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Plinth
Foundation DossiersMostly funded, not a grantmaker — see who funds it →
Plinth

· Public charity

Humanities Tennessee

To foster community and civility in tennessee through public programs that examine and reflect upon ideas, stories, history, arts, and culture.

$125k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
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 FY2017–2025.

Arts & Culture$1.3MEducation$83kCommunity Improvement$37kYouth Development$32kRecreation & Sports$23kReligion$19kHuman Services$14kEnvironment$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 9 grants below total $78,709 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $125,105 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $46,396 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $49k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
$8,901
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART$10,000
TN HISTORICAL SOCIETY$10,000
WPLN FM 903 NASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO$10,000
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PAN AFRICAN SE$9,653
UT DOWNTOWN GALLERY$8,901
THE MEMPHIS 13 FOUNDATION$8,500
INTER-MUSEUM COUNCIL OF NASHVILLE ($8,300
WYXR$6,980
KNOXVILLE HISTORY PROJECT$6,375
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 (FY22–24, $54k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%KIDIZENSHIP: $20k → 14%KIDIZENSHIP INC: $20k → 14%REFUGEE EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM: $14k → 17%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.

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.

33%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$508k · 16 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +34% since the first grant, against 0% for the ones you funded once.

16 repeat relationships — 5 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
91

Total granted

$508k
$1.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
0%

Still filing today

75%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $36k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesAnimalsOther

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

  • TH
    TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2025 · $88k · revenue +0%
  • EN
    East Nashville Hope Exchange Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $50k · revenue +12%
  • ET
    East Tennessee Historical Society Inc
    4× · 2020–2023 · $48k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • DP
    Discovery Park of America Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $18k · revenue -1%
  • ET
    EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2024 · $16k
  • G5
    GRANTS 5K
    one grant, 2022 · $16k

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
Hickman County Historical Society

To Preserve and teach Local Hictory

—
2
Nashville Blues and Roots Alliance
Arts & Culture
3
Tennessee River Museum

To present and promote the historical aspect of the local river from pre-history until the present day

Arts & Culture
4
Tennessee Geographic Alliance

Education

Education
5
Nashville Design Week
Arts & Culture
6
Locate Arts Tn

Tri-Star Arts serves Tennessee by cultivating and spotlighting the contemporary visual art scenes in each region while fostering a unified state-wide art scene. Tri-Star Arts programs promote art dialogue between the different cities in…

Community Improvement
7
The Muse Knoxville

To inspire and empower all children through transformative learning experiences. our vision is to make our community the best place for all to learn through the power of play.

Arts & Culture
8
Beck Cultural Exchange Center Inc

Beck is the place where african american history and culture are preserved.

Arts & Culture
9
Knoxville Museum of Art

The purpose of the knoxville museum of art is to support and promote public interest, awareness, knowledge and education in the visual arts in east tennessee . to this end, the corporation shall, among other things, develop permanent…

Arts & Culture
10
Grundy County Historical Society

Establish, organize & operate a museum to preserve and promote the history of grundy county, tn and its people.

Arts & Culture
11
Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation

To hold, maintain, renovate and improve certain real property known as the historic tennessee theatre located in knoxville tennessee, in order to provide a performing arts venue for the community and other entities for historic and…

Arts & Culture
12
Tennessee Museum of Aviation

The Tennessee Museum of Aviation is dedicated to the preservation of aviation history, the advancement of education, and the honoring of historical aviators.

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Heritage Foundation of Williamson County and the most unlike its peers is Mngk Garvey Program. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyProfessional Association Co…Land Conservation & Nature …Christian Gospel MinistriesK-12 Charter and Private Sc…Regional History & Science …Historic Preservation & Com…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 27 years old; the field is 22. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number20%3%<5yr13%14%5–10yr15%28%10–20yr12%20%20–35yr10%22%35–55yr31%13%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value20%5%<5yr13%14%5–10yr15%29%10–20yr12%17%20–35yr10%20%35–55yr31%14%55yr+

The field is 20% startups (under 5 years old) — 3% of your grantees by number, and just 5% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 2% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
2%2/83
the rest of the field
14%
2,790/20,670

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

72 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 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 72 of the 111 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
70/72
Grantees still filing
40/72
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $88,158 · OtherTENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETYCHICK HISTORY INC — $60,000 · OtherCHICK HISTORY INC+55 more — $637,570 · Other+55 moreEast Tennessee Historical Society Inc — $48,350 · Arts & CultureEast Tennessee Historical Society IncCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCY — $42,874 · Arts & CultureCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCYMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY — $23,148 · Arts & CultureDiscovery Park of America Inc — $18,370 · Arts & Culture+36 more — $394,177 · Arts & Culture+36 moreEast Nashville Hope Exchange Inc — $49,940 · EducationGlobal Education Center — $16,936 · EducationELLA LIBRARY — $14,920 · EducationNASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION — $11,782 · EducationTHE CONTRIBUTOR INC — $5,850 · EducationKIDIZENSHIP INC — $40,000 · Human ServicesREFUGEE EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM — $14,206 · Human ServicesTHE CHATTERY — $14,920 · Community ImprovementHISTORIC LEBANON TOMORROW INC — $11,936 · Community ImprovementCENTER FOR NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT INC — $10,217 · Community ImprovementORPHEUM THEATRE GROUP — $5,920 · Community ImprovementSOUTHERN WORD INC — $16,936 · Youth DevelopmentMemphis 13 Foundation — $8,500 · Youth DevelopmentNASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT INC — $11,936 · Food & Nutrition
Other$785,728Arts & Culture$526,919Education$99,428Human Services$54,206Community Improvement$42,993Youth Development$25,436Food & Nutrition$11,936

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $88,158 over 8y, 5.4% of budgetEast Nashville Hope Exchange Inc — $49,940 over 7y, 3.9% of budgetEast Tennessee Historical Society Inc — $48,350 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCY — $42,874 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetKIDIZENSHIP INC — $40,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY — $23,148 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDiscovery Park of America Inc — $18,370 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc — $17,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN WORD INC — $16,936 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetGlobal Education Center — $16,936 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCROSSTOWN RADIO PARTNERSHIP INC — $15,931 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetKNOXVILLE HISTORY PROJECT — $15,327 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetSONGBIRDS FOUNDATION INC — $15,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetNASHVILLE HISTORICAL FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetRISE CHATTANOOGA — $14,920 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetCAMPBELL CULTURE COALITION — $14,920 over 1y, 15% of budgetROBERTSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $14,920 over 1y, 17% of budgetSOUTHERN LIT ALLIANCE — $14,920 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetART120 — $14,920 over 1y, 10% of budgetTHE CHATTERY — $14,920 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetTENNESSEE ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS INC — $14,920 over 1y, 25% of budgetBLUES CITY CULTURAL CENTER INC — $14,920 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetStoryboard Memphis LLC — $14,920 over 1y, 15% of budgetELLA LIBRARY — $14,920 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF MEMPHIS — $14,920 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetHISTORIC CRAGFONT INC — $14,490 over 2y, 6.7% of budgetROSE CENTER AND COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS INC — $14,238 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetREFUGEE EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM — $14,206 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC — $14,174 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC — $12,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL HISTORY — $12,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT INC — $11,936 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNashville Symphony Association — $11,936 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKNOX HERITAGE INC — $11,936 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetHERITAGE FOUNDATION OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY — $11,936 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS INC — $11,936 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHISTORIC LEBANON TOMORROW INC — $11,936 over 1y, 10.0% of budgetPARIS HENRY COUNTY HERITAGE CENTER — $11,936 over 1y, 15% of budgetMNGK Garvey Program — $11,936 over 1y, 48% of budgetMCMINN COUNTY LIVING HERITAGE — $11,936 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetCUMBERLAND RIVER COMPACT INC — $11,936 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBIRTHPLACE OF COUNTRY MUSIC INC — $11,936 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION — $11,782 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE URBANART COMMISSION — $11,339 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetELMAHABA CENTER — $11,190 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetRIVERARTSFEST INC — $11,059 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetSPLASH — $10,501 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetCENTER FOR NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT INC — $10,217 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

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.

Community Foundation …Memorial Foundation I…The Community Foundat…ArtsmemphisChristian Community F…The Wade-Buntin Famil…Benwood Foundation IncSouth Arts IncThe Assisi Foundation…The Community Foundat…East Tennessee Founda…Artsbuild
Community Foundation of Greater Memphis IncTN34.5× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Memorial Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · Artsmemphis · Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · The Wade-Buntin Family Foundation · Benwood Foundation Inc · South Arts Inc · The Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc · The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga Inc · East Tennessee Foundation · Artsbuild

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 Humanities Tennessee 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
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%your share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    26report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    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.

    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 111 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 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

    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 camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines