Funders › Tennessee

Ahrens Family Foundation

Franklin, TN · EIN 84-4062023. Reported 49 grants totalling $1,608,650 to 24 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,608,650granted, 2021-2025
24recipients, as named on its returns
69%of grantees funded again the next year
$280,865assets, 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. Ahrens Family 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $30,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $277,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
3 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
14 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
8 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
10 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants
$100,000 and Up
6 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Regeneration NashvilleNashville, TN$578,600552025
Barefoot Republic Camp & Retreat CenterFountain Run, KY$331,000332025
Focus on the FamilyColorado Springs, CO$205,000442025
Greg Hood MinistriesFranklin, TN$154,700222025
Legacy Mission VillageNashville, TN$150,000552025
The Bridge Ministry IncNashville, TN$90,000552025
Future Church FranklinFranklin, TN$25,800112025
Kingdom Life EkklesiaFranklin, TN$12,500222025
Two Hearts Pregnancy AidEverett, WA$10,000222025
Comfort Cases Free the OppressedRockville, MD$8,250222022
HomefullDayton, OH$5,000112021
New Lens Biblical StudiesFranklin, TN$5,000112021
Williamson CollegeFranklin, TN$5,000112022
Centerstone FoundationNashville, TN$4,375222022
Pan-Mass ChallengeNeedham, MA$3,500332025
Free RangerDenver, CO$3,250112022
Hands on NashvilleNashville, TN$3,000112021
Nashville AngelsNashville, TN$3,000112021
Pregnancy Center of Middle TennesseeSpring Hill, TN$2,800222024
Samaritan's Purse International ReliefBoone, NC$2,500112021
Proverbs 1210 Animal RescueNashville, TN$2,000112021
Tragedy Assistance Program for SurvivorsArlington, VA$1,875112022
Frank Town Open HeartsFranklin, TN$1,000112025
Murphslife FoundationGarden City, ID$500112022

12 of 24 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 69%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 25 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Human Services
10 grants
Religion
10 grants
Mental Health
3 grants
Animal Welfare
1 grant
Employment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202114$492,300$5,000
202211$264,500$5,000
20234$279,600$7,500
20249$231,500$25,000
202511$340,750$25,800

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

65% of its giving went to organizations in Tennessee. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Tennessee
$1.0M
Kentucky
$331K
Colorado
$208K
Washington
$10K
Maryland
$8K
Ohio
$5K
Massachusetts
$4K
North Carolina
$2K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc8 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund7 shared recipientsRaymond James Charitable Endowment Fund5 shared recipientsThe Community Foundation of Middle5 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation5 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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 Ahrens Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 416 Legends Park Cir, Franklin, TN, 37069. 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 84-4062023 · 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.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.