OVERVIEW: The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis is one of the largest funders in the region, awarding grants in western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi. Funding priorities include education, youth development, public health, human services, community development, neighborhood revitalization, racial justice, arts, and nonprofit capacity building.
IP TAKE: The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, like many community foundations, has a very narrow geographic scope, but makes grants in a broad range of issue areas and offers a variety of additional services and resources, including consulting, capacity building, and financial advising, for nonprofits operating in its giving area. If your organization serves the areas of western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, or Northern Mississippi, you’re sure to find some way CFGM can help.
CFGM is a relatively transparent funder. It is also quite accessible, accepting applications for its “Forever Funds”—grant programs that it offers year after year. The Foundation makes about $1.5 million in discretionary grants via these Funds. The Foundation is open to working with applicants to optimize their applications and invites grantseekers to contact it for information, advice, and feedback at any stage of the application process. While it does not accept applications for any donor advised funds, there are many ways to get involved with the foundation in ways that might get you on some donors’ radars.
Additionally, it should be noted that in 2025, in response to countrywide instability in the philanthropic landscape, the Foundation announced a pause in traditional grantmaking, applying to certain areas of its total giving. For example, the Responsive Grants program, a subprogram of Forever Funds, retains $800,000 in total funding to disperse, however, awards will be made based upon a widely-distributed survey to nonprofits rather than traditional evaluation methods. System Change Grants, which had been the key philanthropic vehicle under the Forever Funds umbrella, may no longer be active. Current and prospective grantseekers should stay tuned for further information and updates.
PROFILE: The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis (CFGM), established in 1969, has emerged as the largest grantmaker in the Memphis area, with community grantmaking exceeding $1 billion. It seeks to improve the “community through philanthropy.” The community funder manages over 1,000 charitable funds and over $980 million in assets. It makes discretionary grants throughout western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi.
CFGM’s work includes a wide range of services and resources for community members interested in philanthropy. It operates a number of Donor Advised Funds that conduct their grantmaking according to the wishes of community donors, as well as resources for Financial Advisors with clients interested in giving. The foundation also offers nonprofit organizations in the Mid-South an opportunity to invest alongside the foundation’s other assets in its diversified family of investment pools. Project funds are established for short-term use and collaborative efforts, and over 70 nonprofits have created funds with CFGM. It also offers Nonprofit Capacity Building grants for organizations seeking to expand their impact. The foundation’s core grantmaking efforts center around its Systems Change Grants, which aim to address the “root causes” of pressing issues in the areas of Arts & Culture, Community Development, Economic Development, Education & Youth Development, Health & Wellness, Justice & Safety, and Civic Engagement/Participation. Other Forever Funds programs include Responsive Grants, Give365 Grants, Community Solutions, Rapid Response Grants and Reforming the Housing and Justice Systems.
Grants for Arts & Culture
CFGM’s System Change Grants program aims to create “a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential” by supporting organizations that “address the root causes of pressing social, environmental, or cultural issues.”
- Grants for Arts & Culture target issues such as the lack of public resources, affordable spaces, and infrastructure for the arts, as well as unfair labor practices and youth access to the arts.
- Grantees include Carpenter Art Garden, Crosstown Radio Partnership, and Memphis Jazz Workshop.
Grants for Community Development and Housing
CFGM’s System Change Grants program aims to create “a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential” by supporting organizations that “address the root causes of pressing social, environmental, or cultural issues.”
- Grants for Community Development aim to address the lack of affordable housing, renter protections, reliable public transportation, and walkable city infrastructure.
- It also supports solutions to sustainable waste management. Grants for Economic Development support job creation, healthy work environments, racial equity in employment, and neighborhood improvement.
- Grantees include Explore Bike Share, Human Society of Memphis and Shelby County, and Memphis Family Connection Center.
Housing and Justice reform has become a major priority of the Foundation since 2023, as the Foundation seeks to “invest in tackling the root causes of some of our biggest issues to create transformational change.”
- Recent grantees of this initiative include Greater Memphis Housing Justice Project, Just City and Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH).
Grants for Education & Youth
CFGM’s System Change Grants program aims to create “a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential” by supporting organizations that “address the root causes of pressing social, environmental, or cultural issues.”
- Grants for Education & Youth Development aim to correct inequities in access to high-quality education and family involvement, as well as the “lack of rigorous and developmentally aligned curricula, from cradle to career.”
- Grantees include Arise2Read, Gestalt Community Schools, and Memphis Bears.
In addition to its grantmaking, CFGM offers thirty different Scholarships available to students graduating from Memphis-area high schools.
- Each of these scholarships has different eligibility requirements.
- Some are available only to students graduating from a specific high school or planning to attend a specific university. For others, applicants must declare their intention to pursue a specific major or career.
Grants for Public Health
CFGM’s System Change Grants program aims to create “a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential” by supporting organizations that “address the root causes of pressing social, environmental, or cultural issues.”
- Grants for Health & Wellness support programs to address food insecurity and food deserts, as well as access to quality medical care.
- It also supports organizations that are working to address violence as a public health issue.
- Grantees include Casaluz, First Step Recovery Centers, and Good Shepherd Pharmacy.
Grants for Racial Justice
CFGM’s System Change Grants program aims to create “a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential” by supporting organizations that “address the root causes of pressing social, environmental, or cultural issues.”
- Grants for Justice & Safety support programs that aim to rectify systems that “do not value the lives or safety of Black and Brown youth,” such as “over-reliance on police to meet community needs” and “disproportionate investment in incarceration” in the justice system.
- Grantees include the Gentleman’s League, Just City, and New Dawn Social Services.
Grants for Democracy & Civic Engagement
CFGM’s System Change Grants program aims to create “a just and equitable region where all individuals and groups receive the resources and opportunities they need to reach their full potential” by supporting organizations that “address the root causes of pressing social, environmental, or cultural issues.” Grants for Civic Engagement/Participation aim to increase leadership and collaboration in organizations that serve communities in the foundation’s giving area. Grantees include Bridges,
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $5,000 to $15,000. In a recent fiscal year, this funder gave $112.8 million in total grants.
- Grantees may review the foundation’s Recent Grants page for more information on its grantmaking priorities.
CFGM’s giving area includes west Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas.
CFGM typically accepts applications for its Forever Grants through one grant cycle per year, although this may no longer be the case as the Foundation re-assesses certain grantmaking procedures.
The deadline to submit a letter of inquiry generally falls in July; for those invited to submit a full proposal, the following deadline is in September. Applicants are typically notified of the foundation’s decision in December.
Applicants for Nonprofit Capacity Building grants must attend a mandatory information session in August before submitting their proposal in September. Applicants will be notified of the foundation’s decision following a site visit in October or November.
Grant decisions are made by members of the foundation’s Board of Governors.
The foundation does not accept applications or requests for funding for any of its donor-advised funds.
Grants are generally for multi-year general operating support and capacity building, rather than project specific funding.
Applicants are welcome to contact Director of Community Impact Aerial Ozuzu at aozuzu@cfgm.org for inquiries or feedback prior to submitting an application.
CFGM will not award grants to individuals.
- Grant seekers can keep up with what the foundation is doing in its newsroom and events page.
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