Chestnut Family Foundation

Private foundation · EIN 81-4986125 · since 2017chestnutfamily.foundation·Georgia·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$17M

Annual giving, 2025 tax year

From the Form 990-PF filing

$40,000 to $1.9M

Grant range

From grants in the 990-PF filings

$161k

Typical grant (median)

40 grants in the latest filing

Invitation only

Unsolicited applications are not accepted

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.

Key takeaways

Chestnut Family Foundation, based in Atlanta, GA, supports work that improves children's access to health and the performing arts, with a priority on Georgia, and it favours small and medium-sized organisations with deep community knowledge, dynamic leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit with a bias toward access.
A realistic request would sit around the median grant of about $170,000, though grants have ranged from $40,000 up to $1,900,000, with the largest recorded at $5,000,000, so there is room for both modest and sizeable asks depending on fit.
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organisations and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a grant-seeker should not send in an unsolicited application; instead, any approach needs to come through an invitation or existing connection.
With 81% of its grant dollars going to organisations it had already funded in the two previous filings, this looks like a relationship-led funder that favours continuity over opportunistic new applicants, so groups without an existing link may find it harder to break in.
Given the invitation-only process, the most practical step for a small nonprofit is to focus on building visibility and relationships within Georgia's children's health and performing arts sector rather than preparing a cold proposal.

Overview

Chestnut Family Foundation is a US private foundation based in Atlanta, GA.

What they fund

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2025, TY2024, TY2023) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The foundation says it invests in children’s lives through access to the arts, and seeks nonprofit partners that improve children’s access and choice in health and the performing arts. It describes its aim as helping children become healthy, develop self-confidence and enjoy life. It looks for organisations in Georgia that show compassion and creativity in improving children’s lives, and is drawn to small and medium-sized organisations with deep community knowledge, dynamic leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit with a bias toward access.

Themes

Arts access for children
Children’s health
Performing arts

Geographic Focus

Priority: Georgia.

How to apply

The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organisations and does not accept unsolicited requests.

Application success factors

Repeat giving: In its TY2025 filing, 81% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2023 or TY2024 filing.
Grant size: Across its TY2023, TY2024 and TY2025 filings, half of its 96 grants to organisations were about $170,000 or less.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2023–2025.

Grant dollars by state

Georgia69%

Maryland15%

California11%

Virginia2%

Florida<1%

New York<1%

2 other states: <1%

The largest single recipient received 19% of grant dollars to organisations.
In tax year 2025, 81% of grant dollars went to organisations Chestnut Family Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
No grants were paid directly to organisations outside the US.
7% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.

Grants

40 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $161k

How much do they typically give?

Share of 40 grants in tax year 2025 by size

Under $1k3%

$1k–$2.5k0%

$2.5k–$5k0%

$5k–$10k0%

$10k–$25k3%

$25k–$50k8%

$50k–$100k10%

$100k–$250k40%

$250k–$500k20%

$500k–$1M5%

$1M and over13%

Median $161k (tax year 2025)

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

Ayn Rand Institute · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$3,500,0002025 tax year
Join Together Society America · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$3,200,0002025 tax year
Atlanta BeltLine Partnership · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$1,500,0002025 tax year
Atlanta Music Project · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$1,032,5002025 tax year
Path Foundation · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$1,000,0002025 tax year
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$667,0002025 tax year
Bearings Bike · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$650,0002025 tax year
Friends of Refugees · To support the mission of the recipient organization
$498,3002025 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Officers and directors

Teresa K Chestnut — Trustee
Benjamin L Chestnut — Trustee

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

3 years of tax filings

Year	Total expenses	Grants paid	Assets	Filing document
2023 tax year	$17,291,137	$16,544,230	$296,456,903	Filing for 2023 tax year
2024 tax year	$20,985,160	$20,000,300	$318,280,764	Filing for 2024 tax year
2025 tax year	$18,836,450	$17,007,752	$356,803,523	Filing for 2025 tax year

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.