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Comer Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Comer Foundation

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.

$500
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$500
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Youth Development$22kEducation$18kRecreation & Sports$7kPhilanthropy$5kReligion$5kHuman Services$3kArts & Culture$2kFood & Nutrition$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
1
States reached
$38
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH$500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 53% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 12%URBAN SPECIALISTS: $6k → 14%FORGOTTEN HARVEST: $2k → 8%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $400 → 16%THE MEN WHO DARE INC: $3k → 21%GREGORY KELSER BASKETBALL CAMP: $5k → 8%CAPITAL REGION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%1STEP2FITNESS: $500 → 21%MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM: $400 → 8%THE MEN WHO DARE INC: $2k → 21%PROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $3k → 8%METRO DETROIT YOUTH CLUB: $1k → 21%PROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $500 → 8%LIFE REMODELED: $1k → 21%ETON ACADEMY: $8k → 8%LIFE REMODELED: $1k → 21%PROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $500 → 8%DETROIT YOUTH CONCERT CHOIR: $2k → 21%REAL LIFE 101 SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $5k → 8%NEW BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH: $500 → 21%REAL LIFE 101 SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $5k → 8%TARENCE WHEELER FOUNDATION: $2k → 21%AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: $500 → 8%VISTA MARIA: $1k → 21%DETROIT HAWKS: $1k → 8%BING YOUTH INSTITUTE: $10k → 21%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of Comer Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Comer Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

35%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$21k · 4 repeat orgs$39k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +128% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
15

Total granted

$21k
$39k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+128%
+33%

Still filing today

50%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Youth DevelopmentEducationFood & NutritionHealthHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • RL
    REAL LIFE 101 SCHOLARSHIP FUND
    2× · 2017–2018 · $10k
  • MW
    MEN WHO DARE INC
    2× · 2017–2019 · $5k · revenue -62%
  • PM
    PROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
    3× · 2020–2025 · $4k

Funded once

  • BY
    BING YOUTH INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -42%
  • EA
    Eton Academy
    one grant, 2017 · $8k · revenue +5%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $6k
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
Detroit Golf Club Caddie Scholarship Foundation
Education
2
Detroit Metro Sports Commissioninc
Recreation & Sports
3
The Peer Power Foundation Inc

Peer power foundation hires, trains, and deploys college students to be success coaches in economically disadvantaged high schools. (expanded mission on schedule o)these success coaches work primarily inside of english, math, and science…

Education
4
Men Impact Change

Mentoring young men

Youth Development
5
Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation

The mission of desc is to cultivate local workforce talent to align with the needs of the business community through partnerships with key workforce agencies, faith- and community- based organizations, education and training institutions,…

Employment
6
Generation of Promise Program

The progra conducts a cross district, urban-suburban student leadership development program

Education
7
Matrix Human Services

Inspired by its heritage since 1906, matrix human services advocates for and services the most vulnerable in the metropolitan detroit community and empowers individiuals and families to enhance the quality of their lives and achieve self…

—
8
The Young People's Project Inc

The young people's project uses math literacy work to develop the abilities of elementary through high school students to succeed in school and in life.

Education
9
Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program Detroit Metro

To inspire, motivate and empower at-risk young women to live up to their full potential through a unique mentoring program with highly accomplished professional women.

—
10
International Youth Foundation

Iyf is a global ngo that prepares young people to be healthy, productive and engaged citizens.

International
11
Evans Scholars Foundation - Michigan

Educational.

Education
12
Lfe Leaders Inc

Lfe leaders, inc. is a leadership and career development program that uses business skill training to help teens and young adults find their voice, establish goals, and action plans for achievement.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Capital Region Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is American Heart Association Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

11 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. 11 of the 20 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)
9/11
Grantees still filing
9/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BING YOUTH INSTITUTE: $10,000 · OtherBING YOUTH INSTITUTEREAL LIFE 101 SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $10,000 · OtherREAL LIFE 101 SCHOLARSHIP FUNDIndividual grant recipient: $6,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMEN WHO DARE INC: $5,000 · OtherMEN WHO DARE INCGREGORY KELSER BASKETBALL CAMP: $5,000 · OtherGREGORY KELSER BASKETBALL CAMPPROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $4,000 · OtherPROSPECT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCHDETROIT YOUTH CONCERT CHOIR: $2,000 · Other+6 more: $4,900 · Other+6 moreEton Academy: $7,500 · EducationEton AcademyCAPITAL REGION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyLIFE REMODELED: $2,000 · Housing & ShelterFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $2,000 · Food & NutritionBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF SOUTH OAKLAND COUNTY: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM: $400 · Youth DevelopmentAmerican Heart Association Inc: $500 · Health
Other$46,900Education$7,500Philanthropy$5,000Housing & Shelter$2,000Food & Nutrition$2,000Youth Development$1,400Health$500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBING YOUTH INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetEton Academy: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAPITAL REGION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE REMODELED: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVISTA MARIA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF SOUTH OAKLAND COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM: $400 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

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.

DTE Energy FoundationComerica Charitable F…Community Foundation …Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
DTE Energy FoundationMI19.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: DTE Energy Foundation · Comerica Charitable Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Comer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Comer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Comer Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Comer Foundation 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 20 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

    Play a game based on Comer’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home