Skip to content
The Robert a and Susan C Wilson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert a and Susan C Wilson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$11M
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$11M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$11MEducation$1.9MEnvironment$1.5MArts & Culture$354kReligion$203kHuman Services$147kPublic Safety & Disaster$105kAnimals$85kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $5k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $33k
  • $250k+1 grant · $11M
$2,300
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BOB AND SUSAN WILSON FOUNDATION$10,834,850
GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION$20,000
WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA$12,648
MAKE-A-WISH$2,300
HONORING THE SACRIFICE FOUNDATION$2,220
GETWELL CHURCH$500
DON'T EVER GIVE UP INC$250
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 (FY17–23, $122k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, 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%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $20k → 11%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $200 → 14%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $20k → 11%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $20k → 11%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $10k → 11%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $10k → 11%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $10k → 11%VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $10k → 11%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 15%GRANDFATHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $100 → 15%CALVARY RESCUE MISSION: $10k → 17%CALVARY RESCUE MISSION: $10k → 17%CALVARY RESCUE MISSION: $1k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
MN
WI
WY
CA
CO
MO
MD
TN
NC
HI
LA
MS
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.

29%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.5M · 33 repeat orgs$11M to everyone else

33 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
52

Total granted

$4.5M
$179k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+35%

Still filing today

67%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthArts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesPublic BenefitAnimalsOther
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

  • GM
    GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +10%
  • Southern Methodist University
    7× · 2017–2023 · $1.0M · revenue +57%
  • CB
    CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2017–2022 · $532k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • JR
    JONAS RIDGE UNITED METHODIST
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
  • MU
    MULLINS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
  • EA
    EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +35%
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
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc

Embry-riddle is the world leader in aviation and aerospace higher education. its mission is to teach the science, practice and business of aviation and aerospace, preparing students for productive careers and leadership roles in business,…

Education
2
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
3
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
4
Air & Space Forces Association

The air & space forces association (afa) is a nonprofit, independent, professional military, and aerospace education association. the association's mission is to promote dominant u.s. air and space forces as the foundation of a strong…

Education
5
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
6
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
7
LeTourneau University

Letourneau university is a comprehensive institution of christian higher education where educators engage learners to nurture christian virtue, to develop competency and ingenuity in their professional fields, to integrate faith and work,…

Education
8
Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation

We, at ch, humbly join together to bring christ's healing mission and the mission of mercy of the catholic church expressed in catholic health care to our communities.

—
9
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.

—
10
Morehouse School of Medicine

Leading the creation and advancement of health equity we exist to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities, increase the diversity of the health professional and scientific workforce, and address primary health care…

Education
11
University of Virginia Foundation

To provide administrative services to university of virginia (university) entities, university associated organizations, or other entities involved in activities which support the university. to engage in matters pertaining to real…

Education
12
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wounded Warrior Project Inc; the most unlike its peers is Bob and Susan Wilson 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

39 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. 39 of the 89 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/39
Grantees still filing
29/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BOB AND SUSAN WILSON FOUNDATION: $10,834,850 · PhilanthropyBOB AND SUSAN WILSON FOUNDATIONSouthern Methodist University: $1,045,000 · EducationSouthern Metho…CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY: $531,600 · EducationCHRISTIAN BROT…UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $351,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF …+3 more: $28,500 · EducationGRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $1,530,500 · EnvironmentGRANDFATHER…Individual grant recipient: $137,500 · OtherMEMPHIS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE: $90,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $70,000 · OtherHUMANE SOCIETY OF MEMPHIS: $54,000 · OtherAVE MARIA FOUNDATION: $31,000 · OtherTENNESSEE AVIATION HALL OF FAME IN: $25,710 · OtherWreaths Across America: $48,978 · Other+63 more: $298,409 · OtherEAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM INC: $52,240 · Arts & CulturePEARL HARBOR AVIATION MUSEUM: $49,000 · Arts & CulturePenland School Of Craft: $11,000 · Arts & CultureMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $200 · Arts & CultureVETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $100,000 · Human ServicesCALVARY RESCUE MISSION: $21,000 · Human Services+2 more: $1,300 · Human ServicesTHE AOPA FOUNDATION INC: $85,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Philanthropy$10,834,850Education$1,956,100Environment$1,530,500Other$755,597Arts & Culture$222,440Human Services$122,300Public Safety & Disaster$85,000

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 budgetBOB AND SUSAN WILSON FOUNDATION: $10,834,850 over 1y, 99% of budgetGRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $1,530,500 over 6y, 3.7% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $1,045,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY: $531,600 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION: $351,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetEAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetVETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND: $100,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetTHE AOPA FOUNDATION INC: $85,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM INC: $52,240 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetPEARL HARBOR AVIATION MUSEUM: $49,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWreaths Across America: $48,978 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $27,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTENNESSEE AVIATION HALL OF FAME IN: $25,710 over 7y, 46% of budgetCALVARY RESCUE MISSION: $21,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAYETTE COUNTY ANIMAL RESCUE: $20,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetBOB HOOVER LEGACY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetTHE HONORING THE SACRIFICE FOUNDATION: $14,520 over 7y, 2.4% of budgetPenland School Of Craft: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN DOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCHURCH HEALTH CENTER OF MEMPHIS INC: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGrandfather Community Foundation Inc: $1,100 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHumane Society of Memphis & Shelby County: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAND IN HAND OF GLYNN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CATARACT FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PEER POWER FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOREVER YOUNG VETERANS INC: $314 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDON'T EVER GIVE UP INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARTSMEMPHIS: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of Memphis Inc: $100 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 BOB AND SUSAN WILSON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Southern Methodist University ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds VETERANS AIRLIFT COMMAND ↗
  • Who funds THE AOPA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO AIR & SPACE MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds PEARL HARBOR AVIATION MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds Wreaths Across America ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TENNESSEE AVIATION HALL OF FAME IN ↗
  • Who funds CALVARY RESCUE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗
  • Who funds FAYETTE COUNTY ANIMAL RESCUE ↗
  • Who funds BOB HOOVER LEGACY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HONORING THE SACRIFICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Penland School Of Craft ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE & HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds American Heart 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.

Community Foundation …Christian Community F…Bob and Susan Wilson …The Kemmons Wilson Fa…Jr Hyde III Family Fo…Clay Lacy FoundationLichterman Loewenberg…Gause FoundationThomas Garrott Founda…The Grace Foundation …Enterprise Holdings F…The Ayco Charitable F…
Community Foundation of Greater Memphis IncTN37.9× affinity18 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · Bob and Susan Wilson Foundation · The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation · Jr Hyde III Family Foundation · Clay Lacy Foundation · Lichterman Loewenberg Foundation · Gause Foundation · Thomas Garrott Foundation · The Grace Foundation of Memphis Inc · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · The Ayco Charitable 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 Robert a and Susan C Wilson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert a and Susan C Wilson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
10report 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 Robert a and Susan C Wilson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert a and Susan C Wilson 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 89 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 Robert a and Susan C Wilson’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