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Tennessee · Nonprofit

Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League

Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League (Tennessee) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $406,302 to it, the largest being NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POLICE ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES LEAGUES INC ($300,302). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$121k
Funders on record
5
Grants received
$406k
Net assets
$161k
4/5 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League does

Mission

Our mission is to empower, enhance, & enrich youth through education, leadership, and sports programs, in a fun, safe & exciting atmosphere.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Memphis Bears, Inc., (MBI) is a organization that offers eight, (8) year-round sports (boys baseball, boys basketball, football, track/field and girls basketball, cheerleading/majorette, softball, to youth ranging between the ages of 6 and 14.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending
  2. The Sheriffs & Police Activities League of Memphis & Shelby County (Memphis Shelby PAL) is a non-profit youth mentoring organization devoted to preventing crime, building character and promoting success for children 5-18. We are an affiliate of the National Police Activities League (NPAL) working in partnership with Shelby County Schools, the City of Memphis, the Shelby CountySheriffs Department and the Memphis Police Department.

    $79,089 spent$193,442 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $79,089.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($38k) Expenses 100 ($40k) Net assets 100 ($99k)2019 Revenue 561 ($215k) Expenses 548 ($218k) Net assets 239 ($238k)2020 Revenue 441 ($169k) Expenses 271 ($107k) Net assets 208 ($206k)2021 Revenue 730 ($280k) Expenses 635 ($252k) Net assets 61 ($61k)2022 Revenue 340 ($130k) Expenses 439 ($174k) Net assets 150 ($149k)2023 Revenue 505 ($193k) Expenses 326 ($129k) Net assets 127 ($126k)2024 Revenue 317 ($121k) Expenses 259 ($103k) Net assets 162 ($161k)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (317)Expenses (259)Net assets (162)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 $229k to $61k (−73%).

$108k
$254k
$229k
$61k
$191k
$168k
$161k
2018201920202021202220232024
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.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 48% · 2021 58% · 2022 25%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

69% of Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (18% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 16,168 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

−$1k
’18
−$3k
’19
$62k
’20
$28k
’21
−$44k
’22
$64k
’23
$18k
’24
0.3
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

Craig Littles

Chief Executive Officer

Board chair

Brenda Shotwell

Commettee Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed8888886
Joined·+0+0+3+0+0+1
No longer listed·003003
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $31k → $103k.

2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 4 of 5 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

Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League leans on a few funders — its largest provides 74% 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

99% 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 Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League.

74%
largest funder
99%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 73% · 2021 57% · 2022 56% · 2023 98% — 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

Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 2 states in all.

TN
DC

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. $102k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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

Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League has grown faster than three-quarters of the 15,520 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.

Operating margin15% · above the median
Months of reserve0.3mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)21% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15,520 recreation & sports nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League

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

35% of spending goes to programs.

Program 35%Management 65%Fundraising 0%

Governance

8
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

100%

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 Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League: 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 Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League?
Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League (Tennessee) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $406,302 to it, the largest being NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POLICE ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES LEAGUES INC ($300,302). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League have?
IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $406,302 in grants to Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League?
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POLICE ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES LEAGUES INC is the largest funder on record, with $300,302 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League 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 Memphis Bears Inc Police Activities League →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 5 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