Tennessee · Private foundation
The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation
Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $193k
- Granted FY2026(still arriving)
- 19
- Grants FY2026
- 26
- Organizations funded FY2025
- 35%
- First-time grantees FY2025
- Median grant, FY2026
- $2,500
- Largest grant, FY2026
- $48,890
- Organizations funded a year
- 13 to 64
- FY2019 to FY2025
- States reached, FY2026
- 1
- Total assets, FY2026
- $1.8M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2025, 35% of the organizations The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 9% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026still arriving | 18 | $145k | 6% |
| FY2025 | 26 | $283k | 35% |
| FY2024 | 13 | $304k | 23% |
| FY2023 | 31 | $190k | 23% |
| FY2022 | 36 | $220k | 36% |
| FY2021 | 55 | $414k | 38% |
| FY2020 | 46 | $277k | 37% |
| FY2019 | 64 | $388k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2026, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frist Art Museum | $297,650 | 8 | 0% |
| Jewish Community Center of Nashville | $243,182 | 8 | 2% |
| United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc | $200,000 | 6 | 0% |
| University School of Nashville | $173,100 | 8 | 0% |
| Abe's Garden | $120,200 | 3 | 0% |
| Nashville Zoo Inc | $53,713 | 8 | 0% |
| Tennessee Performing Arts Center (Tpac) Management Corporation | $52,200 | 6 | 0% |
| Vanderbilt University | $42,500 | 3 | 0% |
| Boy Scouts of America 560 Middle Tennessee | $25,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Ensworth School | $19,000 | 3 | 0% |
Show all 65 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 70 recipients with no EIN on record ($862k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Memorial Foundation Inc · Hca Healthcare Foundation · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · The Steven & Laurie Eskind Family Foundation · Dorothy Cate and Thomas F Frist Foundation · The Frist Foundation · The Blum Family Foundation · The Annette & Irwin Eskind Family Foundation · Msb Cockayne Fund Inc · Doochin Family Charitable Foundation · The Danner Foundation · The Wade-Buntin Family Foundation
How this is measured
Compare The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon 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.
About The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation
- How much does The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation give?
- The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation reported 19 grants totaling $193,436 in its FY2026 IRS filing. It funded between 13 and 64 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2025.
- What does The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2026, its largest causes are Philanthropy (35%), Religion (14%), Arts & Culture (13%).
- Who are The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2019 to FY2026: Frist Art Museum ($298k), Jewish Community Center of Nashville ($243k), United Way of Middle Tennessee Inc ($200k).
- Does The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2025, 35% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Memorial Foundation Inc, Hca Healthcare Foundation, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc.
- Where is The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation based?
- The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation is based in TN.
Play a game based on Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family’s filings →