Tennessee · Nonprofit
GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER
GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER (Tennessee) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $236,011 to it, the largest being Inspire Brands Foundation Inc ($84,600). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $740k
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $236k
- Net assets
- $367k
What Generous Life Foundation D/B/A Memphis Dream Center does
Mission
To impact the city of memphis (and other urban areas) with effective community service and to provide relief and education to the poor, distressed, and underprivileged.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Read2lead - objective: the read2lead after-school program serves k-6th grade children attending title 1 schools in under-resourced and under-served neighborhoods. Read2lead provides high quality academic and enrichment opportunities and family engagement in and out of school time setting. This program focuses on closing the academic and opportunity gaps for children in a safe life-giving environment. Stats: 790 students served.
$340,000 spent59% of program spendingFeedmemphis - objective: feedmemphis is a combination of programs and events addressing food insecurity in the city of memphis. From our monthly pop up grovery food drives and monthly food box programs, doorstep delivery, the feedmemphis initiative seeks to help those experiencing food insecurity by meeting tangible needs. Stats: pop up grocery - 245 families, 14,030 lbs of food. Food boxes - 532.
$100,000 spent17% of program spendingFamily advocacy - objective: through the family advocacy center, we want to walk with and be a safe haven for families navigating crises and those who walk with and support them. This program provides tangible needs such as bedding, clothing, diapers, school uniforms, and groceries, as well as spiritual and emotional support. The family advocacy center offers parent/guardian support groups. Stats: served 4,880 individuals.
$80,000 spent14% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$60,743 spent10% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $580,743.
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 2022 to 2023, from $203k to $335k (+65%).
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: 2020 9% · 2021 8% · 2022 27% · 2023 41% · 2024 30% · 2025 26%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (91% for the typical peer).
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.
Chief executive
J Eric Stone
Executive director, mdc
Board chair
Jane Lawson
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $3k → $50k.
3 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 8 of 10 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
GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
94% 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 GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 39% · 2021 64% · 2022 59% · 2023 41% — diversifying over time.
“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
25% of GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% 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
GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER draws 68% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $70k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 13,062 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,062 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER
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
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
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 GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER: 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 GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER?
- GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER (Tennessee) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $236,011 to it, the largest being Inspire Brands Foundation Inc ($84,600). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $236,011 in grants to GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER?
- Inspire Brands Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $84,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GENEROUS LIFE FOUNDATION D/B/A MEMPHIS DREAM CENTER 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 Generous Life Foundation D/B/A Memphis Dream Center →
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 10 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