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Tennessee · Nonprofit

ARTSMEMPHIS

ARTSMEMPHIS (Tennessee) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,030,592 to it, the largest being PLOUGH FOUNDATION ($5,300,000). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$2.0M
Funders on record
36
Grants received
$8.0M
Net assets
$23M
23/36 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 63%
01What it does

What Artsmemphis does

Mission

Supporting the arts to strengthen the memphis community.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Operating support grants: Artsmemphis, through this cornerstone grant program, nurtures small, community-based arts organizations and supports larger organizations that create the seeds for new initiatives and lend stability to the overall arts landscape. Artsmemphis seeks to enable all effective arts organizations to succeed. We recognize that unrestricted operating support is the most valuable funding that an arts organization can receive and the most difficult type of funding to raise.

    $1,509,252 spentof which $1,191,400 as grants
    70% of program spending
  2. Artsassist grants: these are unrestricted grants for artists, to support the expansion and innovation of quality artistic work. Artsmemphis recognizes the risk taking that is necessary to advance an artist's vision, practice, and artistic accomplishments. The artsassist grant program enables Artsmemphis to demonstrate the value of artists' work to our region by supporting working artists in their artistic practice. This program contributes to the vitality of our artistic community and helps memphis attract and retain a vibrant creative class. Through this program, we honor the work of seasoned artists, advance the work of mid-career artists, and nurture the work of emerging artists.

    $88,675 spentof which $70,000 as grants
    4% of program spending
  3. Enhancement grants: the purpose of these grants, which come from a specific fund of our endowment, is to build an organization's long-term capacity, increase long-term earned income streams, catalyze and assist an organization in going to the next level, and/or fund venture capital/risk-taking initiatives with potential for return on investment and broad community impact.

    $475,046 spentof which $375,000 as grants
    22% of program spending
  4. Project grants: these grants are given to grantees for specific projects executed by the grantees. These grants include:artsfirst - (funded by first horizon foundation and administered by Artsmemphis) - artsfirst grants enrich the arts in memphis. Funding is determined by a grant panel composed of first horizon foundation representatives.artszone - (funded by autozone and administered by Artsmemphis) - artszone grants enrich the arts in memphis. Funding is determined by a grant panel composed of autozone representatives.belz family foundation grants - (funded by the belz foundation)arts build communities - (funded by tennessee arts commission) - abc grants provide support for projects that broaden access to arts experiences, address community quality of life issues through the arts, or enhance the sustainability of asset-based cultural enterprises.fedex - (funded by fedex and administered by Artsmemphis) - fedex grants enrich the arts in memphis. Funding is determined by a grant panel composed of fedex representatives.recovery funds - to provide funding and programs for individual artists and arts organizations to facilitate recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.

    $82,349 spentof which $65,006 as grants
    4% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,155,322.

02The organization over time

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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($2.0M) Expenses 100 ($2.7M) Net assets 100 ($14M)2018 Revenue 85 ($1.7M) Expenses 86 ($2.4M) Net assets 103 ($14M)2019 Revenue 122 ($2.5M) Expenses 92 ($2.5M) Net assets 101 ($14M)2020 Revenue 67 ($1.4M) Expenses 100 ($2.7M) Net assets 88 ($12M)2021 Revenue 377 ($7.6M) Expenses 82 ($2.3M) Net assets 157 ($22M)2022 Revenue 240 ($4.8M) Expenses 126 ($3.5M) Net assets 156 ($22M)2023 Revenue 163 ($3.3M) Expenses 161 ($4.4M) Net assets 159 ($22M)2024 Revenue 115 ($2.3M) Expenses 143 ($3.9M) Net assets 159 ($22M)2025 Revenue 100 ($2.0M) Expenses 113 ($3.1M) Net assets 165 ($23M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (100)Expenses (113)Net assets (165)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $18M to $28M (+59%).

$20M
$20M
$20M
$18M
$28M
$27M
$28M
$28M
$29M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 5% · 2018 5% · 2019 3% · 2020 18% · 2021 10% · 2022 42% · 2023 5% · 2024 9% · 2025 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

80% of ARTSMEMPHIS’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,395 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$722k
’17
−$643k
’18
−$69k
’19
−$1.4M
’20
$5.4M
’21
$1.4M
’22
−$1.1M
’23
−$1.6M
’24
−$1.1M
’25
2.4
months of
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.

Chief executive

Elizabeth Rouse

President, CEO

Board chair

Jon Moorehead

Chair, board of directors

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed363632332931292828
Joined·+5+1+3+2+4+3+0+4
No longer listed·55262514
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $47k → $297k.

4 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

Left out of every figure on this page: $2.0M from 6 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money ARTSMEMPHIS raised.

From the IRS filings of ARTSMEMPHIS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 funders by total. 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

ARTSMEMPHIS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 66% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

66%
largest funder
87%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 67% · 2019 56% · 2020 30% · 2021 77% · 2022 82% · 2023 55% — growing more concentrated.

“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.

How long its funders stay

45% of ARTSMEMPHIS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

ARTSMEMPHIS draws 76% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 9 states in all.

MI
NY
PA
TN
NC
DC
MS
AL
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Tennessee out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $120k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

ARTSMEMPHIS's funding base is broadening — from 9 funders to 13 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−53% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve2.4mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−0% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding ARTSMEMPHIS receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $871k on record.

Federal$871k
grants $871kcontracts $0
17
20
21
22
25
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Arts$871k

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like ARTSMEMPHIS

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

70% of spending goes to programs.

Program 70%Management 10%Fundraising 20%

Governance

25
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

46%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

TN

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ARTSMEMPHIS: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 ARTSMEMPHIS?
ARTSMEMPHIS (Tennessee) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,030,592 to it, the largest being PLOUGH FOUNDATION ($5,300,000). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does ARTSMEMPHIS have?
IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $8,030,592 in grants to ARTSMEMPHIS, 23 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ARTSMEMPHIS?
PLOUGH FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ARTSMEMPHIS 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.

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 36 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing