· 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k10 grants · $38k
- $10k–50k7 grants · $152k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| COOKEVILLE RESCUE MISSION | $5,000 |
| HOPE 27 | $5,000 |
| HEART OF THE CUMBERLAND | $5,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $5,000 |
| SILOAM HEALTH | $4,000 |
| GENESIS HOUSE | $3,500 |
| HOPE CENTER ADOPTION | $2,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its 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 its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
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
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- MSMUSTARD SEED RANCH6× · 2020–2025 · $132k · revenue +45%
- SOSMILES OF HOPE6× · 2020–2025 · $115k · revenue +162% · 26% of their budget
- IJINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION5× · 2020–2025 · $105k · revenue +48%
Funded once
- FNFELLOWSHIP NASHVILLEone grant, 2021 · $25k
- LCLIFE CHURCHone grant, 2020 · $25k
- PGPOPLAR GROVE BAPTIST CHURCHone grant, 2024 · $10k
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.
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.
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…
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…
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.
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.
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…
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.
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
How this is measured
17 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. 17 of the 31 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 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 Magnolia Foundation ↗
- Who funds CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION ↗
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.
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
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Esme Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Esme Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
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.
Play a game based on Esme’s filings →