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The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
54
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$650k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$4.4MHealth$1.1MArts & Culture$911kYouth Development$870kCommunity Improvement$792kHuman Services$625kEnvironment$357kRecreation & Sports$350kOther$0
02FY2024 · 54 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $48k
  • $10k–50k34 grants · $623k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $608k
  • $250k+1 grant · $650k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$40M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC$650,000
EMMANUEL CENTER INC$150,000
KNOWLEDGE QUEST$105,000
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART INC$102,500
THE WORKS INC$100,000
URBAN RENAISSANCE PARTNERS INC$50,000
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MEMPHIS$50,000
ADVANCE MEMPHIS$50,000
SOULSVILLE CHARTER SCHOOL$32,000
MEMPHIS DELTA PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL INC$30,000
ONE FAMILY MEMPHIS ROX$25,000
BLOC MINISTRIES$25,000
LEMOYNE-OWEN COLLEGE$25,000
STREETS MINISTRIES$25,000
INNOVATE MEMPHIS$25,000
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 (FY18–24, $545k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $1k → 11%GRANT MAKERS IN AGING: $5k → 7%APPLE SEEDS INC: $20k → 17%SRVS SHELBY RESIDENTIAL AND VOCATIONAL SERVICES: $10k → 17%SRVS SHELBY RESIDENTIAL AND VOCATIONAL SERVICES: $10k → 17%APPLE SEEDS INC: $13k → 17%SRVS SHELBY RESIDENTIAL AND VOCATIONAL SERVICES: $10k → 17%SRVS SHELBY RESIDENTIAL AND VOCATIONAL SERVICES: $10k → 17%COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR THE HOMELESS: $10k → 17%STREETS MINISTRIES: $25k → 17%STREETS MINISTRIES: $25k → 17%APPLE SEEDS INC: $13k → 17%MIFA-METROPOLITAN INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION: $20k → 17%MY CUP OF TEA: $10k → 17%VANCE AVENUE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $20k → 17%MIFA-METROPOLITAN INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION: $10k → 17%MY CUP OF TEA: $10k → 17%THISTLE AND BEE ENTERPRISES INC: $10k → 17%MIFA-METROPOLITAN INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION: $5k → 17%MIFA-METROPOLITAN INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION: $1k → 17%FORREST SPENCE FUND: $1k → 17%MY CUP OF TEA: $1k → 17%HANNAH'S HOPE: $3k → 17%YOUTH VILLAGES: $2k → 17%LATINO MEMPHIS: $20k → 17%LATINO MEMPHIS: $10k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC: $26k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER: $20k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER: $2k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTER: $1k → 17%HOSPITALITY HUB: $10k → 17%RISE FOUNDATION: $50k → 17%RISE FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%FAMILIES MATTER INC: $26k → 17%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF WEST TENNESSEE: $10k → 17%FAMILIES MATTER INC: $10k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF INCORPORATED: $30k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF INCORPORATED: $30k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF INCORPORATED: $20k → 17%FAMILIES MATTER INC: $10k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF: $10k → 17%HOPE HOUSE: $2k → 17%SERVICE OVER SELF INCORPORATED: $10k → 17%FAMILIES MATTER INC: $1k → 17%FAMILIES MATTER INC: $1k → 17%FAMILIES MATTER INC: $500 → 17%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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.9M · 89 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

89 repeat relationships: 40 still active in FY2024, 49 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

89
57

Total granted

$8.9M
$1.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+20%

Still filing today

82%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $821k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION
    7× · 2018–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +36%
  • BM
    BAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $628k · revenue +55%
  • CB
    CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY
    7× · 2018–2024 · $425k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • JA
    JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF MEMPHIS AND THE MID-SOUTH INC
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +7%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • MM
    MEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $75k · revenue +64%
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
Memphis Academy of Science and Engineeri

To produce lifelong learners, critical thinkers, effective communicators, and productive members of the global community

Education
2
Memphis Tomorrow

Memphis tomorrow is an association of ceos of memphis' largest businesses working to promote opportunity and quality of life for all memphians through collective action and public-private partnerships.

Community Improvement
3
Theatre Memphis

To produce plays and encourage the arts by performance and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
4
Memphis Center City Development Corporation

Assist private development projects

—
5
One Family Memphis
Human Services
6
Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce

To serve our members and partners by improving the quality of life through regional economic prosperity.

—
7
Memphis Recovery Centers Inc

Memphis recovery centers, inc. (mrc) provides compassionate treatment services for youth and adults suffering from substance addiction and co-occurring disorders, utilizing professional methods to improve spiritual, physical, emotional,…

Health
8
Thrive Memphis

To enrich the lives of the developmentally challenged by meeting their social, recreational and continuing educational needs.

Human Services
9
Collegiate School of Memphis

To prepare young ladies and gentlemen for college success within a highly-structured, nurturing, christian environment.

Education
10
Memphis Urban League Inc

To enable and empower african-americans and other minorities in underserved communities to achieve their highest human potential and secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.

Human Services
11
Reach Memphis

Reach memphis helps high achieving students from shelby county public schools succeed in high school, college and beyond using a continuum of services including summer educational experiences, college readiness planning and counseling, and…

Education
12
Memphis Merit Academy Inc

Memphis merit academy charter school prepares kindergarten through 8th-grade students in memphis for success in high school, college, and life by providing rigorous academics, high-quality instruction, and character development in a…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rise Memphis Inc; the most unlike its peers is Protect Our Aquifer. 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

133 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. 133 of the 161 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
32
Early backer (in before they grew)
130/133
Grantees still filing
81/133
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $1,511,222 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATIONTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $650,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INCCHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY: $425,000 · EducationCHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITYVISIBLE MUSIC COLLEGE: $377,000 · EducationVISIBLE MUSIC COLLEGEMEMPHIS DELTA PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL: $209,000 · EducationRhodes College: $175,000 · EducationADVANCE MEMPHIS: $150,000 · EducationSOULSVILLE CHARTER SCHOOL: $147,000 · Education+18 more: $657,287 · Education+18 moreMEMPHIS BRIDGE LIGHTING INC: $250,000 · OtherMEMPHIS BRIDGE LIGHTING INCWEST CANCER INSTITUTE: $200,000 · OtherWEST CANCER INSTITUTEBRIDGES USA INC: $150,000 · OtherThe Works Inc: $250,000 · OtherThe Works IncJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF MEMPHIS AND THE MID-SOUTH INC: $250,000 · OtherJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF MEMPHIS AND TH…EMMANUEL CENTER INC: $160,000 · OtherMEMPHIS-SHELBY COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT FOUNDATION INC: $260,000 · OtherMEMPHIS-SHELBY COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMEN…SHELBY FARMS PARK CONSERVANCY: $228,000 · OtherSHELBY FARMS PARK CONSERVANCYCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER MEMPHIS INC: $125,000 · Other+72 more: $1,685,125 · Other+72 moreCrosstown Arts: $333,000 · Arts & CultureCrosstown…Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $214,500 · Arts & CultureMemphis B…VOLUNTEER ODYSSEY: $92,000 · Arts & CultureVOLUNTEER…MEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY: $75,000 · Arts & CultureMEMPHIS M…SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Arts & CultureSOULSVILL…THE OVERTON PARK SHELL INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureTHE OVERT…+7 more: $106,206 · Arts & Culture+7 moreBAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $628,000 · HealthLe Bonheur Children's Hospital Foundation: $50,000 · HealthMethodist Healthcare Foundation: $32,000 · Health+6 more: $109,000 · HealthService Over Self Inc: $100,000 · Human ServicesRISE MEMPHIS INC: $52,000 · Human ServicesSTREETS MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesNEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC: $49,000 · Human ServicesFAMILIES MATTER INC: $48,000 · Human ServicesApple Seeds Inc: $45,000 · Human ServicesShelby Residential & Vocational Services Inc: $40,000 · Human ServicesMetropolitan Inter-Faith Association: $36,000 · Human ServicesLATINO MEMPHIS INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesMy Cup of Tea Inc: $21,000 · Human ServicesVance Avenue Youth Development Ctr: $20,000 · Human Services+11 more: $54,850 · Human ServicesKNOWLEDGE QUEST INC: $205,000 · Youth DevelopmentFOR THE KINGDOM INC: $85,000 · Youth DevelopmentPURE YOUTH ATHLETICS ALLIANCE INC: $73,000 · Youth DevelopmentSEEDING SUCCESS: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentMemphis Inner City Rugby: $30,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $23,000 · Youth DevelopmentWOLF RIVER CONSERVANCY INC: $260,000 · EnvironmentMEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN FOUNDATION INC: $67,000 · Environment+1 more: $10,000 · Environment
Education$4,301,509Other$3,558,125Arts & Culture$920,706Health$819,000Human Services$545,850Youth Development$466,000Environment$337,000

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $1,511,222 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $650,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $628,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetCHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY: $425,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetVISIBLE MUSIC COLLEGE: $377,000 over 6y, 5.1% of budgetCrosstown Arts: $333,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetWOLF RIVER CONSERVANCY INC: $260,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetMEMPHIS-SHELBY COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT FOUNDATION INC: $260,000 over 3y, 76% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF MEMPHIS AND THE MID-SOUTH INC: $250,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetThe Works Inc: $250,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetMEMPHIS BRIDGE LIGHTING INC: $250,000 over 2y, 87% of budgetSHELBY FARMS PARK CONSERVANCY: $228,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $214,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetMEMPHIS DELTA PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL: $209,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetKNOWLEDGE QUEST INC: $205,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetRhodes College: $175,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetEMMANUEL CENTER INC: $160,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetADVANCE MEMPHIS: $150,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetBRIDGES USA INC: $150,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetSOULSVILLE CHARTER SCHOOL: $147,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetMEMPHIS TEACHER RESIDENCY INC: $125,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER MEMPHIS INC: $125,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $113,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetService Over Self Inc: $100,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetVOLUNTEER ODYSSEY: $92,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetTHE PORTER-LEATH HOME: $90,000 over 3y, 87% of budgetFOR THE KINGDOM INC: $85,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetLET'S INNOVATE THROUGH EDUCATION DBA LIT: $85,000 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY: $75,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetPURE YOUTH ATHLETICS ALLIANCE INC: $73,000 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetTHE HUTCHISON SCHOOL: $72,576 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMEMPHIS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: $70,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetMEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN FOUNDATION INC: $67,000 over 7y, 2.1% of budgetBRIARCREST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM INC: $55,760 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetRISE MEMPHIS INC: $52,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetBLOC MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCHRISTIAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MEMPHIS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Renaissance Partners Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMEMPHIS BLACK ARTS ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetTHE OVERTON PARK SHELL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetSTREETS MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetLeMoyne-Owen College: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSEEDING SUCCESS: $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLe Bonheur Children's Hospital Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTECH901: $49,101 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD CHRISTIAN CENTERS INC: $49,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetFAMILIES MATTER INC: $48,000 over 6y, 6.4% 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.

Christian Community F…Community Foundation …Thomas W Briggs Found…Jr Hyde III Family Fo…The Urban Child Insti…The Assisi Foundation…United Way of the Mid…Crews Family Foundati…Plough FoundationSlingshot Memphis IncThomas Garrott Founda…Women's Foundation fo…
Christian Community Foundation of MemphisTN151.4× affinity90 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Thomas W Briggs Foundation Inc · Jr Hyde III Family Foundation · The Urban Child Institute · The Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc · United Way of the Mid South · Crews Family Foundation · Plough Foundation · Slingshot Memphis Inc · Thomas Garrott Foundation · Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis

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 Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 67%
  • World Relief Corp of National Association of Evangelicals: 67% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
58report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Kemmons Wilson 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 161 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 Kemmons Wilson 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