Tennessee · Nonprofit
TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC
TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,209,052 to it, the largest being SPEER FOUNDATION ($1,532,500). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.6M
- Funders on record
- 45
- Grants received
- $4.2M
- Net assets
- $4.4M
What Tennessee Wildlife Federation Inc does
Mission
Leading the conservation, sound management, and wise use of tennessee's wildlife and great outdoors, tennessee wildlife federation advocates sound natural resource policies and provides various educational programs that promote the understanding of tennessee's environment and encourages natural resource conservation and community planning that balances conservation needs with sound economic growth.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Land management & resoration - stewardship the federation's habitat conservation program was established in 2012 and has completed numerous restoration projects statewide. Eighteen wetland restoration projects totaling more than 1,300 acres are complete and four others are in various stages of permitting. Six stream restoration projects totaling nearly eleven miles of stream are now complete, and three are in various stages of permitting. There are 28 active forest restoration projects totaling more than 15,000 acres, and two grassland restoration projects totaling more than 400 acres. Collectively, these projects will improve habitat for wildlife and increase public access for recreation. - continued on schedule o
$3,576,074 spentof which $1,075,974 as grants$2,001,075 earned by the program65% of program spendingYouth engagement - education the scholastic clay target program (sctp) provides an introduction to the outdoor lifestyle for ages 9 through college youth participants nationwide. Each year, the program engages thousands of student-athletes who compete in local, state, and national events, earning recognition for their skill and sportsmanship. The sctp season typically runs from late winter through early summer, with teams supported by schools, 4-h clubs, and community organizations. Through the program, young shooters gain valuable experience in teamwork, safety, and competitive shooting while developing a lifelong appreciation for the outdoors. - continued on schedule o
$1,297,002 spentof which $7,350 as grants$570,231 earned by the program24% of program spendingConservation policy & advocacy since 1946, wildlife and natural resource-focused policy work has been central to tennessee wildlife federation's mission. The federation is a strong conservation policy leader in the state-working with decision makers at the general assembly and state and federal natural resource agencies to develop and improve legislation that benefits conservation in tennessee, the southeast, and at the national level. It also plays a key role in statewide advocacy-connecting sportsmen and women, outdoor businesses, local government officials, and other like-minded organizations to speak up as a unified voice for conservation. - continued on schedule o
$626,718 spent11% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,499,794.
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 $6.3M to $10M (+66%).
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 8% · 2018 7% · 2019 9% · 2020 18% · 2021 16% · 2022 11% · 2023 16% · 2024 19% · 2025 25%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
56% of TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (88% 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
Michael Butler
CEO
Board chair
Allen Carter
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $120k → $489k.
14 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $846k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Tennessee Wildlife Federation Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC raised.
From the IRS filings of TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 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
TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 36% 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
36% 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 TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 42% · 2019 44% · 2020 31% · 2021 37% · 2022 35% · 2023 31% — 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
42% of TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 49% 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
89% of TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC's grant income comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC has grown faster than half of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $410k on record.
- Department of the Interior$310k
- Department of Agriculture$100k
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 TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION 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
79% 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 2 related entities
- Tennessee Mitigation Fund LLC · disregarded
- Tennessee Wildlife Federation Found · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION 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 TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC?
- TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC (Tennessee) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,209,052 to it, the largest being SPEER FOUNDATION ($1,532,500). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $4,209,052 in grants to TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION INC?
- SPEER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,532,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like TENNESSEE WILDLIFE FEDERATION 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.
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 45 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