Skip to content
John Dustin Buckman Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

John Dustin Buckman Charitable Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$349k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$6.5MEducation$1.8MYouth Development$1.3MArts & Culture$742kHuman Services$562kReligion$314kCrime & Legal$255kFood & Nutrition$126kOther$0
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k10 grants · $255k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $445k
  • $250k+2 grants · $698k
$40,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPL$349,020
LE BONHEUR CHILDRENS MEDICAL CTR$349,020
SAINT PAUL CATHOLIC SCHOOL$100,000
DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS$75,000
THE DENNIS PRICE JR FOUNDATION$60,000
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL$55,000
ST AGNES ACADEMY$55,000
EMMANUEL CENTER INC$50,000
MEMPHIS TEACHER RESIDENCY INC$50,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF WEST$40,000
MEMPHIS URBAN YOUNG LIFE$40,000
SERVICE OVER SELF$35,000
MEMPHIS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER$35,000
ROOM IN THE INN-MEMPHIS$25,000
CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS$20,000
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 (FY17–25, $523k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%PALMER HOME FOR CHILDREN: $20k → 10%SERVICE OVER SELF: $35k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $35k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $30k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $20k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $20k → 17%EXCHANGE CLUB FAMILY CENTER: $25k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $20k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $10k → 17%WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $20k → 17%COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR HOMELESS INC: $20k → 17%WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $15k → 17%COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR HOMELESS INC: $15k → 17%COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR HOMELESS INC: $15k → 17%WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $15k → 17%WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $13k → 17%COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTER: $10k → 17%STREETS MINISTRIES INC: $15k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC: $20k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER INC: $20k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER INC: $20k → 17%THE DENNIS PRICE JR FOUNDATION: $60k → 17%THE DENNIS PRICE JR FOUNDATION: $25k → 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.
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 35 repeat orgs$552k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
21

Total granted

$11M
$512k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+31%

Still filing today

63%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k 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
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureHealthCrime & LegalReligionOther
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

  • EC
    EMMANUEL CENTER INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $600k · revenue +52%
  • DG
    Dixon Gallery and Gardens
    9× · 2017–2025 · $505k · revenue +34%
  • LC
    Life Choices of Memphis Inc
    7× · 2017–2023 · $310k · revenue +62%

Funded once

  • BM
    BAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +23%
  • LC
    Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +187%
  • SM
    ST MICHAEL'S CATHOLIC SHURCH
    one grant, 2018 · $40k
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
One Family Memphis
Human Services
2
Harding Academy of Memphis Inc

Harding academy of memphis, inc. is a private school providing education from pre kindergarten through grade twelve.

Education
3
Mayor's Institute for Excellence in Government Inc

Develop and implement programs to meet major urban challenges that exist for memphis, tennessee

Public Benefit
4
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.

—
5
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis Inc

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis, Inc. sees a world where every family has what they need to ensure the best health outcomes for their children. They provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and…

Health
6
Methodist Children's Home

Methodist children's home equips children, youth, and families to flourish by offering hope through christian-centered relationships, services, and support.

Human Services
7
Pregnancy Centers of Middle Tennessee Inc

Our mission is to affirm the value of life by providing a network of care. We strive to empower mothers and fathers experiencing planned and unplanned pregnancies with healthy options through medical services, education, mentoring and…

Health
8
Children's Foundation of Memphis
Health
9
Memphis Recovery Centers Inc

Memphis recovery centers, inc. (mrc) provides compassionate treatment services for youth and adults suffering from substance addiction and co-occurring disorders, utilizing professional methods to improve spiritual, physical, emotional,…

Health
10
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
11
Tennessee Children's Home Inc

Tennessee children's home, inc. is a not-for-profit organization that provides a home for neglected and pre-delinquent children who have an unstable family situation and who are beginning to develop problems which cannot be solved in their…

Human Services
12
City Leadership

City leadership's mission is to recruit, develop, and catalyze leaders for the benefit of the city of memphis. the organization was founded in order to maximize the leadership capital and potential of memphis. city leadership strives to…

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Neighborhood Christian Centers Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Dennis Price Jr 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

39 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. 39 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/39
Grantees still filing
24/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LE BONHEUR CHILDRENS MEDICAL CTR: $2,990,443 · OtherLE BONHEUR CHILDRENS MEDICAL CTRST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPL: $2,990,443 · OtherST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPLMEMPHIS URBAN YOUNG LIFE: $398,000 · OtherSAINT PAUL CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $382,620 · OtherST AGNES ACADEMY: $320,000 · OtherBinghampton Christian Academy Inc: $297,000 · Other+21 more: $1,500,485 · Other+21 moreDixon Gallery and Gardens: $504,500 · Arts & CultureMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY: $127,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureLorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation: $50,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $10,000 · Arts & CultureEMMANUEL CENTER INC: $600,000 · ReligionREDZONE MEMPHIS INC: $75,000 · ReligionService Over Self Inc: $170,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN'S FOUNDATION FOR A GREATER MEMPHIS: $87,500 · Human ServicesTHE DENNIS PRICE JR FOUNDATION: $85,000 · Human ServicesNEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesA STEP AHEAD FOUNDATION INC: $52,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR THE HOMELESS: $50,000 · Human ServicesHOPE HOUSE: $40,000 · Human ServicesTHE FAMILY CENTER INC: $25,000 · Human Services+3 more: $45,000 · Human ServicesLife Choices of Memphis Inc: $310,090 · HealthBAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · HealthCHURCH HEALTH CENTER OF MEMPHIS INC: $35,000 · HealthMEMPHIS TEACHER RESIDENCY INC: $150,000 · EducationNEW DAY SCHOOLS INC DBA COMPASS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS: $100,000 · EducationMEMPHIS OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP TRUST INC: $95,000 · EducationNEW HOPE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $15,000 · Education+3 more: $30,000 · EducationMEMPHIS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: $220,000 · Crime & LegalONE BY ONE MINISTRIES: $31,041 · Crime & LegalKindred Place Inc: $25,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$8,878,991Arts & Culture$741,500Religion$675,000Human Services$614,500Health$395,090Education$390,000Crime & Legal$276,041

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 budgetEMMANUEL CENTER INC: $600,000 over 9y, 14% of budgetDixon Gallery and Gardens: $504,500 over 9y, 1.5% of budgetLife Choices of Memphis Inc: $310,090 over 7y, 4.3% of budgetBinghampton Christian Academy Inc: $297,000 over 9y, 3.0% of budgetMEMPHIS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: $220,000 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetService Over Self Inc: $170,000 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetMEMPHIS TEACHER RESIDENCY INC: $150,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY: $127,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetMID-SOUTH FOOD BANK: $125,800 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMAN RISE FOUNDATION: $105,000 over 3y, 75% of budgetMEMPHIS LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $101,150 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetNEW DAY SCHOOLS INC DBA COMPASS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS: $100,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetMEMPHIS OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP TRUST INC: $95,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetCONFIDENTIAL CARE MOBILE MINISTRY: $90,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetWOMEN'S FOUNDATION FOR A GREATER MEMPHIS: $87,500 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetTHE DENNIS PRICE JR FOUNDATION: $85,000 over 2y, 30% of budgetREDZONE MEMPHIS INC: $75,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetA STEP AHEAD FOUNDATION INC: $52,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR THE HOMELESS: $50,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHOPE HOUSE: $40,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetCHURCH HEALTH CENTER OF MEMPHIS INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetONE BY ONE MINISTRIES: $31,041 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetKindred Place Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHARWOOD CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetROOM IN THE INN - MEMPHIS: $25,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetTHE FAMILY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPALMER HOME FOR CHILDREN: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNEW HOPE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSTREETS MINISTRIES INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY LEGAL CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNEW BALLET ENSEMBLE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCOLLEGIATE SCHOOL OF MEMPHIS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVISIBLE MUSIC COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAGAPE CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 EMMANUEL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Dixon Gallery and Gardens ↗
  • Who funds Life Choices of Memphis Inc ↗
  • Who funds Binghampton Christian Academy Inc ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Service Over Self Inc ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS TEACHER RESIDENCY INC ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds MID-SOUTH FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds MAN RISE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW DAY SCHOOLS INC DBA COMPASS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds CONFIDENTIAL CARE MOBILE MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN'S FOUNDATION FOR A GREATER MEMPHIS ↗
  • Who funds THE DENNIS PRICE JR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REDZONE MEMPHIS INC ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds A STEP AHEAD FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR THE HOMELESS ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS INC ↗
  • Who funds BAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation ↗
  • Who funds HOPE HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds CHURCH HEALTH CENTER OF MEMPHIS 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.

Christian Community F…Community Foundation …The Kemmons Wilson Fa…Thomas W Briggs Found…The Urban Child Insti…United Way of the Mid…The Day FoundationPlough FoundationSlingshot Memphis IncCrews Family Foundati…Thomas Garrott Founda…Children's Foundation…
Christian Community Foundation of MemphisTN61.6× affinity29 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 · The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation · Thomas W Briggs Foundation Inc · The Urban Child Institute · United Way of the Mid South · The Day Foundation · Plough Foundation · Slingshot Memphis Inc · Crews Family Foundation · Thomas Garrott Foundation · Children's Foundation of Memphis

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 John Dustin Buckman Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John Dustin Buckman Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%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
    0get no government money at all
    21report 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.

    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 John Dustin Buckman’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