Tennessee · Nonprofit
NARROW GATE FOUNDATION
NARROW GATE FOUNDATION (Tennessee) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,061,583 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($894,900). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 79% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.8M
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Narrow Gate Foundation does
Mission
To provide a christian discipleship experience for young men ages 18-25 desiring to take a pause from the distractions of life to discover who they are and what their purpose is here on earth. This experience includes living in a wilderness environment, participating in community work projects, and studying the bible to help shape them into godly young men.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Narrow gate's program is an 8 month program to provide a christian discipleship experience for young men ages 18-25, having them live in a wilderness environment, participate in daily chores and community work projects to build teamwork and develop good work disciplines, going on challenging adventures and studying the bible and other christian curriculum. In 2024, approximately 36 young men participated in narrow gate's program. After graduation, most of these young men either elect to continue their biblical learning and go into full time ministry with churches or non-profit organizations, enter universities to study the passion that god gave them, such as horticulture, health care and business degrees, or elect to serve in the mission field.
$3,225,033 spent$1,632,763 earned by the program99% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$23,234 spentof which $23,234 as grants1% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,248,267.
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 2019 to 2020, from $1.2M to $1.5M (+28%).
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%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
58% of NARROW GATE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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.
Board chair
Don Lawrence
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $51k → $399k.
15 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 79% 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 NARROW GATE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
NARROW GATE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
83% 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 NARROW GATE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 77% · 2018 80% · 2019 79% · 2020 43% · 2021 22% · 2022 26% · 2023 29% — 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
64% of NARROW GATE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
79% of NARROW GATE FOUNDATION'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 $647k that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from funders outside Tennessee, across 8 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
NARROW GATE FOUNDATION has grown faster than half of the 11,274 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,274 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like NARROW GATE FOUNDATION
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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Narrow Gate Trading Company · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NARROW GATE FOUNDATION: 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 NARROW GATE FOUNDATION?
- NARROW GATE FOUNDATION (Tennessee) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,061,583 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($894,900). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 79% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does NARROW GATE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $3,061,583 in grants to NARROW GATE FOUNDATION, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NARROW GATE FOUNDATION?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $894,900 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NARROW GATE FOUNDATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 29 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