Tennessee · Nonprofit
WATER WALKERS
WATER WALKERS (Tennessee) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $194,714 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($68,048). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $407k
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $195k
- Net assets
- $-31500
What Water Walkers does
Mission
Water Walkers uses the transformative power of watersports, outdoor adventure, and education to equip and inspire at-risk youth in Nashville to become confident and empowered leaders who are ready to walk on the rough waters of life.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Water Walkers uses a holistic approach to student development by providing opportunities for children and teens to grow socially, academically, physically, and emotionally. "Five Program Pillars" form the foundation of this approach: Basic Needs, Educational Enrichment, Mental Wellness, Outdoor Adventure, and Leadership Development. The interconnected programs aim to build confidence and community among youth ages 6-18 who have limited exposure to the world beyond the boundaries of their urban neighborhood. By bringing kids outside these limitations and revealing to them the beauty of nature and the thrill of watersports, Water Walkers fosters a sense of wonder, ambition, and inspiration in their lives. In 2025, program accomplishments included strong academic progress, with new students achieving approximately one grade level of literacy growth within their first 16 weeks of programming and returning students maintaining consistent gains over time. The organization delivered 174 wellness program days and 45 counseling sessions, while also providing weekly grocery and hygiene support to 105 individuals, helping stabilize families and improve student engagement. Additionally, youth…
$368,425 spent$368,425 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $368,425.
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.
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 $49k to $174k (+252%).
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 0% · 2023 8% · 2024 7% · 2025 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $5k → $42k.
4 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 58% 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 WATER WALKERS’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
WATER WALKERS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
63% 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 WATER WALKERS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 58% · 2021 100% · 2022 99% · 2023 70% — 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
40% of WATER WALKERS'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
58% of WATER WALKERS'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 $82k that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $113k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Government funding WATER WALKERS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $153k on record.
- SOFTWARE PURCHASES$58k
- CAFETERIA SUPPLIES$50k
- FOOD SERVICE OPERATIONS$24k
- CLOUD SERVICES$8k
- FOOD SERVICE$6k
- SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE$3k
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 WATER WALKERS
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
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 WATER WALKERS: 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 WATER WALKERS?
- WATER WALKERS (Tennessee) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $194,714 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($68,048). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WATER WALKERS have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $194,714 in grants to WATER WALKERS, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WATER WALKERS?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC is the largest funder on record, with $68,048 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WATER WALKERS 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 Water Walkers →
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 15 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