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Ezell Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Ezell Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$595k
Granted FY2024still arriving
40
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$80k
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 2024.

Education$1.7MReligion$1.2MInternational$503kHuman Services$450kHealth$334kYouth Development$331kCrime & Legal$236kFood & Nutrition$133kOther$0
02FY2024 · 40 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k16 grants · $53k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $286k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $256k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$8.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INNER CITY MINISTRY$80,000
LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY$67,000
ZAMBIA MISSIONS$58,000
TN PRISON OUTREACH MINISTRY$51,000
AGAPE$37,500
THE BRANCH$25,000
BILL DANCE FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOUNDATION$25,000
CALEB COMPANY$17,000
FAITH FAMILY MEDICAL CENTER$15,000
YOUTH ENCOURAGEMENT SERVICES$15,000
LAKESHORE ESTATES$15,000
AFRICAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS$15,000
EZELL HARDING CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$11,800
GOODPASTURE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$10,000
SILOAM$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 (FY17–24, $110k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 77% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SWEET SLEEP: $8k → 4%ABLE YOUTH: $3k → 4%GRACE WORKS MINISTRIES INC: $5k → 4%GRACE WORKS MINISTRIES INC: $5k → 4%GRACE WORKS MINISTRIES INC: $5k → 4%12TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER INC: $5k → 14%THE STORE: $25k → 14%THE STORE: $15k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%WAYNE REED CHRISTIAN CHILDCARE CENTER: $5k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 14%WAYNE REED CHRISTIAN CHILDCARE CENTER: $2k → 14%WAYNE REED CHRISTIAN CHILDCARE CENTER: $1k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $2k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MI
IN
CO
KY
AR
TN
NC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.6M · 54 repeat orgs$838k to everyone else

54 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

54
45

Total granted

$4.6M
$790k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+25%

Still filing today

54%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $48k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationHealthYouth DevelopmentReligionInternationalOther
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

  • LU
    LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $993k · revenue +44%
  • CE
    CHRISTIAN EDUCATION INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $278k · revenue +99%
  • TP
    TENNESSEE PRISON OUTREACH MINISTRY INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $231k · revenue +368%

Funded once

  • UC
    UNA CHURCH OF CHRIST
    one grant, 2017 · $300k
  • RM
    RESPIRE MINISTRIES
    one grant, 2017 · $75k · revenue -34%
  • HC
    HY-LAKE CHRISTIAN CAMP
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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
Hope House of Tennessee Inc

By creating a safe and structured two year residential program the Hope House of Tennessee will aim to equip and empower personal and educational growth economic self-sufficiency and a deeper understanding of Christs unconditional love.

Housing & Shelter
2
Nashville Inner City Ministry Inc

Nashville inner city ministry is a christ-centered community organization dedicated to empowering the spiritual, educational and vocational development of at-risk youth and their families.

—
3
Kings Academy Nashville

King's academy is a pre-k-8th grade independent christian school in nashville, tennessee, providing a classically inspired education to a racially and socioeconomically balanced student body.

Education
4
Journey Home Inc

The journey home is a christian ministry whose primary focus is to serve the homeless and disadvantaged of rutherford county, tn. providing practical resources and relationships that encourage faith, economic stability, wholeness, and…

—
5
Rahab House

Rahab House is deeply committed to the rescue, refuge, and restoration of human trafficking survivors. We provide comprehensive support that encompasses immediate safety and connections to long-term restorative care in alignment with the…

Human Services
6
Mission Mississippi

To encourage and demonstrate grace in the body of christ across racial lines, so that communities throughout mississippi can see practical evidence of the gospel message.

Civil Rights
7
International Commission Inc

Equipping and enabling believers worldwide to conduct church-based evangelism projects to reach unbelievers and make disciples.

Religion
8
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
9
Youth With a Mission Nashville Inc

Training youth to be evangelists and missionaries in america and other countries using classroom and field activities

Religion
10
Union University

Union university provides christ-centered education that promotes excellence and character development in service to church and society.

Education
11
East Tennessee Christian Home Inc

The Home was organized to provide for the health, welfare and benefit of children whose parents or guardians are unable to care for them. The Home offers residential care and onsite academic

Human Services
12
New Hope Academy

Christ-centered school educating children of diverse racial & socioeconomic backgrounds by establishing a biblical worldview & preparing each child to flourish academically, emotionally, socially & spiritually.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nashville Rescue Mission; the most unlike its peers is Hacienda of Hope 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

54 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. 54 of the 104 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
52/54
Grantees still filing
40/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY: $992,892 · OtherLIPSCOMB UNIVERSITYUNA CHURCH OF CHRIST: $300,000 · OtherUNA CHURCH OF CHRISTAGAPE: $288,500 · OtherAGAPEZAMBIA MISSIONS: $253,000 · OtherZAMBIA MISSIONSTHE BRANCH: $219,100 · OtherTHE BRANCHAFRICAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $170,000 · OtherGOODPASTURE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $155,000 · OtherLAKESHORE ESTATES INC: $145,000 · Other+64 more: $1,423,466 · Other+64 moreCHRISTIAN EDUCATION INC: $278,300 · EducationNATIONS UNIVERSITY: $16,000 · Education+4 more: $32,500 · EducationYOUTH ENCOURAGEMENT SERVICES INC: $145,000 · Youth DevelopmentROCKETOWN OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $80,000 · Youth DevelopmentThe Pearl House Inc: $55,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentJUVENTUD EN CAMINO ASSOCIATION: $135,000 · Human ServicesTHE STORE INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesALIVE HOSPICE INC: $16,000 · Human ServicesChristian Community Services Inc: $16,000 · Human ServicesULTIMATE ESCAPE: $15,000 · Human ServicesGRACEWORKS MINISTRIES INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY FOUNDATION FUND INC: $10,000 · Human Services+5 more: $27,500 · Human ServicesTENNESSEE PRISON OUTREACH MINISTRY INC: $231,000 · Crime & LegalFAITH FAMILY MEDICAL CENTER INC: $145,000 · HealthSTARS INC: $40,000 · HealthINTERFAITH DENTAL CLINIC OF NASHVILLE: $25,000 · Health+2 more: $10,000 · HealthFRESH APPROACH MINISTRY: $65,000 · ReligionOPERATION ANDREW GROUP INC: $60,000 · ReligionCALEB GLOBAL: $59,000 · Religion+1 more: $5,000 · Religion
Other$3,946,958Education$326,800Youth Development$282,500Human Services$274,500Crime & Legal$231,000Health$220,000Religion$189,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY: $992,892 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCHRISTIAN EDUCATION INC: $278,300 over 8y, 2.2% of budgetTENNESSEE PRISON OUTREACH MINISTRY INC: $231,000 over 8y, 8.0% of budgetLAKESHORE ESTATES INC: $145,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTH ENCOURAGEMENT SERVICES INC: $145,000 over 8y, 6.2% of budgetFAITH FAMILY MEDICAL CENTER INC: $145,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetJUVENTUD EN CAMINO ASSOCIATION: $135,000 over 8y, 4.2% of budgetROCKETOWN OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $80,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetHEALING HANDS INTERNATIONAL INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetRESPIRE MINISTRIES: $75,000 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetFRESH APPROACH MINISTRY: $65,000 over 6y, 19% of budgetNASHVILLE RESCUE MISSION: $62,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetOPERATION ANDREW GROUP INC: $60,000 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetCALEB GLOBAL: $59,000 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetThe Pearl House Inc: $55,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetENCOURAGEMENT MINISTRIES INC: $55,000 over 8y, 6.3% of budgetSTARS INC: $40,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetTHE STORE INC: $40,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetMORNING STAR SANCTUARY INC: $30,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetINTERFAITH DENTAL CLINIC OF NASHVILLE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWORLD CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION: $21,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONS UNIVERSITY: $16,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetALIVE HOSPICE INC: $16,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetChristian Community Services Inc: $16,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetULTIMATE ESCAPE: $15,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetGRACEWORKS MINISTRIES INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CARPENTERS SQUARE INC: $15,000 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetBENTON HALL CORPORATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBelmont University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAPPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVolunteer Center for Rural Development: $10,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetFAMILY FOUNDATION FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetRochester Christian University: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY MISSISSIPPI CAPITAL AREA: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSWEET SLEEP INC: $7,500 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWayne Reed Christian Childcare Center Inc: $7,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEASTER SEALS TENNESSEE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN TABLE OF NASHVILLE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHacienda of Hope Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetBIBLE STUDY FELLOWSHIP: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget12TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CE: $5,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetMATTHEW 25 INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SUMNER COUNTY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEMMAUS HOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetDAYSTAR COUNSELING MINISTRIES INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS INC: $3,000 over 2y, 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 LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTIAN EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds TENNESSEE PRISON OUTREACH MINISTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKESHORE ESTATES INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH ENCOURAGEMENT SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds FAITH FAMILY MEDICAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds JUVENTUD EN CAMINO ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds ROCKETOWN OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE ↗
  • Who funds HEALING HANDS INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds RESPIRE MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds FRESH APPROACH MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE RESCUE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION ANDREW GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds CALEB GLOBAL ↗
  • Who funds The Pearl House Inc ↗
  • Who funds ENCOURAGEMENT MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds STARS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE STORE INC ↗
  • Who funds MORNING STAR SANCTUARY INC ↗

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…Washington FoundationMemorial Foundation I…Hca Healthcare Founda…Stephens' Christian T…Servant FoundationThe Frist FoundationUnited Way of Middle …Purity FoundationDorothy Cate and Thom…Nashville Predators F…The Harrison-Robbie D…
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee IncTN41.6× affinity25 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 · Washington Foundation · Memorial Foundation Inc · Hca Healthcare Foundation · Stephens' Christian Trust · Servant Foundation · The Frist Foundation · United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc · Purity Foundation · Dorothy Cate and Thomas F Frist Foundation · Nashville Predators Foundation · The Harrison-Robbie Dearing Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%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
    1get no government money at all
    14report 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 Ezell Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Ezell Foundation 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 104 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ezell’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