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· Private foundation

Alden and Vada Dow Fund

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$770k
Granted FY2025still arriving
38
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Human Services$1.6MArts & Culture$980kEnvironment$571kHealth$358kYouth Development$244kRecreation & Sports$149kCommunity Improvement$136kEducation$77kOther$0
02FY2025 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $37k
  • $10k–50k32 grants · $733k
$22,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Interlochen Arts Academy$45,000
Family and Children's Services$36,000
Planned Parenthood of MI$35,000
West Midland Family Center$30,000
MyMichigan Health Foundation$30,000
CAN Council Great Lakes Bay Region$30,000
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Great Lakes Bay Region$30,000
Shelterhouse - Council of Domestic Violence$28,000
Greater Midland North Family Center$28,000
Greater Midland Coleman Family Center$28,000
Child & Family Services of Saginaw$27,000
The Legacy Center$26,000
The Little Forks Conservancy$25,000
The ARC of Midland County$25,000
GRACE$23,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $1.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 77% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $27k → 12%GLADWIN COMMUNITY SERVICES CORP: $20k → 14%RIVER HOUSE INC: $25k → 14%YWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $25k → 14%RAYOLA INC: $10k → 16%West Midland Family Center: $30k → 19%RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $25k → 12%RIVER HOUSE INC: $25k → 14%YWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $25k → 14%RAYOLA INC: $10k → 16%Listening Ear Crisis Center: $17k → 19%Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee: $20k → 12%RIVER HOUSE INC: $25k → 14%YWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $25k → 14%Rayola Inc: $8k → 16%FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES: $71k → 18%LISTENING EAR CRISIS CENTER: $15k → 19%YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region: $25k → 14%RAYOLA INC: $5k → 16%Family and Children's Services: $36k → 18%LISTENING EAR CRISIS CENTER: $14k → 19%River House Inc: $23k → 14%YWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $20k → 14%LISTENING EAR CRISIS CENTER: $13k → 19%Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee: $15k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $40k → 18%CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES OF SAGINAW: $35k → 18%CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES OF SAGINAW: $35k → 18%Child & Family Services of Saginaw: $27k → 18%Underground Railroad: $25k → 18%UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: $25k → 18%FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $25k → 18%Underground Railroad: $22k → 18%UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: $20k → 18%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $20k → 9%UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: $20k → 18%UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: $20k → 18%Hidden Harvest: $20k → 18%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $15k → 9%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $10k → 9%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $10k → 9%SHELTERHOUSE: $30k → 9%SHELTERHOUSE: $30k → 9%SHELTERHOUSE: $30k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.8M · 39 repeat orgs$595k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

39 repeat relationships: 27 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

39
25

Total granted

$3.8M
$419k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
0%

Still filing today

56%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $176k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEnvironmentHealthArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • AB
    Alden B and Vada B Dow Creativity Foundation
    5× · 2020–2025 · $547k · revenue +54%
  • IS
    INLAND SEAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $169k · revenue +303%
  • GM
    GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC
    2× · 2020–2022 · $149k · revenue +129%

Funded once

  • FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC
    one grant, 2020 · $71k · revenue -9%
  • CO
    CITY OF MIDLAND
    one grant, 2021 · $40k
  • BG
    BOTANICAL GARDEN SOCIETY OF NW MI
    one grant, 2022 · $30k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Midmichigan Health Services

To provide high quality community-oriented, patient-centered health services for all.

Health
2
Midland County Cancer Society Dba Cancer Services

To provide personal and compassionate support to cancer patients and their caregivers in our community.

—
3
Mid Michigan Community Action Agency Inc

Mid michigan community action guides local residents on the path to self-sufficiency through empowerment, education and community enrichment.

—
4
Michigan Family Resources

Michigan Family Resources mission is to deliver holistic family-centered services to children that promote their well-being and development.

Education
5
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
6
Child and Family Services of the Upper Peninsula Inc

To strengthen, nuture and empower children and families for a brighter future by providing programs that preserve the dignity and enhance the well-being of families throughout michigan's upper peninsula, in a caring, compassionate and…

Human Services
7
Lincoln Behavioral Services

To provide comprehensive outpatient mental health services to over 5400 individuals and their families in a consumer driven person centered delivery system. Approximately 15% of our staff members are our clients who are involved in a…

Health
8
Area Agency On Aging of Western Michigan Inc

Through internal expertise, external partnerships, and advocacy, the area agency on aging of western michigan provides older adults, adults with disabilities, and their caregivers equitable access to services that promote independence and…

Human Services
9
Great Lakes Center for the Arts

The Center's mission is to inspire, entertain, educate, and serve all in Northern Michigan year-round by presenting exceptional experiences across the full spectrum of the performing arts and offering impactful educational opportunities.

Arts & Culture
10
Muskogee County Child Advocacy Center Inc

Kids space is a child focused center that provides and coordinates professional on-site medical treatment, forensic interviews, and mental health services for child abuse victims, their non-offending caregivers, and victims of sexual…

Civil Rights
11
Vermilion County Child Advocacy Center

Perform forensic interviews on minor children in response to calls from either the Department of Children and Family Services or law enforcement, regarding potential abuse of the child. The Center works as an advocate for the child with…

Crime & Legal
12
Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County

Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County D/B/A Catholic Charities Washtenaw County provides diverse, holistic social services including adoption and pregnancy counseling, food and basic needs assistance, domestic and child abuse…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Council On Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault; the most unlike its peers is Alden B and Vada B Dow Creativity Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

39 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 39 of the 76 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
39/39
Grantees still filing
20/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Alden B and Vada B Dow Creativity Foundation: $546,998 · OtherAlden B and Vada B Dow Creativity FoundationINTERLOCHEN ARTS ACADEMY: $275,000 · OtherINTERLOCHEN ARTS ACADEMYGreater Midland North Family Center: $142,000 · OtherGreater Midland North Family CenterBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $120,000 · OtherCAN Council Great Lakes Bay Region: $110,000 · OtherGREATER MIDLAND COLEMAN FAMILY CENT: $109,000 · OtherBAY AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $103,000 · OtherLEGACY CENTER: $96,000 · Other+42 more: $1,039,438 · Other+42 moreUNDERGROUND RAILROAD INC: $132,000 · Human ServicesUNDERGROUND RAILROAD INCYWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $120,000 · Human ServicesYWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGI…Family & Children's Services of Mid-Michigan Inc: $101,024 · Human ServicesFamily & Children's Servi…RIVER HOUSE INC: $98,000 · Human ServicesRIVER HOUSE INCChild & Family Service of Saginaw: $97,000 · Human ServicesChild & Family Service of…COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: $90,000 · Human ServicesCOUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLE…RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $87,000 · Human ServicesRESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHI…FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $70,774 · Human ServicesFAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICE…CRISIS CENTER INC: $58,600 · Human ServicesCRISIS CENTER INCAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $55,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cro…+4 more: $103,000 · Human Services+4 moreCHIPPEWA NATURE CENTER: $208,000 · EnvironmentCHIPPEWA NATU…INLAND SEAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: $168,500 · EnvironmentINLAND SEAS E…The Little Forks Conservancy Inc: $145,000 · EnvironmentThe Little Fo…+2 more: $19,000 · EnvironmentGREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC: $149,000 · Recreation & SportsMYMICHIGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION: $60,000 · HealthMICHIGAN FORENSIC EXAMINERS: $15,000 · HealthSTEHOUWER FREE CLINIC: $3,000 · HealthReaching Our Community Kids: $36,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentREAD Association of Saginaw County: $36,000 · Education
Other$2,541,436Human Services$1,012,398Environment$540,500Recreation & Sports$149,000Health$78,000Youth Development$56,000Education$36,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAlden B and Vada B Dow Creativity Foundation: $546,998 over 5y, 14% of budgetCHIPPEWA NATURE CENTER: $208,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetINLAND SEAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: $168,500 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetGREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC: $149,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetThe Little Forks Conservancy Inc: $145,000 over 5y, 7.9% of budgetUNDERGROUND RAILROAD INC: $132,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetYWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $120,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetBAY AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $103,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetFamily & Children's Services of Mid-Michigan Inc: $101,024 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetRIVER HOUSE INC: $98,000 over 4y, 5.1% of budgetChild & Family Service of Saginaw: $97,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetCOUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: $90,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetRESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $87,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $70,774 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of the Great Lakes Bay Region: $60,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetMYMICHIGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCRISIS CENTER INC: $58,600 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $55,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Arc of Midland: $55,000 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetReaching Our Community Kids: $36,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetREAD Association of Saginaw County: $36,000 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetMIDLAND AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetEast Side Soup Kitchen: $35,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetRAYOLA INC: $33,000 over 4y, 8.7% of budgetMIDLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetRaven Hill Discovery Center: $20,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetHIDDEN HARVEST: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGLADWIN COMMUNITY SERVICES CORPORATION: $20,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetTHE ARC SHIAWASSEE COUNTY INC: $17,450 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetMICHIGAN FORENSIC EXAMINERS: $15,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetKalamazoo Nature Center: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGLEN ARBOR ARTS CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetNEW DIMENSIONS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetEagle Village Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Kings Daughters and Sons of Midland: $10,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetCHIPPEWA WATERSHED CONSERVANCY INC: $4,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetSTEHOUWER FREE CLINIC: $3,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Alden B and Vada B Dow Creativity Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CHIPPEWA NATURE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds INLAND SEAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC ↗
  • Who funds The Little Forks Conservancy Inc ↗
  • Who funds UNDERGROUND RAILROAD INC ↗
  • Who funds YWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION ↗
  • Who funds BAY AREA WOMEN'S CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Family & Children's Services of Mid-Michigan Inc ↗
  • Who funds RIVER HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds Child & Family Service of Saginaw ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT ↗
  • Who funds RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Great Lakes Bay Region ↗
  • Who funds MYMICHIGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CRISIS CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds The Arc of Midland ↗
  • Who funds Reaching Our Community Kids ↗
  • Who funds READ Association of Saginaw County ↗
  • Who funds MIDLAND AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds East Side Soup Kitchen ↗
  • Who funds RAYOLA INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Midland Area Community FoundationMI48.4× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Midland Area Community Foundation · Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · Rollin M Gerstacker Foundation · The Herbert H & Grace a Dow Foundation · Bay Area Community Foundation · The Patricia and David Kepler Foundation · Saginaw Community Foundation · The Mary C Currie Foundation · The Charles J Strosacker Foundation · United Way of Midland County · Allen Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Alden and Vada Dow Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alden and Vada Dow Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Alden and Vada Dow Fund?

    Find your warmest path to Alden and Vada Dow Fund through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 76 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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