANIMALS INCIndividual grant recipient: $40,733 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $39,383 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTENNESSEE COALITION TO END DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE: $34,260 · OtherORAU: $33,106 · OtherTENNESSEE CITIZENS FOR WILDERNESS PLANNING: $29,410 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $27,816 · OtherMECC: $27,205 · OtherTECC: $24,860 · Other+14 more: $125,544 · Other+14 moreHUMANE SOCIETY OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY INC: $180,652 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY OF…PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC: $57,043 · HealthNAMI TENNESSEE: $26,298 · HealthIJAMS NATURE CENTER INC: $58,672 · EnvironmentHIGHLANDER RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER INC: $11,548 · EnvironmentTENNESSEE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $5,969 · EnvironmentBUILD FOR BEES: $5,720 · EnvironmentBLACK CHILDRENS INSTITUTE OF TENN: $35,316 · Civil RightsTENNESSEE IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS COALITION: $22,221 · Civil RightsTENNESSEANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY: $19,152 · Civil RightsAPPALACHIAN COMMUNITY FUND: $23,559 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY SHARES USA: $5,269 · PhilanthropyJUBILEE COMMUNITY ARTS INC: $24,779 · Arts & Culture
Other$683,757Animals$180,652Health$83,341Environment$81,909Civil Rights$76,689Philanthropy$28,828Arts & Culture$24,779

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY INC: $180,652 over 6y, 5.0% of budgetIJAMS NATURE CENTER INC: $58,672 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC: $57,043 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPEOPLE FOR ANIMALS INC: $44,492 over 6y, 5.8% of budgetBLACK CHILDRENS INSTITUTE OF TENN: $35,316 over 5y, 94% of budgetTENNESSEE COALITION TO END DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE: $34,260 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTENNESSEE CITIZENS FOR WILDERNESS PLANNING: $29,410 over 5y, 13% of budgetJUBILEE COMMUNITY ARTS INC: $24,779 over 4y, 5.5% of budgetAPPALACHIAN COMMUNITY FUND: $23,559 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetTENNESSEE IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS COALITION: $22,221 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTENNESSEANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY: $19,152 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetTennessee Scenic Rivers Association: $13,229 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetHIGHLANDER RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER INC: $11,548 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetDISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $11,410 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNURTURE THE NEXT FKA PREVENT CHILD ABUSE TENNESSEE: $6,040 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBUILD FOR BEES: $5,720 over 1y, 31% of budgetTENNESSEE HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN INC: $5,380 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY SHARES USA: $5,269 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetCHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL SUMMER VILLAGES - SMOKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER: $5,120 over 1y, 8.1% 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.

The Community Foundat…The Frist FoundationUnited Way of Middle …Dorothy Cate and Thom…The Healing Trust For…Memorial Foundation I…East Tennessee Founda…Hca Healthcare Founda…Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee IncTN22.2× affinity10 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 Frist Foundation · United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc · Dorothy Cate and Thomas F Frist Foundation · The Healing Trust Formerly Baptist Healing Hospital Trust · Memorial Foundation Inc · East Tennessee Foundation · Hca Healthcare Foundation · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Community Shares Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Community Shares Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%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
    5report 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 Community Shares Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Community Shares Inc 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 38 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.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $430k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Community Shares’ 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