· Public charity
Ann Arbor Spark
Ann Arbor SPARK advances the region by encouraging and supporting business acceleration, attraction, expansion and retention.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k5 grants · $34k
- $10k–50k3 grants · $62k
- $50k–250k5 grants · $582k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Howell Area Chamber of Commerce | $172,777 |
| Grand Valley State University | $130,568 |
| Jewish Family Services | $106,700 |
| Monroe County Business Alliance | $96,535 |
| MI-HQ | $75,000 |
| Washtenaw Community College | $42,324 |
| Tortillas Tita LLC | $10,000 |
| University of Michigan | $10,000 |
| BCHIRA | $7,923 |
| B-Cubed Bakery | $7,000 |
| Beara Bakes LLC | $7,000 |
| The Mix Studios LLC | $7,000 |
| Unity Vibration Kombucha | $5,199 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY20–21, $129k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 43% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +118% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.
71 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 69 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 25% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $505k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- HCHILLSDALE COUNTY AG2× · 2020–2021 · $30k · revenue +812%
- TYTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF MONROE MICHIGAN2× · 2020–2021 · $29k · revenue +118%
- BGBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LENAWEE INC2× · 2020–2021 · $26k · revenue +66%
Funded once
- MEMICHIGAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPone grant, 2020 · $125k
- NLNAIAS LLCone grant, 2022 · $40k
- AOASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES OF COLORone grant, 2022 · $20k
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.
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.
The organization's mission is to promote a healthy business climate for its members and all businesses in macomb county, michigan.
To promote business and economic development for eight towns in southwest michigan.
to stimulate economic development, attract new businesses, grow established businesses and support entrepreneurial endeavors in Lenawee County
To promote conditions favorable to job creation and business success in michigan.
The lapeer area chamber of commerce is committed to continiously promoting & fostering the business climate to enhance the quality of life in our community.
Member programs/services, economic development
Conduct the lenawee county fair to promote agricultural and horticultural activities in lenawee county. this associations only activity with the exception of off season rentals and storage revenue.
Promote tourism in monroe county
To promote business and community growth and development and prepserve the competitive enterprise system of business.
To ignite, unleash and promote a culture of entrepreneurship.
To make laurens county a better place to live and work.
How this is measured
67 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. 67 of the 906 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 HOWELL AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ↗
- Who funds JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF WASHTENAW COUNTY INC ↗
- Who funds MONROE COUNTY BUSINESS ALLIANCE ↗
- Who funds HILLSDALE COUNTY AG ↗
- Who funds THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF MONROE MICHIGAN ↗
- Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LENAWEE INC ↗
- Who funds ADRIAN ARMORY COMMUNITY CENTER ↗
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.
Open a dossier: United Way of Washtenaw County · Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation · The Martin Family Foundation · Livingston County United Way · The Buhr Foundation · Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation · Duffy Foundation · James a and Faith Knight Foundation · Small Business Association of Michigan · Food Gatherers · Lenawee Community Foundation · Thrift Shop Association of Ann Arbor
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Ann Arbor Spark funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ann Arbor Spark. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Ann Arbor Spark’s filings →