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The Ward & Shelley Cammack Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ward & Shelley Cammack Family Foundation

Its FY2022 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$170k
Granted FY2022
5
Grants FY2022
2
States reached
$160k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

94% of The Ward & Shelley Cammack Family Foundation’s FY2022 grant dollars went to American Endowment Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2022 names 3 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

Organizations named directly on the return

3
’17
4
’20
2
’21
3
’22

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Philanthropy$160kReligion$14kArts & Culture$10kEnvironment$4kRecreation & Sports$3kCivil Rights$3kHealth$3kMembership Benefit$3kOther$0
02FY2022 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k4 grants · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $160k
$2,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION$159,608
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI$2,500
BELCOURT THEATRE$2,500
HISTORIC NASHVILLE INC$2,500
JOHN LAIRD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION$2,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FILMMAKERS WITHOUT BORDERS: $3k → 17%FOREST PARK FOREVER: $3k → 21%JOHN LAIRD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION: $3k → 10%FRIENDS OF CANON GIDEON FOUNDATION: $3k → 13%HISTORIC NASHVILLE INC: $3k → 14%PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI: $3k → 17%AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $160k → 13%APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY: $1k → 9%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $2k → 8%CASA CHIRILAGUA: $3k → 9%BELCOURT THEATRE: $3k → 14%APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY: $1k → 9%NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $5k → 14%GIDEON'S ARMY: $3k → 14%CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL: $5k → 14%CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL: $4k → 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 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
Tennessee Aquarium

The mission of the Tennessee Aquarium is to connect people with nature and empower them to make informed decisions about water and wildlife.

Animals
2
Nashville Symphony Association

The Nashville Symphony inspires and engages a diverse and growing community with extraordinary live orchestral music experiences. As Middle Tennessee continues to grow and transform, the Nashville Symphony will be a financially robust,…

Arts & Culture
3
Nashville Tree Foundation

The nashville tree foundation works to preserve and enhance nashville's urban forests by planting trees in urban areas, identifying the oldest and largest trees in davidson county, and educating the public about the value of trees. all…

—
4
Greenways for Nashville Inc

Greenways for nashville promotes, supports, and enhances a system of greenways and open space in nashville and davidson county.

Recreation & Sports
5
National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States

The national trust for historic preservation in the united states protects significant places representing our diverse cultural experiences by taking direct action and inspiring broad public support.

Arts & Culture
6
Centennial Park Conservancy

To sustain the vibrancy of nashville's centennial park, home to the historic parthenon, by supporting metro parks in revitalizing & activating this public green space to ensure the park remains a welcoming destination for recreation,…

Arts & Culture
7
Nashville Blues and Roots Alliance
Arts & Culture
8
First Amendment Museum At the Gannett House
Arts & Culture
9
Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation Inc

The georgia trust works for the preservation and revitalization of georgia's diverse historic resources and advocates for their appreciation, protection, and use.

Arts & Culture
10
Battle of Nashville Trust Inc

The battle of nashville preservation society, inc. (bonps) was formed in 1992 by a group of nashvillians who recognized that the last remnants of the battlefield were quickly disappearing, and that the battle of nashville was poorly…

Arts & Culture
11
The Royal National Theatre

Theatre can lead to extraordinary moments of shared imagination. it enables us to stand in anothers shoes to better understand ourselves and the world around us. it shows us who we are, who we have been, who we could be. the nt delivers on…

Arts & Culture
12
Nashville Tree Conservation Corps

Protect, preserve, and plant urban tree canopy.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Belcourt Theatre Inc; the most unlike its peers is Casa Chirilagua. 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

9 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. 9 of the 14 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
7/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $159,608 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONCHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL: $9,000 · OtherCHRIST CHURCH…Historic Nashville Inc: $2,500 · OtherHistoric Nash…Individual grant recipient: $2,500 · OtherIndividual gr…PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI: $2,500 · OtherPLANNED PAREN…FRIENDS OF CANON GIDEON FOUNDATION: $2,500 · OtherFRIENDS OF CA…JOHN LAIRD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION: $2,500 · OtherJOHN LAIRD CE…SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $1,500 · OtherSOUTHERN ENVI…NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $5,000 · Arts & CultureBELCOURT THEATRE INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureCASA CHIRILAGUA: $2,500 · ReligionForest Park Forever Inc: $2,500 · EnvironmentGIDEONS ARMY GRASSROOTS ARMY FOR CHILDREN: $2,500 · Civil RightsAPPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY: $2,000 · Recreation & Sports
Philanthropy$159,608Other$23,000Arts & Culture$7,500Religion$2,500Environment$2,500Civil Rights$2,500Recreation & Sports$2,000

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 budgetAMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $159,608 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHistoric Nashville Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 19% of budgetCASA CHIRILAGUA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetForest Park Forever Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBELCOURT THEATRE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIDEONS ARMY GRASSROOTS ARMY FOR CHILDREN: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAPPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $1,500 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.

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.

The Frist FoundationThe Community Foundat…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Frist FoundationTN13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Frist Foundation · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Ward & Shelley Cammack Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ward & Shelley Cammack Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%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
    4report 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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Ward & Shelley Cammack Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Ward & Shelley Cammack 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 14 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ward & Shelley Cammack 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