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Matt H Dobson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Matt H Dobson 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.

$24k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$12k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0174% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$212kEnvironment$83kArts & Culture$42kRecreation & Sports$3kReligion$2kYouth Development$1kAnimals$1kPublic Safety & Disaster$637Other$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $12k
$6,990
Median grant
2
States reached
$434k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HARPETH CONSERVANCY$11,716
Individual grant recipient$6,990
MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY$5,200
Individual grant recipient$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 80% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $12k → 4%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%DELTA WATERFOWL: $1k → 10%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $10k → 4%WARNER PARK: $3k → 14%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $10k → 4%SUNDAY IN THE PARK: $3k → 14%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $10k → 4%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $10k → 4%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $8k → 4%HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $6k → 14%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $8k → 4%HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $4k → 14%HARPETH CONSERVANCY: $6k → 4%HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $4k → 14%HARPETH HALL: $3k → 14%HARPETH HALL: $3k → 14%HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $3k → 14%HARPETH HALL: $3k → 14%EVE OF JANUS: $700 → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $33k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $29k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $26k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $26k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $25k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $23k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $20k → 14%CHEEKWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS: $9k → 14%CHEEKWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS: $7k → 14%CHEEKWOOD: $7k → 14%MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY: $5k → 14%CHEEKWOOD: $4k → 14%CHEEKWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS: $4k → 14%CHEEKWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS: $4k → 14%CHEEKWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS: $4k → 14%WEST END UMC: $7k → 14%WEST END UMC: $5k → 14%WEST END UMC: $5k → 14%WEST END UMC: $4k → 14%WEST END UMC: $3k → 14%WEST END UMC: $3k → 14%WEST END UMC: $3k → 14%WEST END UMC: $882 → 14%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $5k → 14%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $5k → 14%NASHVILLE SYMPHONY: $1k → 14%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

ND
KY
VA
TN
NC
LA
GA
TX
FL
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.
$384k · 17 repeat orgs$19k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +55% since the first grant, against +38% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
32

Total granted

$384k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+55%
+38%

Still filing today

47%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentHealthAnimalsOther
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

  • MB
    MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE
    8× · 2017–2025 · $186k · revenue +6%
  • HC
    HARPETH CONSERVANCY
    8× · 2018–2025 · $72k · revenue +281%
  • CB
    CHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART
    7× · 2017–2024 · $37k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
  • SI
    SUNDAY IN THE PARK
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
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
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
2
Tennessee Aquarium

The mission of the Tennessee Aquarium is to connect people with nature and empower them to make informed decisions about water and wildlife.

Animals
3
National Public Radio Inc

National public radio, inc. ("npr") works collaboratively with member public radio station licensees ("member stations") to create a more informed public, one that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of…

Arts & Culture
4
Nashville Opera Association

To bravely imagine the power and passion of opera and who can sing and enjoy it.

Arts & Culture
5
North Carolina Symphony Society Inc

To be north carolina's state orchestra, an orchestra achieving the highest level of artistic quality and performance standards, and embracing its dual legacies of statewide service and music education.

Arts & Culture
6
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
7
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
8
National Press Photographers Association Inc

The national press photographers association is dedicated to the advancement of visual journalism, its creation, practice, training, editing and distribution, in all news media and works to promote its role as a vital public service.

—
9
Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau

The mission of the NCVB is to maximize the economic contribution of the hospitality industry to the total community by developing and marketing Nashville as a premier domestic and international destination for visitors. This is the second…

Community Improvement
10
Northeast Tenn Assoc of Realtors

Our mission is to serve our members through education, professionalism, and legislative involvement

—
11
Greenways for Nashville Inc

Greenways for nashville promotes, supports, and enhances a system of greenways and open space in nashville and davidson county.

Recreation & Sports
12
Boston Architectural College

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

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nashville Public Radio; the most unlike its peers is The National World War Ii Museum Inc. 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

20 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. 20 of the 49 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
17/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE: $186,284 · EducationMONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLETHE HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $17,250 · EducationTHE HARPETH HALL SCHOOL+2 more: $1,150 · EducationIndividual grant recipient: $32,230 · OtherIndividual grant recipi…SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $10,000 · OtherSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL …Individual grant recipient: $9,187 · OtherIndividual grant recipi…Individual grant recipient: $7,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipi…UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $7,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAR…Individual grant recipient: $4,300 · Other+28 more: $12,587 · Other+28 moreHARPETH CONSERVANCY: $72,466 · EnvironmentHARPETH CONSERVANCY+1 more: $200 · EnvironmentCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $36,900 · Arts & CultureCHEEKWOOD B…NASHVILLE PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $2,450 · Arts & CultureNASHVILLE P…+5 more: $1,670 · Arts & CultureDelta Waterfowl Foundation: $1,000 · AnimalsST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $50 · Health
Education$204,684Other$83,304Environment$72,666Arts & Culture$41,020Animals$1,000Health$50

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE: $186,284 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHARPETH CONSERVANCY: $72,466 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $36,900 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $17,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $2,450 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNashville Symphony Association: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDelta Waterfowl Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUNDRED CLUB OF NASHVILLE: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE BALLET: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFranklin Firefighters Association: $112 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELCOURT THEATRE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE TREE FOUNDATION: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO: $35 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM INC: $35 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 MONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE ↗
  • Who funds HARPETH CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds CHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds THE HARPETH HALL SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds Nashville Symphony Association ↗
  • Who funds Delta Waterfowl Foundation ↗
  • Who funds TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds 6 8 FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE HUNDRED CLUB OF NASHVILLE ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE BALLET ↗
  • Who funds Ducks Unlimited Inc ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗
  • Who funds Franklin Firefighters Association ↗
  • Who funds BELCOURT THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE TREE FOUNDATION ↗

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 Steven & Laurie E…The Community Foundat…The Wade-Buntin Famil…Sandra Schatten Found…Patricia and Rodes Ha…The Annette & Irwin E…Memorial Foundation I…Hca Healthcare Founda…Kelley Robertson Foun…Thomas & Mamie Houser…Anne Bransford Wallac…James R Meadows Jr Fo…
The Steven & Laurie Eskind Family FoundationTN20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Steven & Laurie Eskind Family Foundation · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · The Wade-Buntin Family Foundation · Sandra Schatten Foundation · Patricia and Rodes Hart Foundation · The Annette & Irwin Eskind Family Foundation · Memorial Foundation Inc · Hca Healthcare Foundation · Kelley Robertson Foundation · Thomas & Mamie Houser Charitable Foundation · Anne Bransford Wallace Foundation · James R Meadows Jr 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 Matt H Dobson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Matt H Dobson 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%4%8%11%15%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 · 0–15%
    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 49 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 Matt H Dobson’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