Skip to content

· Private foundation

Great Oaks Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
22
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$1.1MEducation$670kPhilanthropy$650kReligion$320kArts & Culture$123kRecreation & Sports$115kHuman Services$91kAnimals$20kOther$0
02FY2024 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k11 grants · $63k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $125k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $135k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$10,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$28M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL$1,000,000
THE OLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION$75,000
ST MARY'S SCHOOL$60,000
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS$25,000
KENYON COLLEGE$25,000
ARKANSAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$25,000
COLBY COLLEGE$10,000
3M TRACK CLUB$10,000
BROWN UNIVERSITY$10,000
NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
MEMPHIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL$10,000
CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION$8,000
THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL$7,500
BECHTLER MUSEUM OF ART$7,500
DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%ST ANDREW'S SCHOOL: $15k → 10%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%3M TRACK CLUB: $10k → 10%THE OLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION: $75k → 10%ARKANSAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $10k → 17%NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $150k → 10%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%KENYON COLLEGE: $25k → 12%MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE: $20k → 9%COLBY COLLEGE: $10k → 12%ST ANDREWS SCHOOL: $10k → 10%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $1.0M → 16%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%THE OLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%OPERA MEMPHIS: $10k → 17%NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $10k → 10%KENYON COLLEGE: $13k → 12%COLBY COLLEGE: $10k → 12%ST ANDREW'S SCHOOL: $10k → 10%CHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATER: $10k → 8%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $25k → 16%MEMPHIS JEWISH FEDERATION: $125k → 17%FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $10k → 10%CHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATER: $10k → 8%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $25k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $127k → 17%MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $25k → 16%MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 17%SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: $25k → 17%SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $16k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: $13k → 17%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER MEMPHIS: $140k → 17%CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION: $100k → 17%CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION: $100k → 17%CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION: $100k → 17%ST MARY'S SCHOOL: $65k → 17%ST MARY'S SCHOOL: $65k → 17%ST MARY'S SCHOOL: $65k → 17%ST MARY'S SCHOOL: $60k → 17%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

ME
VT
ND
MN
MA
WY
OH
CT
RI
CA
DE
AR
TN
NC
GA
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 27 repeat orgs$91k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
16

Total granted

$2.4M
$64k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+12%

Still filing today

63%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHealthRecreation & SportsCivil RightsAnimalsOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2020–2022 · $177k · revenue +188%
  • OC
    OLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $100k · revenue +10%
  • MJ
    MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
    4× · 2020–2023 · $91k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • PA
    President and Fellows of Middlebury College
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue +12%
  • LH
    LEBONHEUR HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • BM
    BROOKS MUSEUM
    one grant, 2023 · $7k
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
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
4
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
Stony Brook Ophthalmology University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
7
Columbia College

Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.

Education
8
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
9
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
10
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
11
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
12
Manhattan University

Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Francisco Foundation; the most unlike its peers is 3 M Track Club. 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

38 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. 38 of the 55 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
33/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $1,075,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITALCHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION: $315,100 · OtherCHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNIONST MARY'S SCHOOL: $265,000 · OtherST MARY'S SCHOOLMEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $91,200 · Other+21 more: $212,975 · Other+21 moreFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $170,000 · PhilanthropyFOUNDATION FOR TH…COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER MEMPHIS INC: $140,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDAT…MEMPHIS JEWISH FEDERATION: $125,000 · PhilanthropyMEMPHIS JEWISH FE…ARKANSAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyNORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyUNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $177,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY …KENYON COLLEGE: $37,500 · EducationKENYON COLL…The President and Trustees of Colby College: $20,000 · EducationThe Preside…President and Fellows of Middlebury College: $20,000 · EducationPresident a…MEMPHIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL: $20,000 · EducationMEMPHIS UNI…THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL: $12,500 · Education+5 more: $25,400 · Education+5 moreFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $150,000 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · Community ImprovementTHE CHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATER INC: $27,500 · Arts & CultureDixon Gallery and Gardens: $25,000 · Arts & CultureOPERA MEMPHIS INC: $20,250 · Arts & CultureMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureOLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION: $100,000 · ReligionBAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $5,000 · Health+2 more: $300 · Health
Other$1,959,275Philanthropy$500,000Education$312,400Community Improvement$165,000Arts & Culture$107,750Religion$100,000Health$15,300

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $177,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $170,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER MEMPHIS INC: $140,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEMPHIS JEWISH FEDERATION: $125,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetOLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetMEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $91,200 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $37,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHATHAM ORPHEUM THEATER INC: $27,500 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetDixon Gallery and Gardens: $25,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetARKANSAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERA MEMPHIS INC: $20,250 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEMPHIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPRESBYTERIAN DAY SCHOOL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW MEMPHIS INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budget3 M TRACK CLUB: $10,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetDelta Waterfowl Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGROTON SCHOOL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH TENNIS ADVANTAGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOFFMAN INSTITUTE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEMPHIS OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP TRUST INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOVERTON PARK CONSERVANCY: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHURCH HEALTH CENTER OF MEMPHIS INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PEER POWER FOUNDATION INC: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEMPHIS UNION MISSON: $100 over 1y, 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.

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.

Christian Community Foundation of MemphisTN27.2× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Scheidt Family Foundation Inc · Plough Foundation · Belz Foundation · Jr Hyde III Family Foundation · Thomas Garrott Foundation · The Goldsmith Family Foundation Inc · Lawrence Lewis Foundation · Rose Montgomery Johnston Family Foundation · Thomas W Briggs Foundation Inc · The Kemmons Wilson Family 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 Great Oaks Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Great Oaks Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Middlebury College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
8report 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 Great Oaks Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Great Oaks 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 55 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 Great Oaks’ filings →

More from the funding graph