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The Danner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Danner Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$503k
Granted FY2025still arriving
35
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$55k
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.

Human Services$345kPhilanthropy$312kYouth Development$291kRecreation & Sports$269kArts & Culture$252kEducation$234kHealth$164kFood & Nutrition$114kOther$0
02FY2025 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $78k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $220k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $205k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$8.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MakeAWish Middle Tennessee$55,000
Harpeth Conservancy$50,000
Harpeth Hall School$50,000
University School of Nashville$50,000
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee$40,000
Hub Youth Cycling Incorporated$35,000
Tennessee Performing Arts Center$25,000
Harpeth Youth Cycling Inc$25,000
Helen Ross McNabb Foundation$25,000
Missional Living Inc$20,000
Nashville Urban Debate League$10,000
Cheekwood$10,000
Nashville Ballet$10,000
Oher Foundation$10,000
Nashville Childrens Alliance$10,000
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 (FY20–25, $203k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Pure Inc dba Pure Charity: $22k → 8%Tuckers House: $10k → 4%Tucker's House: $3k → 4%Tusculum Child Care Center: $5k → 14%Tusculum Child Care Center: $3k → 14%Gordon Jewish Community Center: $2k → 14%Gordon Jewish Community Center: $1k → 14%Gordon Jewish Community Center: $1k → 14%Gordon Jewish Comm Center: $1k → 14%Family and Children's Services: $20k → 14%Family and Children's Services: $20k → 14%Family and Childrens Services: $10k → 14%Family and Childrens Services: $5k → 14%Family and Childrens Services: $25k → 14%MakeAWish Middle Tennessee: $55k → 14%Family and Childrens Services: $20k → 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.
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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 48 repeat orgs$725k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

48 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
41

Total granted

$1.8M
$513k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+21%

Still filing today

73%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 58% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $212k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHealthHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentOther
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

  • HC
    HARPETH CONSERVANCY
    4× · 2022–2025 · $126k · revenue +117%
  • FC
    FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $100k · revenue +192%
  • US
    UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $93k · revenue +14%

Funded once

  • SO
    Southern OffRoad Bicycle Association Middle Tn Chapter
    one grant, 2020 · $75k
  • CF
    Community Foundation
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • PP
    Pediatrics Plus Community Connections
    one grant, 2024 · $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
Nashville Public Radio

Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.

Arts & Culture
2
The Nashville Chamber Public Benefit Foundation

The nashville chamber public benefit foundation supports the work of the nashville area chamber of commerce through efforts to improve the quality of education, encourage public and private efforts around education, and to facilitate the…

—
3
Nashville Technology Council

Ntc mission is to advance the diverse technology ecosystem by connecting and promoting members, attracting, growing and retaining tech talent, and providing opportunities to reinvest in the greater nashville community.

Community Improvement
4
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

The nashville area chamber of commerce facilitates community leadership to create economic prosperity.

—
5
Girls Write Nashville

Girls write nashville empowers expression through songwriting, production, mentorship and creative community for teen artists. we are an artist and educator-led 501(c)(3) creative youth development program in nashville, tn allied with…

Arts & Culture
6
Methodist Healthcare-Memphis Hospitals

Methodist le bonheur healthcare, in partnership with its medical staffs, will collaborate with patients and their families to be the leader in providing high quality, cost-effective patient-and family-centered care. services will be…

Health
7
Tennessee State Collaborative On Reforming Education

The mission of the state collaborative on reforming education (score) is to catalyze transformative change in tennessee education so that all students can achieve success. score is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan institution,…

Education
8
Kings Academy Nashville

King's academy is a pre-k-8th grade independent christian school in nashville, tennessee, providing a classically inspired education to a racially and socioeconomically balanced student body.

Education
9
Nashville Opera Association

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

Arts & Culture
10
Nashville Cares

Nashville cares exists to end the hiv epidemic, promote comprehensive sexual health and end sexual health stigmatization and discrimination through prevention, education, treatment, support, advocacy, and strategic partnership.

Health
11
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
12
Walk Bike Nashville Inc

Walk bike nashville's mission is to make nashville more walkable, bikeable, and livable by activating our community, advocating for great streets, and demonstrating our vision through bold, visible action.

Public Safety & Disaster
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee; the most unlike its peers is New Dialect. 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

69 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 69 of the 102 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
69/69
Grantees still filing
47/69
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Make a Wish Fndn Middle Tn Chapter: $130,000 · OtherMake a Wish Fndn Middle Tn ChapterHarpeth Youth Cycling Inc: $100,000 · OtherHarpeth Youth Cycling IncMiddle Tennessee Council BSA: $100,000 · OtherMiddle Tennessee Council BSASouthern Offroad Bicycle Association: $79,000 · OtherSouthern Offroad Bicycle AssociationSouthern OffRoad Bicycle Association Middle Tn Chapter: $75,000 · OtherSouthern OffRoad Bicycle Association Middle Tn ChapterYWCA NASHVILLE & MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $55,000 · OtherCommunity Foundation: $50,000 · OtherNashville Debate League Inc: $50,000 · OtherNASHVILLE ZOO INC: $50,000 · Other+52 more: $649,975 · Other+52 moreUNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE: $92,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY SCH…THE HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $50,000 · EducationTHE HARPETH HA…Two Bikes: $50,000 · EducationTwo BikesPENCIL FOUNDATION: $47,000 · EducationPENCIL FOUNDAT…THE COVENANT SCHOOL: $35,000 · EducationTHE COVENANT S…EQUAL CHANCE FOR EDUCATION: $25,500 · EducationEQUAL CHANCE F…THE ENSWORTH SCHOOL: $17,500 · Education+6 more: $35,750 · Education+6 moreNashville Symphony Association: $72,500 · Arts & CultureNashville Sy…TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (TPAC) MANAGEMENT CORPORATION: $52,500 · Arts & CultureTENNESSEE PE…CHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCHEEKWOOD BO…NASHVILLE BALLET: $33,500 · Arts & CultureNASHVILLE BA…NEW DIALECT: $27,500 · Arts & CultureNEW DIALECTSTUDIO TENN THEATRE COMPANY: $15,000 · Arts & CultureCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $12,500 · Arts & CultureBELCOURT THEATRE INC: $12,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $21,000 · Arts & Culture+5 moreCommunity Foundation of Greater Huntsville: $180,000 · PhilanthropyCommunity …THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $30,000 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUN…UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $30,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY…A STEP AHEAD FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $15,000 · PhilanthropyA STEP AHE…FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $100,000 · Human ServicesMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $55,000 · Human ServicesPURE INC: $22,000 · Human ServicesTUCKER'S HOUSE: $13,000 · Human ServicesTUSCULUM CHILD CARE CENTER: $7,500 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesHUB YOUTH CYCLING: $115,000 · Recreation & SportsGREENWAYS FOR NASHVILLE INC: $71,900 · Recreation & SportsHARPETH CONSERVANCY: $126,250 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF RADNOR LAKE: $4,500 · Environment+1 more: $1,000 · Environment
Other$1,338,975Education$353,250Arts & Culture$296,500Philanthropy$255,000Human Services$202,500Recreation & Sports$186,900Environment$131,750

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 budgetCommunity Foundation of Greater Huntsville: $180,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetHARPETH CONSERVANCY: $126,250 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetHUB YOUTH CYCLING: $115,000 over 3y, 50% of budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $100,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE: $92,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNashville Symphony Association: $72,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGREENWAYS FOR NASHVILLE INC: $71,900 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $55,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetYWCA NASHVILLE & MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $55,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (TPAC) MANAGEMENT CORPORATION: $52,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE ZOO INC: $50,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNashville Debate League Inc: $50,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetTHE HARPETH HALL SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTwo Bikes: $50,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetPENCIL FOUNDATION: $47,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetBIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS OF MIDDLE TN: $40,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPROPERTIES TRUST: $40,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetNASHVILLE BALLET: $33,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW DIALECT: $27,500 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetSADDLE UP: $27,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetEQUAL CHANCE FOR EDUCATION: $25,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetHELEN ROSS MCNABB FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPURE INC: $22,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWILLIAMSON COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD: $20,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetTHE VICTOR S JOHNSON III NASHVILLE CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 560 MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMISSIONAL LIVING INC: $20,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetTHE ENSWORTH SCHOOL: $17,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetA STEP AHEAD FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $15,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetNASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT INC: $15,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSTUDIO TENN THEATRE COMPANY: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTUCKER'S HOUSE: $13,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $12,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBELCOURT THEATRE INC: $12,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBRIGHTSTONE INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOHER FOUNDATION INC FKA BEAT THE ODDS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetWESTMINSTER HOME CONNECTION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetWILLIAMSON HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetVanderbilt University Medical Center: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTUSCULUM CHILD CARE CENTER: $7,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetFISK UNIVERSITY: $6,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONROE HARDING INC: $6,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMARTHA O'BRYAN CENTER INC: $6,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTGOMERY BELL ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHISTLE FARMS INC: $5,900 over 3y, 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.

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.

Hca Healthcare Founda…The Community Foundat…The Frist FoundationMemorial Foundation I…The Steven & Laurie E…Dorothy Cate and Thom…Dettwiller FoundationThe Wade-Buntin Famil…Nashville Predators F…United Way of Middle …The Annette & Irwin E…The Joel C & Bernice …
Hca Healthcare FoundationTN59.4× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hca Healthcare Foundation · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · The Frist Foundation · Memorial Foundation Inc · The Steven & Laurie Eskind Family Foundation · Dorothy Cate and Thomas F Frist Foundation · Dettwiller Foundation · The Wade-Buntin Family Foundation · Nashville Predators Foundation · United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc · The Annette & Irwin Eskind Family Foundation · The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family 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 Danner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Danner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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
    29report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Danner Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Danner 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 102 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 Danner’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