William H. Frist Foundation

OVERVIEW: The William H. Frist Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to causes in the Nashville area, as well as global and health causes.   

IP TAKE: The foundation keeps a low public profile, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities.

PROFILE: Established in 1993, the William H. Frist Foundation was founded by former Senate Majority Leader William Harrison Frist, who was also a heart and lung transplant surgeon.

The foundation does not maintain a website, which makes it difficult to locate further information on its priority areas and grantmaking strategies. Tax filings suggest that the William H. Frist Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to causes in the Nashville area, as well as global and health causes.  

William is chair and founder of SCORE, a “statewide collaborative education reform organization that has helped propel Tennessee to prominence as a K-12 education reform state.” He is also chairman of Hope Through Healing Hands, which focuses on maternal and child health and global poverty, and supports the organization via his foundation. William has led annual medical mission trips to Africa and Haiti, and emergency response teams to disasters around the globe, including to Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Bangladesh, Sudan, New Orleans after Katrina, and Haiti after the earthquake.

Grants range from $400 to $79,000. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $175,000. Past grantees include NashvilleHealth, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State University Foundation, and JP Haiti Relief Organization.

The William H. Frist Foundation keeps a low profile and does not accept unsolicited proposals.

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

William H. Frist Family Foundation
2908 Poston Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203