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Child/Youth Development & Education — Community Impact Grants
Child/Youth DevelopmentEducation
Who can apply: Nonprofits serving children and youth in CFMT's service area. Applicants apply through the Grants Portal.
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
ActivePhilanthropy & Voluntarism
About Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee strives to build a more thriving and inclusive community — today and for generations to come — by transforming thoughtful generosity into positive change.
Focus Areas
Arts & Creative CultureChild/Youth Development & EducationPositive Mental HealthAffordable HousingDisaster Relief & RecoveryEarly Childhood / ChildcareNonprofit Capacity BuildingScholarships
Who They Fund
disaster-affected homeowners and shooting survivors (flood, tornado, school shooting victims)colleges, law schools and university programs (faculty chairs, student scholarships)museums, performance centers and cultural institutions
About Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc has given heavily through donor-advised transfers and large institutional awards, including more than $4.4 million each moved to Schwab Charitable funds in 2024. Beyond those transfers, its recent grants show a strong mix of general operating support, capital support, and designated funding for Tennessee institutions and regional causes. Nashville Symphony Association received multiple awards across 2023 and 2024, including $2,000,100 and $1,009,000, along with another $1,000,000 grant for general support. The foundation also backed major local institutions such as National Museum of African American Music, Fisk University, Vanderbilt University, Currey Ingram Academy, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Its grantmaking reaches beyond the arts and higher education into disaster recovery, health, and research. A $1,699,534 grant to National Compassion Fund supported financial distributions to victims of the March 27, 2023 Covenant School shooting, while Tall Timbers Research Inc received multiple awards for the Central Florida Rangeland Research Institute project and related equipment underwriting. The pattern points to a community foundation that combines local institutional support with targeted response funding and multi-year commitments to specific programs.
What Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Funds
In the arts, the foundation supported the National Museum of African American Music with $2,000,000 for general support and backed the Nashville Ballet with $458,000 in 2024 and $443,000 in 2023 for general support. Higher education is another clear area: Fisk University received $1,000,000 in 2023 for the Fisk and Belmont partnership for social justice and a container dormitory project, and $500,000 in 2024 for athletic programs. Medical and research funding also appears in the recent grants. Vanderbilt University Medical Center received $1,000,000 to establish the gastrointestinal oncology chair and another $500,000 for the Ingram Cancer Innovation Fund. Tall Timbers Research Inc received $828,938 for the Central Florida Rangeland Research Institute project, plus additional project and equipment support.
How Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Gives
The typical grant size sits at $9,149 at the 25th percentile, $11,000 at the median, and $25,000 at the 75th percentile, even though the recent list also includes several multimillion-dollar transfers and institutional gifts. The pattern shows repeat funding to the same recipients across multiple years: Nashville Symphony Association, Currey Ingram Academy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Tall Timbers Research Inc, Nashville Zoo Inc, Fisk University, Nashville Ballet, and others each appear more than once. The foundation gives through a mix of unrestricted, designated, general operating, capital, and restricted support, and it also makes donor-advised fund transfers through Schwab Charitable.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$59.7M
Total Assets
$832M
Total Revenue
$239.9M
Total Expenses
$129.7M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $9K and $25K, with a median of $11K.
25th Percentile
$9K
Median
$11K
75th Percentile
$25K
Geographic Reach
Regional41 states funded
About 80% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
HAL CATO
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