United Way of Greater Chattanooga
United Way of Greater Chattanooga is a public charity based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It funds nonprofit organizations and operates community programs focused on children, families, and community needs.
United Way of Greater Chattanooga at a glance
In short: United Way of Greater Chattanooga gave $4.0M across 78 grants in 2025 (avg $51K), mostly in Tennessee. 5% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $3,984,241
- -3.7% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 78
- -4.9% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $51,080
- +1.2% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $26,438
- Total assets
- $32,913,063
- +11.1% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 5% first-time grantees (4 of 78, 2025)
- Primary geography
- Tennessee (96% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to United Way of Greater Chattanooga
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- Yes
- How to Apply
-
The organization accepts unsolicited requests through its community investment application process. Its website lists application guidelines, a sample application, a grant portal, information-session materials, and staff office hours as applicant resources.
- Contact
Mailing address: 630 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402
Phone: (423) 752-0300
Website: https://unitedwaycha.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
1 open opportunity from United Way of Greater Chattanooga
Who United Way of Greater Chattanooga funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Partnership for Families Children & Adults ($276K). Together the top 10 received $1.8M.
Grant Size Distribution
326 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 212 grants of 326 (65%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2025 filing reports that 96% of grant dollars went to recipients in Tennessee and 3% to recipients in Georgia. The organization’s filing describes family-stability initiatives in a 16-county region. Its Community Investments Program description lists Hamilton, Marion, Sequatchie, Walker, Dade, and Catoosa counties as its service area.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 78 itemized grants.
Cities
Is United Way of Greater Chattanooga open to new grantees?
5%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 4 of 78 grantees (5%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $66K; repeat grants $50K. How we count
Medians: $67K first-time, $26K repeat.
- 94% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (−17%). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $3.9M (2021) to $4.8M (2022). In 2025 it made 78 grants totaling $4.0M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Partnership for Families Children & Adults Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $275,900 |
| Northside Neighborhood House Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $252,801 |
| Chambliss Center for Children Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $231,212 |
| Boys and Girls Club Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $198,782 |
| Girls Incorporated Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $182,153 |
| La Paz Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $156,173 |
| Signal Centers Inc Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $137,529 |
| YMCA Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $125,706 |
| Chattanooga Area Food Bank Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $110,431 |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters Chattanooga, TN | Program Support | $109,134 |
Ready to take the next step with United Way of Greater Chattanooga?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $32,913,063 | $12,141,832 | $11,922,849 | $3,984,241 | 78 | $1,004,528 |
| 2024 | $29,616,774 | $10,826,715 | $11,687,249 | $4,137,596 | 82 | $537,921 |
| 2023 | $30,870,044 | $11,872,512 | $10,855,072 | $4,603,223 | 61 | $579,555 |
| 2022 | $28,378,228 | $9,851,005 | $10,854,920 | $4,781,710 | 43 | $513,093 |
| 2021 | $32,758,586 | $10,064,762 | $9,991,522 | $3,922,723 | 62 | $214,327 |
| 2020 | $27,460,680 | $8,634,637 | $10,007,052 | $4,580,243 | 43 | $-14,335 |
| 2019 | $28,674,152 | $9,905,977 | $14,750,519 | $4,554,013 | 43 | $292,182 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated October 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The organization’s mission is to unite people and resources in building a stronger, healthier community. Its grantmaking framework prioritizes measurable outcomes in its three focus areas and emphasizes collaboration and two-generation approaches for ALICE households with children.
The funder’s 2025 grants included organizations whose own missions span a range of services. For example, Northside Neighborhood House says its mission is to uplift and empower neighbors north of the river; Chambliss Center for Children provides early childhood education and/or residential care to abused children; and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank says it works to eliminate hunger by feeding, nourishing, and empowering people it serves.
Grantmaking
The 2025 filing lists 78 grants totaling $3,984,241. Grant amounts ranged from $5,197 to $275,900, with a median grant of $26,438. The largest grants included $275,900 to Partnership for Families Children & Adults, $252,801 to Northside Neighborhood House, and $231,212 to Chambliss Center for Children. The listed purposes for these grants were program support.
For the 2026–2027 cycle, the organization announced 52 funded partners, including five new partners, and more than $3.3 million invested. Its website describes the Bridge Fund as a one-time investment for urgent needs such as food, shelter, and transportation, and the Catalyst Fund as a one-time investment to accelerate promising strategies for ALICE families. The funded-partner booklet also describes three-year Impact Fund investments for local nonprofits collaboratively delivering two-generation solutions for ALICE households with children. The organization says applications are open to any 501(c)(3) in the region. It describes a data-informed process involving volunteer reviewers and local leaders; funded partners must report outcomes connected to the 2030 Impact Agenda. A group of 19 partners is in a multi-year Impact Cohort funded from June 2025 through June 2028.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Lesley Scearce as President & CEO; Abby Garrison, Suzy Anthony, and Terran Anderson as vice presidents; Ken Jones as Board Chair; and Jay Dale as Immediate Past Board Chair. It also lists Edna Varner, Angela Garcia, Baron Herdelin-Doherty, and Dalya Qualls White as members.
United Way of Greater Chattanooga is led by Lesley Scearce, President & CEO since 2024 (on filings since 2019); 4 of 21 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Lesley Scearce
President & CEO
President → President & CEO, 2024
On filings since 2019
45 hrs/week
$146K (2019) → $217K (2025)
Ken Jones
Board Chair
Board Member → Chair Elect, 2024
Chair Elect → Board Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Suzy Anthony
Vice President Finance & Operations
Vice President Finance & Ops → Vice President Finance & Operations, 2022
On filings since 2019
45 hrs/week
$112K (2019) → $169K (2025)
Abby Garrison
Vice President
Employee → Vice President, 2024
On filings since 2023
45 hrs/week
$141K (2023) → $156K (2025)
Terran Anderson
Vice President
On filings since 2024
45 hrs/week
$136K (2024) → $153K (2025)
Edna E. Varner
Member
Chairman → Immediate Past Chair, 2024
Immediate Past Chair → Member, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jay Dale
Immediate Past Bod Chair
Board Member → Chair, 2024
Chair → Immediate Past Bod Chair, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jim Catanzaro Jr.
Member
Board Member → Member, 2024
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Angela Garcia
Member
Board Member → Member, 2024
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Dejuan Jordan
Member
Board Member → Member, 2024
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Baron Herdelin-Doherty
Member
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Dalya Qualls White
Member
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Tom Rice
Member
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Ben Staples
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Bill Rush
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Bryan Kelly
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Katie Harbison
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Katy Spurlock
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kirk Walker
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mike McKee
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
PAULO Hutson Solrzano
Member
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (89)
- Former: Patti Dungan (2019–2024) — Secretary
- Former: Russ Blakely (2019–2024) — Member
- Former: Dionne Jenkins (2020–2024) — Member
- Former: Althea Jones (2022–2024) — Member
- Former: Amanda Jelks (2022–2024) — Member
- Former: Patricia Russell (2022–2024) — Member
- Former: Paulo Hutson (2022–2024) — Member
- Former: Ken Smith (2024) — Member
- Former: Percy Garcia-Rosell (2024) — Senior Director
- Former: Stefanie Mansueto (2024) — Treasurer
- Former: Toby Shelton (2024) — Member
- Former: Amber J. Cambron (2019–2023) — Board Member
- Former: Kenneth Smith (2019–2023) — Board Member
- Former: Michael St Charles (2019–2023) — Board Member
- Former: Tom Glenn (2019–2023) — Board Member
- Former: Tom White (2021–2023) — Board Member
- Former: Elaine Swafford (2019–2022) — Board Member
- Former: Lurone Jennings Sr. (2019–2022) — Board Member
- Former: Tom Greenholtz (2019–2022) — Board Member
- Former: Chris Sands (2022) — Board Member
- Former: Fabiola Ortiz (2022) — Board Member
- Former: Jon Paul Davis (2022) — Board Member
- Former: Troy Rogers (2022) — Board Member
- Former: Alnoor Dhanani (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Bruce C. Zeiser (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Charles L. Arant (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Chris Sislo (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Donna C. McConnico (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: John P. Guerry (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Michael George Mathis (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Scott D. Fosse (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Ternae Jordan Sr. (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Zan Guerry (2019–2021) — Board Member
- Former: Matt Royal (2021) — Board Member
- Former: Mike St Charles (2021) — Board Member
- Former: Tom McCallie (2021) — Board Member
- Former: Andrew Zito (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Bill W. Stacy (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Bryan Johnson (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Camden B. Scearce (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Caroline Bentley (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Damon Raines (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Don Mueller (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Gary Watkins (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Helen S. Pregulman (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Ian K. Leavy (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: James P. Vaughn (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Jeff Cronan (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Jeff Deloach (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Jim M. Coppinger (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Jonathan Matthew Royal (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Judy Stanfiell Graham (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Mary Kilbride (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Michael I. Lebovitz (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Miller Welborn (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Roger Hinckley (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Ryan Crimmins (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Scott L. Brown (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Steven Angle (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Thomas A. H. White (2019–2020) — Chair
- Former: Thomas H. McCallie III (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Anne Bradshaw (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Christy Gillenwater (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Clark Taylor (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Elaine Harper (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Everlena Holmes (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Jeremy Scruggs (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Joda Thongnopnua (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Reggie Piercy (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Sam Jones (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Taylor Jones (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Tom Hayslett (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Tony Houston (2020) — Board Member
- Former: Alison Lebovitz (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Grady P. Williams CPA (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Hodgen Mainda (2019) — Board Member
- Former: J. Harvey Cameron (2019) — Board Member
- Former: J. Thomas Decosimo (2019) — Board Member
- Former: James L. E. Hill (2019) — Board Member
- Former: James M. Haley IV (2019) — Board Member
- Former: John A. Phillips Jr. (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Michael M. Sarvis (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Mike M. Kramer (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Richard J. Beeland (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Sandra Miller Brewer (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Thomas Quisenberry (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Tyler Ryan Yount (2019) — Board Member
- Former: W. Keith Sanford (2019) — Board Member
- Former: Warren E. McEwen (2019) — Board Member
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $217K, to Lesley Scearce (President & CEO). 4 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about United Way of Greater Chattanooga
How much does United Way of Greater Chattanooga give each year?
United Way of Greater Chattanooga gave $4.0M across 78 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $4.1M across 82 grants.
What is United Way of Greater Chattanooga's typical grant size?
United Way of Greater Chattanooga's median grant in 2025 was $26,438, and its average grant was $51,080, across 78 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from United Way of Greater Chattanooga that year got $66K on average.
Where does United Way of Greater Chattanooga give grants?
United Way of Greater Chattanooga gives mostly in Tennessee: 96% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Chattanooga, TN (55 grants), Soddydaisy, TN (4 grants), Ft Oglethorpe, GA (2 grants) and Hixson, TN (2 grants).
Does United Way of Greater Chattanooga give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 78 grants with a stated purpose on United Way of Greater Chattanooga's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Program Support" (78 grants).
Who are United Way of Greater Chattanooga's largest grantees?
United Way of Greater Chattanooga's largest 2025 grantees include Partnership for Families Children & Adults ($275,900), Northside Neighborhood House ($252,801) and Chambliss Center for Children ($231,212), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 19% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is United Way of Greater Chattanooga?
United Way of Greater Chattanooga reported $32.9M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $12.1M.
What does United Way of Greater Chattanooga fund?
The organization’s mission is to unite people and resources in building a stronger, healthier community. Its grantmaking framework prioritizes measurable outcomes in its three focus areas and emphasizes collaboration and two-generation approaches for ALICE households with children. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from United Way of Greater Chattanooga?
The organization accepts unsolicited requests through its community investment application process. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is United Way of Greater Chattanooga's EIN?
United Way of Greater Chattanooga's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 62-0565962. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does United Way of Greater Chattanooga accept unsolicited proposals?
Yes, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS June 8, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS March 11, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS November 15, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS November 2, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS December 11, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS November 15, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS November 5, 2025)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2025
Live grants for the work United Way of Greater Chattanooga funds
Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in United Way of Greater Chattanooga's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). United Way of Greater Chattanooga funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/united-way-of-greater-chattanooga-morg_8ce71971d57947129a08c54861d233a0
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_620565962_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{United Way of Greater Chattanooga funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/united-way-of-greater-chattanooga-morg_8ce71971d57947129a08c54861d233a0},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-24. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from United Way of Greater Chattanooga's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
United Way of Greater Chattanooga down — hundreds of funders to go?