FundersTennessee

Lawrence Lewis Foundation

Memphis, TN · EIN 62-6269000. Reported 66 grants totalling $708,387 to 39 organizations across tax years 2021-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$4,750median grant
$708,387granted, 2021-2023
39organizations funded
65%of grantees funded again the next year
$4,505,837assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Lawrence Lewis Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $4,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $13,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $60,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
13 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
20 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
11 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
9 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
10 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Memphis Jewish FederationMemphis, TN$100,000332023
Jewish Family ServicesMemphis, TN$90,687332023
Methodist Le Bonheur HealthcareMemphis, TN$90,000222023
World Methodist Evangelism IncW Lafayette, IN$75,000332023
Methodist Lebonheur HealthcareMemphis, TN$60,000112021
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital FndationMemphis, TN$35,000112021
Angel Street MinistriesCordova, TN$33,000332023
Community Foundation of Greater MemphisMemphis, TN$30,000112021
Mjcc Fbo Jewish Family ServicesMemphis, TN$25,000112021
Plough Towers Fund IncMemphis, TN$22,500222023
Arts MemphisMemphis, TN$18,400332023
Memphis Jewish Community CenterMemphis, TN$16,000222023
Plough TowersMemphis, TN$12,500112021
Hutchison SchoolMemphis, TN$11,150332023
Metropolitan Inter-Faith AssociationMemphis, TN$10,000222023
Metropolitan Interfaith AssociationMemphis, TN$10,000112021
Matthew 25 Ministries IncBlue Ash, OH$9,500332023
Leadership MemphisMemphis, TN$5,400332023
American Heart AssociationDallas, TX$5,000112021
Mid-South Food BankMemphis, TN$5,000112023
Mifa Anna Kathryn WordMemphis, TN$5,000112021
Neighborhood Christian Centers IncMemphis, TN$5,000112023
Ronald Mcdonald HouseKnoxville, TN$5,000112023
Dixon Gallery and GardensMemphis, TN$4,000222023
Orpheum Theatre GroupMemphis, TN$4,000112021
Facing History and OurselvesBrookline, MA$3,750222023
Germantown Performing Arts CenterGermantown, TN$3,000332023
Porter-LeathMemphis, TN$3,000112021
Clean MemphisMemphis, TN$2,500112023
Shelby Farms ParkMemphis, TN$2,500112023
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art IncMemphis, TN$1,500222023
Maui Food BankWailuku, HI$1,000112023
Memphis Brooks Art GalleryMemphis, TN$1,000222022
Le Bonheur ClubMemphis, TN$750112023
Delta Gamma FoundationColumbus, OH$700222023
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital FoundationMemphis, TN$550112022
Memphis Brooks MuseumMemphis, TN$500112021
Temple IsraelMemphis, TN$300112023
Second Presbyterian ChurchMemphis, TN$200112023

18 of 39 (46%) received money in more than one year over the 3 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 65%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 38 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
9 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Education
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Religion
3 grants
International Affairs
3 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Community Improvement
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202124$384,337$7,500
202216$155,400$4,325
202326$168,650$2,500

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 87% of this one's giving went to organizations in Tennessee. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Tennessee
$613K
Indiana
$75K
Ohio
$10K
Texas
$5K
Massachusetts
$4K
Hawaii
$1K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund20 shared recipientsCommunity Foundation19 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipientsJewish Foundation of Memphis14 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsChristian Community Foundation of13 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $4,750. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Tennessee.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Lawrence Lewis Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 3 returns (tax years 2021-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 813 Ridge Lake Blvd Suite 230, Memphis, TN, 38120. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 62-6269000 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.