Tennessee · Nonprofit
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $89,000 to it, the largest being MSB COCKAYNE FUND INC ($80,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $724k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $89k
- Net assets
- $477k
What American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee Inc does
Mission
To protect and expand individual liberties through legislative advocacy & lobbying efforts at both the state and local levels.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The community engagement department's role within acluf-tn is to integrate our mission with communities across the state, collaborating with partners and individuals to build a movement and mobilize in support of bold, impactful civil liberties and civil rights changes in our state. Community engagement advocacy at aclu-tn centers the experiences and leadership of directly impacted people while ensuring that non-impacted allies participate in effective and substantive action.
$280,403 spent41% of program spendingThe policy program monitors and attempts to influence a wide range of legislation affecting civil liberties and civil rights at the state and local levels. In addition, we are consulted by legislators and their staff members on constitutional issues and present expert testimony. We also work in coalition with other organizations who share similar goals, and together, we work either for or against legislative and other policy initiatives.
$243,225 spent35% of program spendingThe aclu - tn legal program aims to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties throughout the state. We meet this goal by providing guidance, engaging in advocacy, and (as a last resort) litigation. We provide legal representation, free of charge, for individuals and groups whose civil liberties have been threatened or denied. We also submit friend-of-the-court briefs in appropriate cases. Through such litigation, our goal is to provide legal representation in individual cases and establish legal precedents that will be of enduring value in tennessee and across the nation.
$166,990 spent24% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $690,618.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $627k to $1.3M (+105%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2023 49%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $5k → $7k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $845k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest American Civil Liberties Union Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC raised.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 90% of grant income and the top three 99%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 93% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
99% of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC's grant income comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Tennessee · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC?
- AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $89,000 to it, the largest being MSB COCKAYNE FUND INC ($80,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $89,000 in grants to AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC?
- MSB COCKAYNE FUND INC is the largest funder on record, with $80,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 4 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing