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The Bill Gatton Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Bill Gatton Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$27M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$13M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$58MReligion$1.3MPhilanthropy$1.2MHealth$402kFood & Nutrition$300kHuman Services$14kCommunity Improvement$1k
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $43k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $254k
  • $250k+6 grants · $27M
$1,800,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$931M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY$13,200,000
KING UNIVERSITY$5,574,796
ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE$4,000,000
VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$2,000,000
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA COLLEGE AT WISE$1,800,000
MCCLEAN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS$265,000
BRISTOL TENNESSEE CITY SCHOOLS$150,000
UNITED WAY OF BRISTOL$103,608
APPALACHIAN LITERACY INITIATIVE$43,452
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 81% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Mayo Clinic: $200k → 9%Middle Tennessee State Univ Foundat: $50k → 9%KING UNIVERSITY: $5.6M → 15%Alzheimer's Association: $500 → 14%VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 11%Oak Hill Academy: $50k → 19%Virginia Tech University: $2k → 21%UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA COLLEGE AT WISE: $1.8M → 22%ASBURY UNIVERSITY: $2k → 12%MCCLEAN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $265k → 14%BARNSTABLE BROWN DIABETIC CENTER: $1k → 15%Western Kentucky University Foundat: $1.2M → 18%FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH: $1k → 18%BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH: $1.3M → 20%Kentucky FFA Foundation Inc: $300k → 21%LETCHER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $300k → 29%ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE: $4.0M → 29%Mayo Clinic: $200k → 9%KING UNIVERSITY: $4.0M → 15%EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE: $2.0M → 11%Virginia Tech University: $1k → 21%Sacramento United Methodist Church: $2k → 14%Maxwell Presbyterian Church: $100 → 15%Alice Lloyd College: $200k → 29%BRISTOL TENNESSEE CITY SCHOOLS: $150k → 15%Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame: $1k → 15%UNITED WAY OF BRISTOL: $104k → 15%BRISTOL TN CITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%UNITED WAY OF BRISTOL TNVA: $21k → 15%UNITED WAY OF BRISTOL TNVA: $14k → 15%United Way of Bristol TN-VA: $14k → 15%United Way of Bristol TN-VA: $14k → 15%Homeland Baptist Church: $50 → 15%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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$50M · 6 repeat orgs$10M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against -8% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
18

Total granted

$50M
$6.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
-8%

Still filing today

67%
28%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4.2M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHealthOther
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

  • KU
    KING UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $9.6M · revenue +7%
  • AL
    ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE
    2× · 2021–2024 · $4.2M · revenue +63%
  • AL
    APPALACHIAN LITERACY INITIATIVE
    4× · 2021–2024 · $65k · revenue +211%

Funded once

  • EH
    EMORY & HENRY UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $2.0M · revenue +6%
  • BB
    BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $1.3M
  • WK
    Western Kentucky University Foundat
    one grant, 2021 · $1.2M
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
University of Lynchburg

The mission of the University is to inspire independent thinkers who become trustworthy, effective leaders that shape caring communities. The vision of the University of Lynchburg is to cultivate a world that is innovative, authentic, and…

Education
2
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
3
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
4
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
5
Augsburg University

Augsburg university educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.the augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its…

Education
6
American Association of State Colleges and Universities

Aascu is a washington, d.c. based higher education association that represents the sector of over 500 regional public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning and teaching centered culture, a commitment to…

Education
7
Coker University

Coker university is a student-centered, comprehensive university. it is dedicated to providing every student an academic curriculum based upon a uniformly excellent liberal arts core that enhances the structured development of key personal…

Education
8
West Virginia Independent Colleges and Universities Inc

The mission of wvicu is to advance collectively the interests of west virginia's independent colleges and universities and their students.

Education
9
American University

To advance knowledge, foster intellectual curiosity, build community, and empower lives of purpose, service, and leadership.

Education
10
Augustana University Association

Inspired by lutheran scholarly tradition and the liberal arts, augustana provides an education of enduring worth that challenges the intellect, fosters integrity and integrates faith with learning and service in a diverse world.

Education
11
Eastern Mennonite University

A leader among faith-based universities Eastern Mennonite University emphasizes peace-building creation care experiential learning and intercultural engagement. Founded in 1917 in Harrisonburg Virginia EMU is an educational institution of…

—
12
Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine

The mission of the edward via college of osteopathic medicine (vcom) is to prepare globally-minded, community-focused physicians to meet the needs of rural and medically underserved populations and promote research to improve human health.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is King University; the most unlike its peers is Middle Tennessee State University 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

11 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. 11 of the 29 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
6/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: $35,900,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKYUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA COLLEGE AT WISE: $1,800,000 · Other+17 more: $4,761,958 · Other+17 moreKING UNIVERSITY: $9,574,796 · EducationKING UNIVERSITYALICE LLOYD COLLEGE: $4,200,000 · EducationALICE LLOYD COLLEGEVIRGINIA HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION INC: $2,000,000 · EducationVIRGINIA HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION INCEMORY & HENRY UNIVERSITY: $2,000,000 · EducationEMORY & HENRY UNIVERSITY+2 more: $52,000 · EducationMAYO CLINIC: $400,000 · Health+1 more: $500 · HealthAPPALACHIAN LITERACY INITIATIVE: $65,452 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$42,461,958Education$17,826,796Health$400,500Arts & Culture$66,452

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 budgetKING UNIVERSITY: $9,574,796 over 2y, 14% of budgetALICE LLOYD COLLEGE: $4,200,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetVIRGINIA HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION INC: $2,000,000 over 1y, 53% of budgetEMORY & HENRY UNIVERSITY: $2,000,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $400,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF BRISTOL TN-VA INC: $166,608 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetAPPALACHIAN LITERACY INITIATIVE: $65,452 over 4y, 12% of budgetASBURY COLLEGE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAWESOME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $500 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 KING UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds EMORY & HENRY UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF BRISTOL TN-VA INC ↗
  • Who funds APPALACHIAN LITERACY INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ASBURY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds AWESOME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP INC ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION 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.

Wellmont Health SystemIbm International Fou…The Blackbaud Giving …American Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Wellmont Health SystemTN15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Wellmont Health System · Ibm International Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 The Bill Gatton Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bill Gatton Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Bill Gatton Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Bill Gatton 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 29 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Bill Gatton’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