Who We Are

Middle Tennessee Donors Forum provides resources and opportunities for our members to learn, connect, and collaborate.

Our History

The Middle Tennessee Donors Forum traces its roots back to 1985, when a group of foundation and corporate donors started meeting informally, throughout the year, to share their challenges and successes. The networking, knowledge-sharing and camaraderie proved invaluable, and for years meetings rotated among participants, who each took turns hosting.

This ad hoc group was there for each other through some of Nashville’s toughest times, supporting each other and nonprofits in need through tornados, floods and economic downturns that impacted our most vulnerable communities.

In 2018, the MTDF came together in a more official manner, adopting operating guidelines, electing a steering committee, creating a dues structure, and naming its first coordinator to manage the newly formalized entity. Our main objective: providing support in the form of educational programs and networking opportunities for members of the Middle Tennessee philanthropic community.

Our Members

Members of the Middle Tennessee Donors Forum represent the leading foundation and corporate donors in Middle Tennessee. Program officers, Foundation CEOs, Trustees, CSR directors and other leaders in the philanthropic community come together to share ideas, discuss their work, and collaborate in problem solving.

Although many of our members have broad giving parameters in either geography and/or interest areas, our members also include highly focused institutional donors who are deeply invested in specific issues (such as education and health care) or in specific counties or even neighborhoods (such as Rutherford and Sumner counties).

Qualification for membership requires a direct leadership role, staff or trustee, in a qualifying foundation or corporation. Although we recognize the importance of individual donors in our community, including those with Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), individuals without an organizational affiliation do not qualify for membership at this time.

Our Programs

The Middle Tennessee Donors Forum provides a venue for our philanthropic community to come together in a wide variety of ways and with a range of purposes, all helping to build our collective capacity to support the communities in which we serve.

Educational events are presented throughout the year, virtually and in-person. Topics vary, focusing on three main areas of interest:

• best practices and current trends in the field of philanthropy

• community challenges and opportunities

• collaborative, cross-sector work proposed or underway to support community goals

Networking opportunities for our members include the programs described above as well as gatherings and luncheons where professionals can talk informally about topics of interest, shared goals, and work in the field.

Collaboration is also a key focus of the Donors Forum, bringing together funders and community leaders to learn from projects elsewhere, replicate ideas locally, pursue joint funding possibilities, and respond to rapidly changing needs when necessary.