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The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation at a glance

· 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 FY2026still arriving
19
Grants FY2026still arriving
1
States reached
$49k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Philanthropy$937kReligion$385kArts & Culture$355kHuman Services$257kEducation$252kHousing & Shelter$120kRecreation & Sports$116kAnimals$51kOther$0
02FY2026 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k13 grants · $36k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $158k
$2,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEWISH FEDERATION OF NASHVILLE$48,890
THE TEMPLE$44,200
Individual grant recipient$24,000
FRIST ART MUSEUM$18,000
THE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE$12,500
UNITED WAY OF GREATER NASHVILLE$10,000
TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER$9,000
ENSWORTH SCHOOL$7,500
GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER$6,046
FRIENDS OF WARNER PARKS$2,500
NASHVILLE ZOO$2,500
CONGREGATION SHERITH ISRAEL$2,000
WATER WALKERS$2,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE$1,100
ALIVE HOSPICE$1,000
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 (FY19–26, $246k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GOSHEN VALLEY BOYS RANCH: $50 → 6%COMPANIONS FOR HEROES: $25 → 14%TENNESSEE JUSTICE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS: $200 → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $136k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $30k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $18k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $15k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $14k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $12k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $12k → 14%GORDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $6k → 14%AGEWELL MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $250 → 14%AGEWELL MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $200 → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $1k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $1k → 14%ALIVE HOSPICE: $250 → 14%ROOFTOP NASHVILLE: $100 → 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

ME
NY
OH
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
TN
DC
LA
AL
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 68 repeat orgs$306k to everyone else

68 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2026, 51 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

68
66

Total granted

$1.9M
$305k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+44%

Still filing today

50%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthReligionPhilanthropyOther
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

  • FRIST ART MUSEUM
    8× · 2019–2026 · $298k · revenue +19%
  • JC
    JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NASHVILLE
    8× · 2019–2026 · $243k · revenue +19%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC
    6× · 2019–2026 · $200k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
  • UW
    UNITED WAY
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
  • BS
    BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 560 MIDDLE TENNESSEE
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -13%
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 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
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 Area Chamber of Commerce

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

—
4
Nashville Bar Association

Nashville bar association is organized to improve the practice of law through education, service & fellowship

—
5
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
6
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
7
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
8
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.

—
9
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
10
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Centennial Park Conservancy; the most unlike its peers is The Benjamin Foundation Dba Garbett Family 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

61 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. 61 of the 139 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
61/61
Grantees still filing
50/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE TEMPLE: $313,677 · OtherTHE TEMPLEUNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKYIndividual grant recipient: $75,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientWEST END SYNAGOGUE: $50,150 · OtherUNITED WAY: $50,000 · Other+97 more: $367,975 · Other+97 moreJEWISH FEDERATION OF NASHVILLE AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $578,998 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION OF NASHVILLE AND…UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $200,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INCTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $100,160 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE…+2 more: $300 · PhilanthropyFRIST ART MUSEUM: $297,650 · Arts & CultureFRIST ART MUSE…TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (TPAC) MANAGEMENT CORPORATION: $52,200 · Arts & CultureTENNESSEE PERF…+11 more: $32,070 · Arts & Culture+11 moreUNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE: $173,100 · EducationUNIVERSITY…Vanderbilt University: $42,500 · EducationVanderbilt…THE ENSWORTH SCHOOL: $19,000 · EducationTHE ENSWOR…NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $15,300 · EducationNASHVILLE …+6 more: $10,800 · EducationJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NASHVILLE: $243,182 · Human ServicesJEWISH CO…+6 more: $3,175 · Human ServicesABE'S GARDEN: $120,200 · Housing & ShelterNASHVILLE ZOO INC: $53,713 · Animals
Other$956,802Philanthropy$879,458Arts & Culture$381,920Education$260,700Human Services$246,357Housing & Shelter$120,200Animals$53,713

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 budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF NASHVILLE AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $578,998 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetFRIST ART MUSEUM: $297,650 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NASHVILLE: $243,182 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $200,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE: $173,100 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetABE'S GARDEN: $120,200 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $100,160 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE ZOO INC: $53,713 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (TPAC) MANAGEMENT CORPORATION: $52,200 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University: $42,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 560 MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ENSWORTH SCHOOL: $19,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $15,300 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC: $11,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART: $8,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLEADERSHIP NASHVILLE FOUNDATION: $8,095 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWATER WALKERS: $7,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetOZ ARTS INC: $6,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBowdoin College: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WARNER PARKS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $3,700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNashville Symphony Association: $3,450 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCENTENNIAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $3,100 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBelmont University: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALIVE HOSPICE INC: $2,350 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University Medical Center: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNTRY MUSIC FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING COALITION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEQUAL CHANCE FOR EDUCATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANITIES TENNESSEE: $1,450 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $1,321 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetROOTS OF REFORM JUDAISM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKIPP NASHVILLE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN INCORPORATED: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENTUCKY REFUGEE MINISTRIES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL ON AGING OF GREATER NASHVILLE DBA AGE WELL MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $450 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCUMBERLAND HEIGHTS FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREENWAYS FOR NASHVILLE INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTENNESSEE JUSTICE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNURTURE THE NEXT FKA PREVENT CHILD ABUSE TENNESSEE: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BENJAMIN FOUNDATION DBA GARBETT FAMILY FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELCOURT THEATRE INC: $170 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $150 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 JEWISH FEDERATION OF NASHVILLE AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE ↗
  • Who funds FRIST ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF NASHVILLE ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE ↗
  • Who funds ABE'S GARDEN ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE ZOO INC ↗
  • Who funds TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (TPAC) MANAGEMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗
  • Who funds BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 560 MIDDLE TENNESSEE ↗
  • Who funds THE ENSWORTH SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SCOTT HAMILTON CARES FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds LEADERSHIP NASHVILLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES ↗
  • Who funds WATER WALKERS ↗
  • Who funds OZ ARTS 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.

Memorial Foundation I…Hca Healthcare Founda…The Community Foundat…The Steven & Laurie E…Dorothy Cate and Thom…The Frist FoundationThe Blum Family Found…The Annette & Irwin E…Msb Cockayne Fund IncDoochin Family Charit…The Danner FoundationThe Wade-Buntin Famil…
Memorial Foundation IncTN58.5× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

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
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 Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%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
    1get no government money at all
    19report 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 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.

    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 139 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Joel C & Bernice W Gordon Family’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