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· Private foundation

Lawson Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
86
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2021–2024.

Education$1.4MHealth$740kCommunity Improvement$370kYouth Development$350kRecreation & Sports$285kArts & Culture$278kFood & Nutrition$225kPhilanthropy$205kOther$0
02FY2024 · 86 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k38 grants · $150k
  • $10k–50k36 grants · $675k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.1M
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$10,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$238k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EMERALD CHARTER SCHOOLS$500,000
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION$200,000
UNITED WAY OF GREATER KNOXVILLE$175,000
EAST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY DESIGN CEN$150,000
KNOXVILLE LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION$100,000
YOUR MOVE COLLECTIVE$100,000
KNOX COUNTY COMMUNITY GARDENERS$100,000
KNOXVILLE OPERA$50,000
KIM HEALTH CENTER$50,000
KOINONIA FOUNDATION OF KNOXVILLE$50,000
AUTISM BREAKTHROUGH OF KNOXVILLE$50,000
EAST TENNESSEE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL$50,000
KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$40,000
REAL TALK MENTORING INC$35,000
HEALING THE HOME$30,000
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 (FY21–24, $240k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS: $10k → 14%HOLSTON HOME FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 17%Penultimate Development: $20k → 11%CHILDHELP INC: $15k → 12%CHILDHELP INC: $15k → 12%BIP KNOXVILLE: $5k → 12%ChildHelp Inc: $3k → 12%YWCA KNOXVILLE: $25k → 12%MY DAUGHTER'S JOURNEY: $5k → 12%THE RESTORATION HOUSE OF EAST TENNE: $10k → 12%SOAR YOUTH MINISTRIES: $15k → 12%CONNECT MINISTRIES: $50k → 12%POSITIVELY LIVING: $5k → 12%UUNIK ACADEMY: $25k → 12%Knoxville Family Justice Ctr: $15k → 12%Positively Living: $10k → 12%ANGELIC MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL: $5k → 12%Carecuts: $3k → 12%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.

Which US states your grants reach

NY
CA
VA
MD
TN
DC
GA
TX

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.

53%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.5M · 26 repeat orgs$2.2M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +14% since the first grant, against -10% for the ones you funded once.

26 repeat relationships — 21 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 63 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
40

Total granted

$2.5M
$925k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
-10%

Still filing today

69%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentInternationalOther

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

  • EC
    EMERALD CHARTER SCHOOLS
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +29%
  • HR
    HELEN ROSS MCNABB FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $300k · revenue +109%
  • KL
    KNOXVILLE LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $120k · revenue +14%

Funded once

  • SA
    Shangri-La Academy of Riding
    one grant, 2022 · $200k
  • WC
    WILLIAMS CREEK YOUTH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue -30%
  • TC
    THE CHANGE CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue -24%

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
Hope House of Tennessee Inc

By creating a safe and structured two year residential program the Hope House of Tennessee will aim to equip and empower personal and educational growth economic self-sufficiency and a deeper understanding of Christs unconditional love.

Housing & Shelter
2
4 Market Square Inc

Primarily to spread the gospel of jesus christ in downtown knoxville, tennessee by serving the community of the greater knoxville area through the provision of services, resources, worship, teaching, fellowship and networking capabilities.

Religion
3
Knox Housing Partnership Inc

To provide affordable housing to low and moderate income persons in east tennessee through first-time homebuyer education; assist with mortgage loans, downpayments, and closing costs; build new single family housing; develop multi-family…

Housing & Shelter
4
Asian Culture Center of Tennessee

The asian culture center of tennessee (acctn) was founded in 2014 to help the next generation take their place as global citizens with a strong understanding for and appreciation of other cultures. through tailored programs and…

Arts & Culture
5
Goodwill Industries - Knoxville Inc

Goodwill industries-knoxville, inc. (the organization") is a nonprofit corporation. our mission at goodwill industries-knoxville, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is changing lives and strengthening families by helping people reach…

Employment
6
Tennessee Kids Belong Inc

Tennessee Kids Belong dramatically improves the experiences and outcomes for children in foster care.

Human Services
7
Next Step Initiative Tennessee

To meet people exactly where they arewithout judgmentand walk with them as they take their next steps in their journey whether recovery or simply Harm Reduction. We build authentic relationships rooted in trust, dignity, and unconditional…

Housing & Shelter
8
Empower Tennessee

To promote independence for persons with disabilities and provide guidance, education, and advocacy.

Human Services
9
Keith Dixon Foundation

Our mission is to provide high-quality recovery housing and recovery support services to individuals struggling with substance use disorder in Tennessee. We believe that our actions speak louder than our words. Since our inception in 2021,…

Philanthropy
10
Blount County Youth Court Inc

Tennessee Youth Court (TYC) is a teen-driven juvenile delinquency prevention/intervention diversion program based on restorative justice.

—
11
Ywca Nashville & Middle Tennessee

The ywca nashville & middle tennessee is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. it is the vision of ywca nashville & middle tennessee to focus on women and girls who…

—
12
Tennessee Voices for Children

Tennessee voices for children, inc. (tnv) is a statewide and national source of referral, support, and advocacy for families and the systems that serve them. our mission is to be the collaborative leader guiding mental health…

Health

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Young Women's Christian Association and the most unlike its peers is Real Talk Mentoring Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 25 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number21%8%<5yr14%11%5–10yr19%20%10–20yr17%27%20–35yr15%19%35–55yr14%16%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value21%6%<5yr14%7%5–10yr19%38%10–20yr17%24%20–35yr15%15%35–55yr14%10%55yr+

The field is 21% startups (under 5 years old) — 8% of your grantees by number, and just 6% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 1% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
1%1/85
the rest of the field
13%
2,590/20,347

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

84 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. 84 of the 130 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
82/84
Grantees still filing
38/84
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

Shangri-La Academy of Riding — $200,000 · OtherShangri-La Academy of RidingUNITED WAY OF GREATER KNOXVILLEINC — $175,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF GREATER KNOXVILLEINCKNOX COUNTY COMMUNITY GARDENERS — $150,000 · OtherKNOX COUNTY COMMUNITY GARDENERSEAST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY DESIGN CEN — $150,000 · OtherEAST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY DESIGN CENRAISING A VOICE — $75,000 · Other+72 more — $1,138,000 · Other+72 moreEMERALD CHARTER SCHOOLS — $1,000,000 · EducationEMERALD CHARTER SCHOOLSTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC — $200,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOU…+7 more — $112,000 · Education+7 moreHELEN ROSS MCNABB FOUNDATION — $300,000 · HealthHELEN ROSS MC…Free Medical Clinic of America — $75,000 · HealthFree Medical …INTERFAITH HEALTH CENTER — $75,000 · HealthINTERFAITH HE…EAST TENNESSEE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION INC — $50,000 · HealthEAST TENNESSE…New Direction Healthcare Solutions — $26,500 · HealthThe Mend House Sober Living Community — $25,000 · Health+4 more — $13,500 · HealthSOAR YOUTH MINISTRIES INC THRIVE LONSDALE — $50,000 · Human ServicesUUNIK ACADEMY INC — $50,000 · Human ServicesCONNECT MINISTRIES — $50,000 · Human ServicesCHILDHELP INC — $32,500 · Human ServicesTHE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION — $25,000 · Human ServicesPenultimate Development — $20,000 · Human ServicesKNOXVILLE FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER — $15,000 · Human ServicesPOSITIVELY LIVING — $15,000 · Human Services+8 more — $52,500 · Human ServicesKNOXVILLE LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION INC — $120,000 · ReligionNORTH POINT PRODUCTIONS INC — $100,000 · ReligionFOCUS MINISTRIES — $25,000 · ReligionKNOXVILLE OPERA COMPANY — $60,000 · Arts & CultureKNOXVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY INCORPORATED — $45,000 · Arts & CultureKNOXVILLE HISTORY PROJECT — $25,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSE KNOXVILLE — $20,000 · Arts & CultureJUNIOR APPALACHIAN MUSICIANS INC — $16,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC TENNESSEE THEATRE FOUNDATION — $15,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more — $19,500 · Arts & CultureWILLIAMS CREEK YOUTH FOUNDATION — $100,000 · Recreation & SportsSTREET HOPE TN — $60,000 · Recreation & SportsKARATE FIVE ASSOCIATION INC — $25,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$1,888,000Education$1,312,000Health$565,000Human Services$310,000Religion$245,000Arts & Culture$200,500Recreation & Sports$185,000

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$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetEMERALD CHARTER SCHOOLS — $1,000,000 over 3y, 7.0% of budgetHELEN ROSS MCNABB FOUNDATION — $300,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC — $200,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER KNOXVILLEINC — $175,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetKNOXVILLE LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION INC — $120,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetWILLIAMS CREEK YOUTH FOUNDATION — $100,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetRAISING A VOICE — $75,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetFree Medical Clinic of America — $75,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetINTERFAITH HEALTH CENTER — $75,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetKNOXVILLE OPERA COMPANY — $60,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetSTREET HOPE TN — $60,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetSOAR YOUTH MINISTRIES INC THRIVE LONSDALE — $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CHANGE CENTER — $50,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetEAST TENNESSEE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION INC — $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE REAL GOOD KITCHEN FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 55% of budgetBreakthrough Corporation D/B/A Autism Breakthrough of Knoxville — $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUUNIK ACADEMY INC — $50,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetCONNECT MINISTRIES — $50,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetMEN OF VALOR — $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetKNOXVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY INCORPORATED — $45,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetREAL TALK MENTORING INC — $40,000 over 2y, 51% of budgetCHILDHELP INC — $32,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTwo Bikes — $28,500 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetNew Direction Healthcare Solutions — $26,500 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetTHE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION — $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Mend House Sober Living Community — $25,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetTNACHIEVES — $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetKNOXVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER — $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetGIRL TALK INC — $25,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetBRIDGE REFUGEE SERVICES INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetKNOXVILLE COLLEGE — $25,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetFOCUS MINISTRIES — $25,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetPARTNERSHIP TENNESSEE — $25,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetKARATE FIVE ASSOCIATION INC — $25,000 over 1y, 29% of budgetKNOXVILLE HISTORY PROJECT — $25,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetPenultimate Development — $20,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetTHE MUSE KNOXVILLE — $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetHAND UP FOR WOMEN — $20,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetJUNIOR APPALACHIAN MUSICIANS INC — $16,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetKNOXVILLE FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER — $15,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetHISTORIC TENNESSEE THEATRE FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPOSITIVELY LIVING — $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF TENNESSEE VALLEY — $12,500 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY SHARES INC — $10,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetPartnership With Native Americans — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTENNESSEE INNOCENCE PROJECT — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGirls on the Run of Greater Knoxville — $10,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetTHE RESTORATION HOUSE OF EAST TENNESSEE — $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% 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.

East Tennessee Founda…United Way of Greater…The Clayton Homes Fou…Haslam Family Foundat…Stowers Machinery Fou…Thompson Charitable F…Bill and Crissy Hasla…Trinity Health Founda…Akima Club IncGene & Florence Monda…The Boyd FoundationUniversity Health Sys…
East Tennessee FoundationTN76.8× affinity37 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: East Tennessee Foundation · United Way of Greater Knoxvilleinc · The Clayton Homes Foundation · Haslam Family Foundation Inc · Stowers Machinery Foundation Inc · Thompson Charitable Foundation · Bill and Crissy Haslam Foundation · Trinity Health Foundation of East Tennessee · Akima Club Inc · Gene & Florence Monday Foundation Inc · The Boyd Foundation · University Health System Inc

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 Lawson Family Foundation 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 · 10%4%15%34%60%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    37report 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

    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.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Lawson Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lawson Family 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 130 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. 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