Footprint Foundation Inc.

Footprint Foundation Inc. is a family private foundation based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, operating since 2011 under the stewardship of the Montague and Smith families. Alice Smith serves as President, Alfred Smith as VP, and the Montague family (L. Thomas, John P., Jessica, and Kristina) fills board and officer roles — all without compensation. Administered through The Lupton Company at 201 W Main Street, the foundation holds approximately $23.1 million in assets and distributed $1.1–$1.64 million annually in direct grants before pausing in 2023.

The foundation's core philosophy treats grants as "investments in people with new ideas for strengthening community" — language that signals preference for visionary leadership and systemic thinking over programmatic deliverables. They explicitly value work that takes risks, generates new leadership, serves underrepresented populations, enhances public spaces, and builds cross-sector collaboration. Organizations fitting neatly into conventional service categories face a higher bar than those driving structural change.

All grantmaking is by invitation only. Footprint first cultivates genuine relationships — typically through Chattanooga's civic infrastructure and Northern California's community networks — before extending any grant invitation. Critically, the foundation extends invitations only when it sees potential for a grant to impact more than one of their four focus areas: creative culture, environment, learning, and social justice. Cross-cutting, multi-pillar work is not a bonus — it is a prerequisite for consideration.

CRITICAL FOR 2025–2026 APPLICANTS: Since 2023, Footprint has formally paused all new grantmaking while undergoing a community co-creation process to fundamentally redesign its strategy. They expect to announce a new direction in 2026 and resume grantmaking thereafter. Organizations seeking Footprint funding should focus exclusively on relationship-building and ecosystem positioning during this transition — not on preparing proposals.

The historical grantee roster reveals the archetypal Footprint partner: deeply embedded in Chattanooga's civic infrastructure, working at the intersection of equity and community development, and capable of sustained multi-year collaboration. The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga ($876,500 over 21 grants), Artsbuild ($525,000), Teach For America Chattanooga ($510,000), and Urban League of Greater Chattanooga ($325,000) exemplify this model. First-time applicants should expect years of relationship development before any formal invitation.

From FY2019 through FY2023, Footprint Foundation paid out between $1.12 million and $1.64 million in direct grants annually, with total giving (including program expenses) ranging from $1.68 million to $2.42 million. The FY2022 peak ($1.64M grants paid, $2.42M total giving) coincided with the COVID-era "Project Rejuvenation" initiative. FY2023 declined to $1.18M grants paid, reflecting the strategic transition underway. FY2024 data shows no grants paid, consistent with the formal pause.

The foundation's 211 recorded grants totaling $6.27 million reveal distinct patterns:

• Average individual grant: $29,732
• Median grant size: approximately $36,500 (per foundation-reported data on 32 grants)
• Typical range: $2,500 to $125,000
• Multi-year cumulative totals for anchor organizations reach $500,000–$876,500, reflecting deep sustained relationships over 5–8 year periods

Geographic distribution is highly concentrated: Tennessee accounts for 188 of 211 grants (89%), with Chattanooga as the overwhelming center of gravity. Out-of-state grants are largely intermediated: New York receives 7 grants (3.3%), California 6 grants (2.8%), and Georgia, Missouri, Montana, and North Carolina receive 1–2 grants each. The California portfolio is almost entirely channeled through Humboldt Area Foundation ($500,000 total across 5 grants), which administers a dedicated "Footprint Fund" for Northern California grantees.

By focus area, the grant record reveals four clusters: - Social justice and racial equity dominate the largest grants: Community Foundation's Racial Equity Collective, Ed Johnson Project, eviction protection, Urban League equity work - Arts and creative culture is the second-largest area: Artsbuild ($525,000), Rise Chattanooga ($143,000), Splash ($68,000), CAPA ($12,000), Glass House Collective ($34,000) - Environment and land conservation appears in sustained grants to Greenspaces ($87,000), Lookout Mountain Conservancy ($87,000), Crabtree Farms ($87,000), and Tennessee River Gorge Trust ($60,000) - Education and workforce development runs through Teach For America ($510,000), Launch ($480,000), and The Chattery ($80,000)

The top 10 recipients account for over $4.1 million — approximately 65% of total recorded giving — confirming Footprint's model of deepening relationships rather than distributing one-time grants broadly.

Footprint Foundation occupies a distinctive niche among similarly-sized private foundations: it is geographically hyper-focused on a single mid-size city, operates an invitation-only relational model, and has undertaken an unusual strategic pause for community co-creation. Peers in the database share comparable asset levels (~$23M) but differ substantially in geography and transparency.

Note: Peer annual giving estimates are based on the standard private foundation 5% minimum payout requirement applied to ~$23M in assets; actual figures may vary. Footprint's giving history is verified from 990 filings.

Footprint stands out for three reasons. First, its 100% mission-investing portfolio alignment is a practice more common among foundations two to three times its size. Second, its explicit "change/liberation" language and co-created strategy redesign reflect a level of values transparency rare at this asset level. Third, its use of Humboldt Area Foundation as a regional intermediary for California giving creates a structured dual-geography model that other family foundations of this scale rarely implement.

The defining development at Footprint Foundation across 2023–2026 is its formal pause on new grantmaking, launched after a decade of active operations. After distributing over $7.4 million in total giving from 2013 through 2023, leadership — led by President Alice Smith and the Montague and Smith family board — chose to step back and redesign the foundation's philanthropic approach from the ground up.

The pause followed a peak giving period under "Project Rejuvenation" (2020–2022), when Footprint accelerated COVID-response grants across arts organizations, food systems, eviction protection, and community resilience efforts. The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga served as primary intermediary, receiving $876,500 across 21 grants for programs including the Community Response and Resilience Fund, Sankofa Fund, Eviction Protection Initiative, and Chattanooga Racial Equity Collective. Total giving reached $2.42 million in FY2022 before declining to $1.87 million in FY2023.

The foundation's strategic co-creation process, launched in 2022, invites community partners to collaboratively shape the next grantmaking model. The explicit aim is to shift power and capital toward those closest to the work and to address structural inequities within philanthropy itself — language that signals a materially different approach post-2026 than what preceded it.

On the investment side, the foundation reports 100% portfolio alignment with its values, partnering with Slow Money and Common Future to redirect endowment capital toward local Chattanooga and Northern California economic ecosystems. A new foundation website (footprint-foundation.org) is under development as of June 2026, showing only a "Launching Soon" page — indicating the foundation intends to present a substantially reinvented public identity alongside its new grantmaking strategy.

Because Footprint Foundation operates exclusively by invitation and is currently in a strategic pause, the tips below are specific to the realistic pathway to funding when grantmaking resumes in 2026.

Do not submit unsolicited proposals under any circumstances. The foundation is unambiguous: no cold applications, no capital campaigns, no annual campaigns, and no fundraising event sponsorships will be considered, ever. Sending unsolicited materials signals misalignment and closes doors.

Wait for the 2026 strategy announcement before any direct outreach. Approaching the foundation during its co-creation period is premature. Monitor footprintfoundation.org and footprint-foundation.org for the anticipated announcement, which will likely redefine focus areas, eligibility criteria, and any process changes.

Frame your work as cross-cutting across at least two focus areas. Footprint's grant page states explicitly that invitations go to organizations with potential impact across creative culture, environment, learning, and social justice. Map your actual work to this framework with specificity — not as branding, but as genuine evidence of intersection.

Adopt the right vocabulary. The foundation's emerging language centers on "liberation," "power-shifting," "structural equity," and "systems transformation." Proposals or introductions framed around service delivery metrics, client counts, or program outputs will resonate less than narratives articulating shared power, community self-determination, and structural change.

Build relationships through existing Footprint grantees. The credible path runs through Chattanooga's civic ecosystem. The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Artsbuild, Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, and Launch are all long-term Footprint grantees and natural introduction channels.

For Northern California organizations: Humboldt Area Foundation administers a dedicated Footprint Fund. Developing a relationship with HAF programs is the most direct indirect route — Footprint has channeled $500,000 through this intermediary and is unlikely to fund California organizations directly outside this structure.

Contact information: The foundation's phone is (423) 757-0507, care of The Lupton Company. Use this only after a warm introduction has been established and the new strategy has been announced.