Tennessee · Nonprofit
The Bottom
The Bottom (Tennessee) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $565,315 to it, the largest being Solidaire Network Inc ($230,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $486k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $565k
- Net assets
- $384k
What The Bottom does
Mission
The Bottom stands to build community, celebrate culture and engage the creativity of Black people in Knoxville.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Other Programs - Arts, Podcast, Community Fellowship
$57,160 spentof which $10,270 as grants$1,026 earned by the program39% of program spendingIn 2024, The Bottom expanded its literary programming to strengthen community connections and celebrate Black authors. Alongside our monthly Book It subscription, we launched two new book clubs and a silent reading experience, engaging readers through seven dynamic titles spanning multiple genres and voices. Our Lit Kidz initiative empowered young readers to select their own books, deepening their relationship with reading and representation. Overall, 102 youth participated in our programs, and 282 free books were distributed to nurture a love of literature and storytelling within our community.
$41,110 spentof which $14,850 as grants$63,069 earned by the program28% of program spendingIn 2024, The Bottom continued to nurture creativity and entrepreneurship among youth through Sew It Sell It, a hands-on sewing and small business program for students ages 12?17. Participants learned practical vocational skills, from sewing and product design to branding and marketing, gaining confidence in their creative and entrepreneurial abilities. Eleven young makers completed the program, showcasing and selling their handmade products at our community Market Day. Together, they collectively raised $3,500, demonstrating the program?s power to cultivate both self-reliance and real-world economic empowerment.
$25,448 spentof which $24,960 as grants$1,579 earned by the program17% of program spendingIn 2024, The Bottom deepened its investment in Knoxville?s Black creative community through the year-round Black Creatives Meetup initiative, which provides ongoing artistic, professional, and social development opportunities. The program hosted 17 workshops and events that fostered collaboration, mentorship, and creative growth. A total of 64 artists led workshops, performed, or exhibited with The Bottom, up from 51 the previous year, demonstrating significant program growth and engagement. Altogether, BCM featured 115 artists, including 100 youth from West Haven Elementary, with 24 original works sold, showcasing the power of intentional community support in sustaining and celebrating Black artistry.
$23,028 spentof which $12,350 as grants$906 earned by the program16% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $146,746.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2023 to 2024, from $214k to $387k (+81%).
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: 2022 17% · 2023 8% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of The Bottom’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $130k → $100k.
2 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 The Bottom’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
The Bottom leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 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 The Bottom.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 77% · 2022 59% · 2023 40% — 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.
Where its funders are
The Bottom draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $29k 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.
Against its field
The Bottom runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like The Bottom
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
45% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
0%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The Bottom: 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 The Bottom?
- The Bottom (Tennessee) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $565,315 to it, the largest being Solidaire Network Inc ($230,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Bottom have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $565,315 in grants to The Bottom, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Bottom?
- Solidaire Network Inc is the largest funder on record, with $230,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Bottom 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 Bottom →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 11 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