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· Private foundation

Esme Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$190k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Religion$348kInternational$275kHousing & Shelter$210kHuman Services$166kHealth$146kArts & Culture$65kYouth Development$27kAnimals$8kOther$0
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $152k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$45,000
MUSTARD SEED RANCH$30,700
SMILES OF HOPE$25,000
HOPE HOUSE OF TENNESSEE$20,000
YOUNG LIFE$11,000
CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER$10,700
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION$10,000
WESTMINISTER HOME CONNECTION$5,000
HEART OF THE CUMBERLAND$5,000
COOKEVILLE RESCUE MISSION$5,000
HOPE 27$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
SILOAM HEALTH$4,000
GENESIS HOUSE$3,500
HOPE CENTER ADOPTION$2,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–25, $143k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MUSTARD SEED RANCH: $51k → 19%MUSTARD SEED RANCH: $31k → 19%HISPANIC FAMILY FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%MUSTARD SEED RANCH: $15k → 19%MUSTARD SEED RANCH: $15k → 19%MUSTARD SEED RANCH: $10k → 19%MUSTARD SEED RANCH: $10k → 19%UPPER CUNBERLAND CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: $5k → 19%MAGNOLIA FOUNDATION: $1k → 19%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

WI
IA
OH
VA
MD
AR
TN
DC
AL
TX

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.1M · 16 repeat orgs$109k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships — 13 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
11

Total granted

$1.1M
$97k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+46%

Still filing today

69%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesInternationalCommunity ImprovementHealthEducationHousing & ShelterOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • MS
    MUSTARD SEED RANCH
    6× · 2020–2025 · $132k · revenue +45%
  • SO
    SMILES OF HOPE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $115k · revenue +162% · 26% of their budget
  • IJ
    INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION
    5× · 2020–2025 · $105k · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • LC
    LIFE CHURCH
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • FN
    FELLOWSHIP NASHVILLE
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • PG
    POPLAR GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2024 · $10k

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

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Indiana United Methodist Children's Home Inc

To meet the special needs of each child and family served in order to help improve their quality of life. the board of trustees and staff members of the home are committed to bringing the highest quality resources available to the…

Human Services
2
United Methodist Ministry With Children and Families Inc

Methodist childrens homes seeks to bring restoration to children and youth who have been neglected or abused. by the end of their time with us, we hope to see that they find reconciliation with their biological families, love within an…

Human Services
3
Welcome House Knoxville

Our Mission at Welcome House Knoxville is to share the love of Jesus through the ministries of hospitality and friendship. We provide safe and loving homes for individuals and families in transition to permanent housing.

Housing & Shelter
4
The Retreat Home for Children

Our mission is to show the love of christ to each and every child and family towhom we serve and beyond. we do this by creating a culture where the needs of children,families, and staff are seen and met in creative and innovative ways.

Crime & Legal
5
Collins Home Family Ministries

Collins family ministries, inc. exists to embody the love of christ by providing compassion to families, children, and at-risk youth who are experiencing hardship. we provide shelter for children, strength to families, and stability to our…

6
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
7
Tennessee Children's Home Inc

Tennessee children's home, inc. is a not-for-profit organization that provides a home for neglected and pre-delinquent children who have an unstable family situation and who are beginning to develop problems which cannot be solved in their…

Human Services
8
Central Texas Children's Home

To provide family services and to provide residential child care for dependent children where there is a need to assist children and families disrupted by problems.

Human Services
9
Calvary Children's Home

Our purpose is to provide a safe, loving, Christian environment for children needing long-term care who lack a stable home environment due to circumstances beyond their control. We are committed to equipping each child to build meaningful…

Human Services
10
Camerons House of Hope Inc

Camerons House of Hope stands as a beacon of support and stability for children impacted by parental substance use disorder. We work alongside our families by offering academic intervention, individual child and family counseling sessions…

Health
11
Freedom House Ministries

House of Hope Kansas City is unique, because we work with teens and their parents to find solutions and ultimately, restoration of healthy family relationships. We serve families in crisis with our program for residents to experience the…

Education
12
Homes for Hope

Mission: homes for hope partners with the building industry to invest in underserved families around the world for their holistic flourishing unto the glory of god. method: building industry partners donate funds generated from domestic…

Philanthropy

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Westminster Home Connection and the most unlike its peers is Community Academy. 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

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 17 of the 31 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
12/17
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — $280,000 · Other1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCHCRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER — $90,700 · OtherCRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERSILOAM HEALTH — $44,000 · OtherSILOAM HEALTHLIFE CHURCH — $25,000 · OtherFELLOWSHIP NASHVILLE — $25,000 · Other+14 more — $79,600 · Other+14 moreSMILES OF HOPE — $115,000 · InternationalSMILES OF HOPEINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION — $105,000 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE M…TANZANIA WESLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $38,500 · InternationalTANZANIA WESLEY EDUCATI…Hope House of Tennessee Inc — $195,000 · Housing & ShelterHope House of Ten…MUSTARD SEED RANCH — $131,700 · Human ServicesMUSTARD SEED…HISPANIC FAMILY FOUNDATION INC — $5,000 · Human ServicesUPPER CUMBERLAND CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER — $5,000 · Human Services+1 more — $1,000 · Human ServicesNashville Symphony Association — $65,000 · Arts & CultureYOUNG LIFE — $26,500 · Youth DevelopmentKKUMI PROJECT — $16,000 · Community ImprovementWESTMINSTER HOME CONNECTION — $10,000 · Community Improvement
Other$544,300International$258,500Housing & Shelter$195,000Human Services$142,700Arts & Culture$65,000Youth Development$26,500Community Improvement$26,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetHope House of Tennessee Inc — $195,000 over 5y, 19% of budgetMUSTARD SEED RANCH — $131,700 over 6y, 4.2% of budgetSMILES OF HOPE — $115,000 over 6y, 26% of budgetINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION — $105,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNashville Symphony Association — $65,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSILOAM HEALTH — $44,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTANZANIA WESLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $38,500 over 5y, 4.4% of budgetYOUNG LIFE — $26,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetKKUMI PROJECT — $16,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetWESTMINSTER HOME CONNECTION — $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHeart of the Cumberland Inc — $10,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetHISPANIC FAMILY FOUNDATION INC — $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetUPPER CUMBERLAND CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER — $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetGenesis House Inc — $3,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMagnolia Foundation — $1,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

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

  • Who funds Hope House of Tennessee Inc
  • Who funds MUSTARD SEED RANCH
  • Who funds SMILES OF HOPE
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION
  • Who funds Nashville Symphony Association
  • Who funds SILOAM HEALTH
  • Who funds TANZANIA WESLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE
  • Who funds KKUMI PROJECT
  • Who funds WESTMINSTER HOME CONNECTION
  • Who funds Heart of the Cumberland Inc
  • Who funds HISPANIC FAMILY FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds COMMUNITY ACADEMY
  • Who funds UPPER CUMBERLAND CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER
  • Who funds Genesis House Inc
  • Who funds CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION
  • Who funds Magnolia Foundation

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Owen FoundationTN15.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Owen Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Esme Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 10%2%8%17%30%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s 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 · 0–10%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Esme Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Esme 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 31 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph