What Charis Foundation does

Charis Foundation is a private nonprofit grantmaking foundation established in 1997 and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The foundation was created by Joe Cook Jr. and his wife Judy, with its original asset base derived from Cook's successful investments in small biotechnology companies following his career as a pharmaceutical executive at Eli Lilly & Co. Its mission is to provide financial, strategic, and operational support to Christian organizations and their leaders working to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel.

The foundation concentrates its grantmaking across three programs: Faith & Work (supporting organizations engaged in the faith-and-work movement and training for impoverished or unemployed populations), Ministry Leadership Development (funding leadership capacity building across executive leadership, governance, fundraising, communications, accounting, and succession planning), and Other Grantmaking (flexible funding for long-standing partners and one-off needs such as capital campaigns). Grantees are sourced primarily through referrals from existing partners and conference involvement, with an invitation-based application process. Partner organizations are distributed approximately one-third in the Nashville area, one-third across the broader United States, and one-third internationally, totaling more than 100 partner organizations since founding.

Charis Foundation does not sell products or services and generates no commercial revenue; it distributes funds from its endowment and ongoing family contributions. It operates with a lean team of three staff members (President Steve Singleton, Grants Manager Pam Morris, and Executive Coordinator Sarah Daley) and a six-person Board of Directors. Administrative and accounting services are contracted to Mountain Group Partners, an investment management firm co-founded by three of the foundation's directors, which minimizes overhead. The foundation also maintains two publicly available resource hubs curating nonprofit and foundation leadership materials.

Name

Charis Foundation

Legal name

Charis Foundation

Website

https://charisfound.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory (FSAEAKAH)

Keywords

• Grantmaking foundation
• Faith-based grants
• Ministry leadership grants
• Nonprofit funding
• Philanthropic foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grantmaking: As a grantmaking foundation, Charis Foundation does not generate revenue. It distributes funds from its endowment and contributions to support Christian organizations. The foundation was originally funded through successful biotech investments by founder Joe Cook Jr., with additional assets contributed over time.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Charis Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation that provides financial, strategic, and operational support to Christian organizations and their leaders. It operates three strategic grant programs—Faith & Work, Ministry Leadership Development, and Other Grantmaking—distributing funds from its endowment and contributions to over 100 partner churches, parachurch ministries, and nonprofits across Nashville, the broader United States, and internationally.

Product overview

Charis Foundation operates as a grantmaking foundation offering three primary grant programs: Faith & Work (supporting organizations in the faith and work movement), Ministry Leadership Development (strengthening church and parachurch leadership capacity), and Other Grantmaking (for long-standing partners and one-off needs). Additionally, the foundation provides two complementary resource hubs—Nonprofit Leadership Resources and Foundation Leadership Resources—which are curated collections of external resources, books, and organizations the foundation has found useful. The offering is not a unified software platform but rather a combination of direct grantmaking services and informational resource sharing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Faith & Work Grant Program A grant program providing directed funding to Christian organizations engaged in the faith and work movement, including thought leadership, practical application, training, and programs serving impoverished, unemployed, or 'unemployable' populations where the gospel or Christian theology regarding work is shared.
• Ministry Leadership Development Grant Program A grant program that strengthens local church and parachurch organizations by funding leadership capacity improvements across executive leadership and group dynamics, development and fundraising, governance, program evaluation, communications, accounting and finance, and succession or contingency planning.
• Other Grantmaking Flexible grantmaking for long-standing partner organizations whose work does not fit into the strategic programs, as well as one-off needs such as capital campaigns and emergency relief.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 nonprofit organizations and churches partnered with since founding in 1997

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Crowell Trust: Trust-based Christian foundation providing grants to evangelical ministries and parachurch organizations; directly comparable to Charis in funding faith-driven nonprofits, parachurch leadership, and ministry capacity-building.
• Maclellan Foundation: Chattanooga-based private Christian family foundation supporting ministries, leadership development, and faith-and-work initiatives; closely comparable to Charis in mission, Tennessee footprint, family-foundation structure, and capacity-building grant focus.
• Fieldstead & Company: Private Christian family foundation that funds ministry, education, and gospel-centered organizations; comparable in mission, family-foundation governance, and grantmaking emphasis on leadership development and Christian organization strengthening.
• Kern Family Foundation: Wisconsin-based private family foundation funding faith, education, and workforce development initiatives; comparable to Charis as a faith-rooted family foundation with a strategic focus on vocation, leadership formation, and ministry capacity-building.
• The Stewardship Foundation: Faith-based private foundation supporting Christian ministries, leadership development, and donor stewardship; comparable to Charis in supporting gospel-centered organizations and building leadership capacity within the local church and parachurch.

Broad incumbents

• Lilly Endowment: One of the largest private foundations in the US, rooted in Indianapolis and historically faith-affiliated (Christian heritage); a broad incumbent that funds religion, education, and community development at a vastly larger scale than Charis.
• National Christian Foundation: Largest Christian donor-advised fund network in the US, channeling hundreds of millions annually to faith-based nonprofits; a broader incumbent that operates in the same Christian-grantmaking space as Charis but at much greater scale and with a donor-advised-fund model.
• M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust: Pacific Northwest private foundation funding education, leadership development, and capacity-building across faith and secular nonprofits; comparable as a regionally rooted private foundation with strong emphasis on organizational capacity grants.

Others

• The Clapham Group: Christian donor advisor and philanthropic consultancy working with high-net-worth Christian families; comparable to Charis as part of the broader Christian-philanthropy ecosystem but operates as an advisory firm rather than a grantmaking foundation.

Emerging players

• In Trust Center: Nonprofit organization supporting theological schools and ministry leadership formation; partially comparable to Charis's Ministry Leadership Development program but focused specifically on seminaries and theological education.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charisfound

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Charis Foundation