Tennessee · Nonprofit
RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC
RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $471,248 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($211,316). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $469k
- Funders on record
- 20
- Grants received
- $471k
- Net assets
- $161k
What Retrieving Independence Inc does
Mission
To breed, train and place highly skilled dogs with children and adults living with a disability, enhancing their lives and bringing increased independence.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
In 2025, retrieving independence trained and placed 8 dogs that were housed, fed, and trained to assist persons with disabilities.
$400,647 spent97% of program spendingTraining camps - ten day training camp centers around new owners, family members and the service dogs. New dog owners and their families learn skills so all participants are comfortable returning to their homes with their service dogs. Additionally, the client and dog are certified for public access prior to leaving the program.
$7,071 spent2% of program spendingInmate and partner recipient training - retrieving independence partners with inmates at tn prisons to train and socialize dogs for placement. Inmates receive 30 hours intensive training before working with puppies. A team of two inmates receives a puppy that will live, work and train with them for the next 14 to 20 months under the direct supervision of ri trainers and staff.
$5,140 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $412,858.
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 2021 to 2022, from $354k to $203k (−43%).
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: 2019 10% · 2020 20% · 2021 24% · 2022 16% · 2023 26% · 2024 47%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
83% of RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (86% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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.
Chief executive
Lauren Dougall
CEO/ president
Board chair
Rhod Thurley
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $11k → $55k.
7 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC’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
RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% 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 RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 93% · 2019 64% · 2020 80% · 2021 44% · 2022 75% · 2023 50% — 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
33% of RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC'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
59% of RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE 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 $194k that is directly attributable, 73% of it comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $277k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC has grown faster than half of the 6,435 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,435 animals nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE 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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE 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 RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC?
- RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $471,248 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($211,316). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC have?
- IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $471,248 in grants to RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE INC?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC is the largest funder on record, with $211,316 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like RETRIEVING INDEPENDENCE 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 Retrieving Independence →
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 20 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