Martha Ingram: Donor Grants
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Ingram Industries
FUNDING AREAS: Arts, Education, Health & Human Services (Cancer), Nashville Community
OVERVIEW: Martha Ingram and family move philanthropy through Ingram Charities, which provides grants for programs and nonprofit organizations that make Nashville a better place to live and work. Funding typically focuses on programs that are making an impact in Middle Tennessee through the arts, education, and health and human services.
BACKGROUND: Martha Ingram graduated from Vassar College. She and her family own distribution and marine firm Ingram Industries. Ingram began steering the business after her husband Bronson passed away in 1995. Ingram stepped down as chairman in 2008 and her sons Orrin and John took over as CEO and chairman.
ISSUES:
INGRAM CHARITIES: Ingram Charities provides grants for programs and nonprofit organizations that make Nashville a better place to live and work, focusing largely on “programs that are making an impact in Middle Tennessee through the arts, education, and health and human services.” While the foundation has a website, it does not provide a list of current grantees.
Tax records from the Ingram Charitable Fund and the Martha and Bronson Ingram Fund suggest that grantmaking has been modest of late. The family has deep ties to Vanderbilt University. The late Bronson Ingram served on the institution’s Board of Trust for nearly three decades and led the board from 1991 to 1995. He also also chaired The Campaign for Vanderbilt, which raised $560 million for the University, and gave a donation earmarked for cancer research at Vanderbilt. The forces here are personal, as Bronson passed away from cancer.
The institution is home to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. The family’s support also includes creating the Hortense B. Ingram Chair in Molecular Oncology, named in honor of Bronson’s mother, who also died of cancer. It’s worth noting that Martha Ingram’s son Orrin has dealt with cancer as well. In 2017, meanwhile, Ingram family members made gifts totaling $20 million, naming E. Bronson Ingram College. The Ingrams have also steadily supported Vanderbilt Blair School of Music, home to Ingram Hall.
Beyond Vanderbilt University, past grantees include the Adventure Science Center, Ashley Hall (from where Martha Ingram graduated), Centerstone in Tennessee, and Currey Ingram Academy, a K-12 day school that empowers students with learning differences. Martha Ingram also gave support Nashville Symphony to keep lenders from foreclosing on the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect this billionaire family to remain laser-focused on their Tennessee Community. Perhaps Ingram Charities will be a bit more transparent in the coming years. Sons Orrin and John should be watched carefully.
CONTACT:
Ingram Charities
4400 Harding Rd
Nashville TN 37205
contact@ingramcharities.com
