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NonprofitTruth
Efficiency Ranking · Tennessee

Most Efficient Charities in Tennessee

20 nonprofits ranked by Efficiency Score. 2 earn an A grade for excellent financial stewardship.

Below: Tennessee's most efficient nonprofits, ranked by the NonprofitTruth nonprofit efficiency rubric. The rubric combines financial health / operating reserves (40%), revenue-growth consistency (35%), and officer compensation relative to revenue (25%).

Efficiency rankings do not necessarily favor large or small organizations — the rubric rewards organizations that hold healthy reserves, run on stable funding, and pay officers in line with sector norms regardless of scale. Efficiency scores are recomputed each time we ingest new Form 990 filings; small movements year-to-year are normal as filing data updates.

#OrganizationScoreOfficer PayGrade
1Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Health
91$24.6MA
2Lincoln Memorial University
Education
86$2.7MA
3Highlander Research & Education Center Inc
Environment & Animals
79$190KB
4Ducks Unlimited Inc
Environment & Animals
78$3.4MB
5Tennessee Performing Arts Center Management Corporation
Arts, Culture & Humanities
72$1.3MB
6Meharry Medical College
Education
71$5.8MB
7St Jude Childrens Research Hospital Inc
Health
64$9.3MC
8Tennessee Aquarium
Environment & Animals
61$1.1MC
9Memphis Zoo Inc
Environment & Animals
60$1.1MC
10Vanderbilt University
Education
58$20.7MC
11Rhodes College
Education
57$3.3MC
12Education Loan Finance Inc
Education
56$3.7MC
13Country Music Foundation Inc
Arts, Culture & Humanities
56$1.7MC
14Belmont University
Education
54$7.6MC
15Memphis Brooks Museum Of Art Inc
Arts, Culture & Humanities
54C
16University Of The South
Education
53$3.5MC
17Nashville Zoo Inc
Environment & Animals
53$1.7MC
18The University Of Tennessee Foundation Inc
Education
51$6.3MC
19Nashville Symphony Association
Arts, Culture & Humanities
41$2.0MD
20Ducks Unlimited Inc
Environment & Animals
32F

Frequently Asked Questions

The most efficient charities in Tennessee are ranked above by our Efficiency Score. The top-ranked organization scores 91/100.

The Efficiency Score weighs three factors from IRS Form 990 data: financial health / operating reserves (40%), revenue-growth consistency (35%), and current-officer compensation relative to revenue (25%). It does not include a program-spending ratio, which our data source does not provide. Scores range from 0 to 100.