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James C & Charlotte Wardlaw Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

James C & Charlotte Wardlaw Charitable 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.

$39k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$88kArts & Culture$31kReligion$28kYouth Development$24kHuman Services$9kPhilanthropy$7kHealth$6kEnvironment$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$3,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$330k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE HAVEN LAFAYETTE$10,000
GFWC LAFAYETTE WOMENS CLUB$5,000
BELOVED WOMEN$5,000
ST JUDE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE MARSH HOUSE$3,000
CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPERD$3,000
WALKER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$3,000
THE STEPPING STONES FOUNDATION$2,500
TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$1,000
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY$750
SCULPTURE FIELDS OF MONTGUE PARK$500
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 (FY20–20, $500) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HOSPICE OF CHATTANOOGA: $500 → 12%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.
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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$130k · 15 repeat orgs$108k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +70% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
36

Total granted

$130k
$84k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+70%
+26%

Still filing today

33%
28%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 38% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $24k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
PhilanthropyEnvironmentEducationHealthArts & CultureEmploymentOther
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

  • BW
    BELOVED WOMAN
    2× · 2022–2025 · $6k · revenue +70%
  • SC
    SCENIC CITY CLAY ARTS
    2× · 2019–2024 · $2k · revenue +326%
  • LL
    LULA LAKE LAND TRUST
    2× · 2017–2018 · $1k · revenue +119%

Funded once

  • YW
    YOUNG WOMENS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
  • EU
    EMORY UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • CG
    CHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +26%
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
Chainfree Chattanooga
Animals
2
Chattanooga Design Studio

Chattanooga design studio seeks to elevate the quality of life for all citizens through guidance, collaboration, innovation, and education that promotes livable, accessible, walkable, and humane urban design.

Community Improvement
3
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art

Cheekwood's mission is to celebrate and preserve cheekwood as a historical landmark where beauty and excellence in art and horticulture nurture the spirit and serve as inspiration for a diverse and broad audience.cheekwood will be a…

Arts & Culture
4
Chattanooga Technology Council Inc

Our mission is to connect chattanooga's technology sector to drive regional economic growth.

Community Improvement
5
Cumberland Trails Conference

Our mission is to provide financial and volunteer assistance with land acquisition, design, construction, and maintenance of the Cumberland Trail in Tennessee; to serve as an advocate for the Cumberland Trail and the regions bounding it in…

Recreation & Sports
6
The Land Trust for Tennessee Inc

To conserve the unique character of tennessee's natural and historic landscapes and sites for future generations.

Environment
7
Tenngreen Land Conservancy

The organization's primary mission is conserving land where people and nature can thrive by creating green corridors linking existing public lands using conservation easments and outright purchase.

Recreation & Sports
8
The Cherokee Caddy Scholarship Foundation Inc
Philanthropy
9
Cloudstone Foundation
Arts & Culture
10
Rocky Mountain Pathways
—
11
Chattanooga Audubon Society

To educate and promote an understanding of the responsibility to preserve and protect our environmental, cultural and historical resources through programs and events

Environment
12
Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise

Mission: to create economically diverse neighborhoods filled with financially empowered citizens and housing for all.vision: all chattanoogans can afford a safe place in a strong neighborhood to call home. belief: we believe the future of…

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of Greater Ch; the most unlike its peers is The Stepping Stones 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

18 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. 18 of the 58 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
11/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHEROKEE REGIONAL LIBRARY: $56,250 · OtherCHEROKEE REGIONAL LIBRARYYOUNG WOMENS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $20,000 · OtherYOUNG WOMENS LEADERSHIP ACADEMYFAIRYLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $13,250 · OtherFAIRYLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLEMORY UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · OtherGFWC LAFAYETTE WOMENS CLUB: $10,000 · OtherTHE HAVEN - LAFAYETTE: $10,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE MARSH HOUSE: $9,000 · OtherCHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPARD: $8,000 · Other+37 more: $75,350 · Other+37 moreCHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $5,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $2,000 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $300 · EducationBELOVED WOMAN: $6,200 · EmploymentST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $5,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF GREATER CH: $250 · HealthSCENIC CITY CLAY ARTS: $2,400 · Arts & CultureSCULPTURE FIELDS AT MONTAGUE PARK: $1,000 · Arts & CultureLULA LAKE LAND TRUST: $1,250 · PhilanthropyCRABTREE FARMS OF CHATTANOOGA INC: $750 · PhilanthropyREFLECTION RIDING ARBORETUM AND NATURE CENTER: $1,000 · EnvironmentLOOKOUT MOUNTAIN CONSERVANCY: $500 · EnvironmentJOURNEY HEALTH FOUNDATION: $500 · Human Services
Other$211,850Education$7,300Employment$6,200Health$5,250Arts & Culture$3,400Philanthropy$2,000Environment$1,500Human Services$500

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 budgetBELOVED WOMAN: $6,200 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetCHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMES & HAVENS: $4,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSCENIC CITY CLAY ARTS: $2,400 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREFLECTION RIDING ARBORETUM AND NATURE CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSCULPTURE FIELDS AT MONTAGUE PARK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLOOKOUT MOUNTAIN CONSERVANCY: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHEROKEE AREA COUNCIL INCORPORATED BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHATTANOOGA AREA CENTRAL OFFICE INC: $500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetJOURNEY HEALTH FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLES H COOLIDGE NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR HERITAGE CENTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF GREATER CH: $250 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.

  • Who funds BELOVED WOMAN ↗
  • Who funds CHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds HOMES & HAVENS ↗
  • Who funds THE STEPPING STONES FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SCENIC CITY CLAY ARTS ↗
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LULA LAKE LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds REFLECTION RIDING ARBORETUM AND NATURE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds SCULPTURE FIELDS AT MONTAGUE PARK ↗

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…Benwood Foundation IncLyndhurst Foundation …Chattanooga Christian…The Hacker and Kitty …Robert F Stone Founda…Frank Jb & Emma S Var…Riverview Foundation …Hazel Montague Hutche…Footprint Foundation …Tucker FoundationWeldon F Osborne Foun…
The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga IncTN28× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga Inc · Benwood Foundation Inc · Lyndhurst Foundation Inc · Chattanooga Christian Community Foundation · The Hacker and Kitty Caldwell Family Foundation Inc · Robert F Stone Foundation AKA Bobby Stone Foundation · Frank Jb & Emma S Varallo Foundation · Riverview Foundation Inc · Hazel Montague Hutcheson Foundation · Footprint Foundation Inc · Tucker Foundation · Weldon F Osborne Foundation Inc

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 James C & Charlotte Wardlaw Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James C & Charlotte Wardlaw Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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.

    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 58 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on James C & Charlotte Wardlaw’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