The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis

Background

The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis is a community foundation focused on Memphis, Tennessee and the surrounding region. ³ The organization is comprised of 950 charitable funds and awarded $40 million to 1,600 organizations through 6,400 grants. ⁴

The foundation is the largest grant maker in Tennessee. ² It is among the 50 largest community foundations in the United States out of about 600 community foundations in the country. ¹

The organization says it develops and manages charitable funds and endowments, offers expertise to individuals, families, and institutional donors; addresses the needs of the community through distributing resources, engages in advocacy, and convenes meetings. ³

The organization says its staff works with individuals, families, and organizations to achieve their charitable goals. ⁵

Prominent Partnerships

Prominent Community Foundation of Greater Memphis projects include a five-year grant to match funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Teachers Effectiveness Initiatives in Shelby County schools. ¹

In December 2020, MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, donated $8 million to the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis to provide aid to 138 organizations across the mid-South region. ⁶

Priorities

The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis describes the Memphis region as challenged with “high rates of poverty and incarceration, limited access to affordable housing and quality healthcare, and schools which continue to struggle to educate all our children.” Further, it says the Memphis area has “institutional racism and inequity” that “disproportionately affect our African-American and Latinx neighbors.” However, the foundation says Memphis has a “vibrant arts community,” and a “world-class healthcare system.” It says its goal is to “create a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities.” ⁷

The foundation has established “Forever Funds,” with the idea of having a permanent endowment directed by donors drawn from throughout the region. ² The group provides technical assistance to other nonprofits. ¹

The organization funds the Community Partnership Fund, which supports arts, education, the environment, animal welfare, health services and research, mental health, hunger and shelter, disaster relief, youth, human services, philanthropy, and religious institutions. ⁴

The foundation focuses on the homeless in the area. It also helps secure national funding and provides training to homeless service providers. ¹

The organization established a COVID-19 Regional Response Fund in March 2020 to respond to regional needs created by the pandemic. ² The organization also supports a financial program to combat payday lending. ¹

As regards K-12 education, the organization tries to focus more on after-school and summer programs, noting that a bulk of charitable donations already goes into the classroom. ²

The foundation helped establish the Rise Foundation, which assists public housing residents. ⁴Leadership

Robert M. Fockler is the president of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. ⁸

Sutton Mora is the executive vice president and COO of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, ⁸ while George Lumm is the CFO. ⁸

Veronica Jamison is the vice president of donor services of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. ⁸