NASHVILLE—Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced today that his office has filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking judicial dissolution of the National Foundation for Transplants, Inc. (NFT), a Memphis-based nonprofit that fundraised for organ transplant patients. The lawsuit follows a months-long investigation into NFT’s business practices and its handling of patient donations. NFT announced in April 2024 that it would cease operations due to financial difficulties. The investigation began after the Attorney General’s Office received 47 complaints from patients and donors—including some referred by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Division of Business and Charitable Organizations—following NFT’s closure announcement. The organization’s dissolution plan also raised concerns about handling donor-restricted funds.
“Our investigation revealed troubling discrepancies between how NFT represented its services to vulnerable transplant patients and how it actually managed donations,” said Attorney General Skrmetti. “When a nonprofit organization solicits charitable contributions by telling donors their money will benefit specific transplant patients, those representations must be truthful and accurate. We are all grateful for the many Tennessee non-profits who serve our communities with selflessness and integrity, but organizations that betray the public trust will be held accountable.”
The Secretary of State’s Division of Business and Charitable Organizations received the first NFT complaint after the organization announced its closure, involving a patient’s family member concerned about access to restricted transplant funds. Similar complaints from citizens and communications from the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office were referred to the Tennessee Attorney General. Although NFT filed a Notice of Intent Not to Solicit in May 2024, it failed to properly file dissolution documents. The division administratively dissolved it in December 2024 for not submitting its 2023 annual report.
“The Attorney General’s Office is a great partner in our efforts to protect Tennesseans and their charitable dollars,” said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. “This important step announced today warns any individual or entity attempting to take advantage of the generosity of donors that their actions will not be tolerated in Tennessee.”
The lawsuit alleges that NFT misrepresented to patients and donors that funds donated “in honor of” or “on behalf of” specific patients would be restricted for use by those patients. Instead, NFT later claimed all donations were unrestricted assets held in a general fund. According to the filing, NFT provided patients with statements resembling bank account reports showing beginning and ending balances of funds donated for their care, creating the impression that these funds were being held specifically for them. When NFT announced its closure, many patients discovered they could no longer access the funds they believed had been raised specifically for their medical needs.
The lawsuit seeks judicial dissolution under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act, which allows courts to dissolve nonprofits that have acted in a persistently fraudulent manner, abused their authority, or can no longer carry out their charitable purpose. If granted, the court would oversee the proper distribution of NFT’s remaining assets to another nonprofit with a similar mission.
The Attorney General’s Office requests that former NFT patients or donors with concerns contact the Public Interest Division at 615-741-5573 or submit this form.
