· Public charity
Governor's Early Literacy Foundation
The mission of governor's early literacy foundaion (gelf) is to strengthen early literacy in tennessee.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k1 grant · $5k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $34k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| MACON COUNTY SCHOOL DISITRCT | $23,644 |
| CITY OF DAYTON | $10,100 |
| BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU | $5,400 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 72% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 82% of Governor's Early Literacy Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 100% of the giving stays in TN; by stated purpose, 29%.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
3 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 3 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, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $39k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TSTennessee State Parks Conservancy2× · 2020–2021 · $40k · revenue ×21
- FOFRIENDS OF THE CLARKSVILLE MONTGOMERY CO PUBLIC LIBRARY2× · 2017–2018 · $25k · revenue +20%
- SCSOUTH CENTRAL HUMAN RESOURCE AGENCY INC2× · 2017–2018 · $11k · revenue +59%
Funded once
- GCGRUNDY COUNTY DEPT OF EDUCATIONone grant, 2021 · $20k
- HCHAWKINS COUNTY SCHOOLSone grant, 2021 · $17k
- HCHAYWOOD COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTone grant, 2021 · $17k
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.
5 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. 5 of the 28 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.
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: Share Our Strength · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc · GenYOUTH Incorporated · Save The Children Federation Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Governor's Early Literacy Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Governor's Early Literacy Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Governor's Early Literacy’s filings →