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
What Artsmemphis does
Mission
Supporting the arts to strengthen the memphis community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
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 grants70% of program spendingArtsassist 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 grants4% of program spendingEnhancement 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 grants22% of program spendingProject 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 grants4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,155,322.
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.
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%).
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: 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).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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.
Chief executive
Elizabeth Rouse
President, CEO
Board chair
Jon Moorehead
Chair, board of directors
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
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
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.
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.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
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.
Against its field
ARTSMEMPHIS's funding base is broadening — from 9 funders to 13 as grant income climbed.
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.
- 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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
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.
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