Anverse Inc.

Anverse Inc. is best understood not as a conventional private foundation but as a community institution builder that also deploys external grants. Its primary identity is as an operator of four museums — Tellus Science Museum, Booth Art Museum, Bartow History Museum, and the Savoy Automobile Museum (opened December 2021) — plus the Grand Theater, Carroll Nonprofit Center, and WBHF Community Radio (1450AM/100.3FM) in Cartersville, Georgia. All external grantmaking is secondary to these operating programs and is conducted by invitation only, with no public application process.

Organizations that receive external grants from Anverse share several characteristics: they are embedded in the Bartow County, Georgia or Rappahannock, Virginia communities; they deliver direct services to underserved populations; and they have established relationships with Anverse leadership or staff. The McClain family (Lorraine McClain as Vice President, Forrest McClain as Secretary/Treasurer) and President Jonathan J. Oscher are the governing voices alongside paid Executive Director Marty Sonenshine ($174,160 annual compensation, 40 hours/week). Controller Lisa Krauss handles financial operations.

For first-time prospective grantees, the practical reality is stark: there is no LOI, no portal, no RFP. The pathway to funding is relationship-first. Organizations should identify whether any Anverse staff or board members have personal connections to their work — the employee matching grant program documents that staff philanthropy is recognized and rewarded. Attending events at the Tellus Science Museum, Grand Theater, or other Anverse properties in Cartersville is a legitimate networking opportunity.

The most viable profiles for unsolicited relationship-building are: nonprofits in Bartow County, GA serving youth or families; organizations in the Rappahannock corridor of Virginia (Fredericksburg, Stafford, Fauquier counties); community health clinics; after-school programs run through faith institutions; and organizations with capital needs (equipment, facility repairs) they can articulate clearly. Anverse is not a national funder — it is a deeply local institution with occasional geographic reach into Virginia and North Carolina.

Anverse's external grant-making has grown substantially over the past decade, from approximately $1.31M–$1.33M annually in FY2012–2014 to a peak of $4.41M in FY2022, before moderating to $3.5M across 58 grants in FY2024. This growth trajectory — roughly 3x increase over ten years — reflects expanding philanthropic ambition alongside a growing asset base that has ranged from $107.7M (FY2018) to $131.7M (FY2021), settling at $124.1M as of FY2024.

The grant range is extremely wide: from $200 employee matching grants to $4.26M in capital expenditure support for Georgia Museums Inc., Anverse's own affiliated operating partner. Excluding that affiliated grant and the largest after-school program grants, the practical range for external community organizations is approximately $5,000–$122,000, with the bulk clustered in the $10,000–$50,000 band. The median grant reported by third-party databases was approximately $19,000 in FY2023.

By program area, the 114 tracked grants break down as follows: after-school/youth programs account for the largest dollar volume (First Presbyterian Church $953,334 and Douglas Street United Methodist Church $526,434 together represent $1.48M); human services and housing (Good Neighbor Homeless Shelter $122,000; Loisann's Hope House $50,000; Tranquility House $18,860); community healthcare (Bartow Health Access $92,400; Healthreach Community Clinic $47,000; Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic $40,000; Fauquier Free Clinic $14,000); scholarships and education (Etowah Scholarship Foundation $80,800; Bartow County School System $45,000; Cartersville Schools Foundation $20,000); and capital/equipment grants across many smaller nonprofits.

Geographically, 64 of 114 tracked grants (56%) went to Georgia organizations, 30 (26%) to Virginia, 10 (9%) to North Carolina, and the balance scattered across Puerto Rico, DC, New Mexico, New York, and South Carolina. Officer compensation has grown modestly from $148,840 (FY2012) to $174,160 (FY2023–24), consistent with a professionally managed operating foundation.

The five foundations in Anverse's peer set — matched by asset size in the $123M–$125M range under the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category — differ substantially in mission, geography, and grantmaking approach.

Anverse is the most distinctively operating-focused of its peers: while most foundations of this asset size function as pure grantmakers, Anverse directly operates cultural and community infrastructure. This means its effective external grantmaking rate — approximately 2.8% of assets — is significantly lower than peers who deploy a higher proportion of assets outward. Grace Farms Foundation is the closest structural analog, as it too operates a physical community space alongside a grantmaking function. For grant seekers, the key comparative insight is that Anverse's invite-only posture is less a gatekeeping preference and more a reflection of its community-embedded, operationally intensive identity.

No new press releases, grant announcements, or leadership changes from Anverse Inc. were found in web searches covering 2025–2026. The foundation does not maintain a public-facing grants website and issues no press releases about individual grants, consistent with its low-profile operating posture.

The most significant recent organizational event was the December 2021 opening of the Savoy Automobile Museum — a 66,000 sq. ft. facility in Cartersville featuring a permanent automobile gallery and three rotating temporary galleries. This added a fourth museum to Anverse's portfolio and significantly expanded its operating footprint and staffing obligations.

Also noteworthy: Vice President Dorothy Oscher passed away on January 6, 2021, representing a governance transition. Lorraine McClain now serves as Vice President alongside President Jonathan J. Oscher (relationship to Dorothy Oscher is not publicly specified in filings). The board composition — Jonathan Oscher (President), Lorraine McClain (VP), Forrest McClain (Secretary/Treasurer), David Aiken (Director), and Earline Burke (Director) — appears stable.

The FY2024 990-PF (filed May 14, 2025) reflects the most recent available financial picture: $124.1M in assets, $3.5M in external grants across 58 awards, and $15.7M in total charitable disbursements (including museum operations). The grant count increasing from 40 (FY2023) to 58 (FY2024) while total dollars declined signals intentional diversification of the grant portfolio toward more, smaller awards.

Given that Anverse explicitly does not accept unsolicited applications and is flagged as preselected-only in foundation databases, conventional grant-writing advice is largely irrelevant here. What follows is strategy for organizations that are genuinely positioned geographically and programmatically.

Build relationships before asking. The governing board and Executive Director Marty Sonenshine operate from Cartersville, GA. Attend public events at Tellus Science Museum, the Grand Theater, or Savoy Automobile Museum. Board members Lorraine and Forrest McClain, Jonathan Oscher, David Aiken, and Earline Burke are community figures — identify where their other civic involvements intersect with your organization's work.

Activate the employee matching program. If any Anverse employee personally donates to your organization, a matching grant request is a documented pathway. Grants as small as $200–$2,000 in this category appear in the 990-PF. This is the only semi-open door in the entire grantmaking structure.

Speak Anverse's language. Grant purpose descriptions in their 990-PF use highly specific, capital-focused language: "new roof, HVAC & security systems," "freezers, lights, & fans," "electronic health records," "playground equipment." When making your case, name the specific item, its cost, and its direct service impact — not abstract organizational capacity.

Frame operating grants as program sustainability. After-school programs (particularly faith-institution-based) and homeless/housing shelter operations are recurring categories. If your organization operates a structured, year-round program serving youth or families in crisis, emphasize the continuity and enrollment/service numbers.

Do not cold-contact. No email address for grantmaking inquiries is publicly listed. The contact on file is "% Lisa Krauss" (Controller) at PO Box 3248, Cartersville, GA 30120, phone (678) 721-0251. A cold inquiry to this address is unlikely to be productive and may be counterproductive. Warm introductions through community networks — Bartow County nonprofit consortia, United Way of Northwest Georgia, Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber — are the appropriate channel.