Tennessee · Nonprofit
FIRST THINGS FIRST INC
FIRST THINGS FIRST INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,974,607 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($2,125,710). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 31
- Grants received
- $6.0M
- Net assets
- $254k
What First Things First Inc does
Mission
We provide resources that guide people in their relationships so they can live better lives. Our vision is for healthy relationships to be passed down by every family from generation to generation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
The epic dads program expanded from one biweekly class to 4 weekly classes due to a grant opportunity. Coaching across the organization expanded in all programs.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Marriage initiative - this initiative includes education and coaching. The purpose is to empower couples with the skills necessary to increase mental health.
$191,794 spentof which $2,307 as grants$4,840 earned by the program18% of program spendingFathering initiative - this initiative helps fathers become more involved in the lives of their children. Dads making a difference is a grant-funded program that serves men navigating the child support system. The goal of the program is to help dads be positive influences in their children's development, reduce recidivism, help dads improve their mental health, and strengthen the co-parenting relationship. Epic dads is a fathering program to help dads have positive parental involvement with their children, build a community of support, and strengthen the co-parenting relationship. These programs include coaching and case management.
$232,725 spentof which $8,183 as grants22% of program spendingParenting initiative - this initiative includes education and coaching. The purpose is to increase positive parental engagement. The programs partner with local elementary schools and a local family shelter to provide parenting education, coaching, and case management. This initiative also includes mend, moms embracing a new direction, which serves mothers navigating the child support system.
$543,057 spentof which $11,129 as grants52% of program spendingCross-cutting initiative
$46,323 spent4% of program spendingCommunications
$31,826 spent3% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,045,725.
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 2024 to 2025, from $495k to $317k (−36%).
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 2% · 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 15% · 2022 17% · 2023 5% · 2024 15% · 2025 31%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
106% of FIRST THINGS FIRST INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (51% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Lauren Hall
President and CEO
Board chair
Jennifer Lagutin
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $509k → $901k.
10 of 31 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of FIRST THINGS FIRST INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 31 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
FIRST THINGS FIRST INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
80% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund FIRST THINGS FIRST INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 47% · 2018 81% · 2019 69% · 2020 52% · 2021 50% · 2022 41% · 2023 48% — 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.
How long its funders stay
58% of FIRST THINGS FIRST INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% 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
78% of FIRST THINGS FIRST INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.3M that is directly attributable, 87% of it comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
FIRST THINGS FIRST INC receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $6.0M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,665 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding FIRST THINGS FIRST INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $765k on record.
- Department of Justice$765k
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 FIRST THINGS FIRST 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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
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 FIRST THINGS FIRST 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 FIRST THINGS FIRST INC?
- FIRST THINGS FIRST INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,974,607 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($2,125,710). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FIRST THINGS FIRST INC have?
- IRS filings report 31 organizations giving $5,974,607 in grants to FIRST THINGS FIRST INC, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FIRST THINGS FIRST INC?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,125,710 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FIRST THINGS FIRST 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 First Things First →
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 31 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