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Detroit Pistons Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Detroit Pistons Foundation

The mission of the DETROIT PISTONS FOUNDATION is to enrich the lives of metro detroit residents by developing programs that promote education, mentoring, athletics, health, fitness and nutrition.

$451k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$50k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Youth Development$376kCommunity Improvement$375kArts & Culture$253kRecreation & Sports$159kPublic Benefit$125kFood & Nutrition$110kPhilanthropy$61kEducation$50kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 7 grants below total $115,528, the rows itemized in this filing. The $450,759 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $335,231 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $58k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$11,144
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BARBERSHOP BOOKS$50,000
DETROIT PARKS COALITION$15,000
BROTHER OF KELLY PARK$11,500
REIMAGINE LIFE FOUNDATION$11,144
FRIENDS OF ROUGE PARK$10,000
HEALING NOT HURTING DETROIT$10,000
REDFORD SEAHAWKS YOUTH SPORTS$7,884
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 (FY20–24, $153k) land where the poverty rate runs at 21%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE: $53k → 21%DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE: $50k → 21%DETROIT PAL: $50k → 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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$891k · 6 repeat orgs$578k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
6

Total granted

$891k
$485k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+16%

Still filing today

67%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $93k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHousing & ShelterFood & NutritionHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • SD
    SAY DETROIT
    4× · 2018–2022 · $375k · revenue +104%
  • BY
    BING YOUTH INSTITUTE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $260k · revenue -42% · 28% of their budget
  • DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INCORPORATED
    3× · 2020–2024 · $153k · revenue +73%

Funded once

  • DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
    one grant, 2022 · $195k · revenue -9%
  • CITY YEAR INC
    one grant, 2020 · $125k · revenue +4%
  • FORGOTTEN HARVEST INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $110k · revenue +25%
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
The Youth Connection Inc

The Youth Connection is committed to connecting all youth and their families in metro Detroit to a brighter future by providing quality programs and supportive services.

Youth Development
2
Detroit Historical Society

The Detroit Historical Society tells Detroit's stories and why they matter through its exhibits, programs, outreach, and the preservation and dissemination of its artifacts and collections.

Arts & Culture
3
Detroit Parent Network

To be a champion for parents of children in the community.

Human Services
4
Detroit Athletic Club

To create life-enriching experiences that build meaningful relations, foster personal and professional growth, and celebrate culture in the heart of detroit.

—
5
Arise Detroit

To inspire a community of active engagement, personal responsibility and hope by connecting people to opportunities and resources to transform the quality of life for all Detroiters.

Community Improvement
6
Endeavor Detroit

Endeavor Detroit is leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement in Michigan and the wider Great Lakes region, catalyzing long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and supporting the best high-impact entrepreneurs in the…

Community Improvement
7
Business Leaders for Michigan

Business leaders for michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization driven by ceos from the state's leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.…

—
8
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation

Promotion of activities to spur economic growth and revitalization in the city of detroit

—
9
Business Leaders for Michigan Foundation

Business leaders for michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization driven by ceos from the state's leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.…

Community Improvement
10
Connect Detroit

To strategically solve problems through collaboratives with City of Detroit Departments, nonprofit organizations and local grant makers in order to secure the maximum federal, state, and national foundation dollars for the city Detroit.

Community Improvement
11
Fs-Detroit Inc

Figure nbsp;skating nbsp;in nbsp;detroit nbsp;helps nbsp;girls nbsp;transform nbsp;their nbsp;lives nbsp;and nbsp;grow nbsp;in nbsp;confidence nbsp;leadership nbsp;and nbsp;academic nbsp;achievement nbsp;we nbsp;are nbsp;the nbsp;only…

Youth Development
12
The Detroit Creativity Project

The detroit creativity project ("dcp") seeks to empower and inspire detroit's young people through improvisation, an art form that helps people build confidence and develop a creative and collaborative approach to their lives.

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan; the most unlike its peers is Wish Upon a Teen. 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.

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

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/39
Grantees still filing
25/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BING YOUTH INSTITUTE: $260,000 · OtherBING YOUTH INSTITUTECITY YEAR INC: $125,000 · OtherCITY YEAR INCREDFORD SEAHAWKS: $23,668 · OtherDETROIT PARKS COALITION: $34,633 · OtherDETROIT PARKS COALITIONBRILLIANT DETROIT: $25,000 · Other+5 more: $62,644 · Other+5 moreSAY DETROIT: $375,000 · Housing & ShelterSAY DETROITDETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $195,000 · Arts & CultureDETROIT SYMPHONY …SPHINX ORGANIZATION INC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureSPHINX ORGANIZATI…DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INCORPORATED: $153,191 · Human ServicesDETROIT POL…FORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $110,000 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN: $61,265 · PhilanthropyBARBERSHOP BOOKS INC: $50,000 · EducationFriends of Rouge Park: $10,000 · Education
Other$530,945Housing & Shelter$375,000Arts & Culture$240,000Human Services$153,191Food & Nutrition$110,000Philanthropy$61,265Education$60,000

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 budgetSAY DETROIT: $375,000 over 4y, 5.2% of budgetBING YOUTH INSTITUTE: $260,000 over 4y, 28% of budgetDETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $195,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetDETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INCORPORATED: $153,191 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $125,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $110,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN: $61,265 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBARBERSHOP BOOKS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetSPHINX ORGANIZATION INC: $45,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDETROIT PARKS COALITION: $34,633 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBRILLIANT DETROIT: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGIVE MERIT INC: $17,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFriends of Rouge Park: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% 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.

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 FoundationUnited Way for Southe…Community Foundation …Children's Hospital o…Detroit Lions Chariti…Ford PhilanthropyAlly Charitable Found…The Barton Malow Foun…The Skillman Foundati…The Kresge FoundationComerica Charitable F…United Jewish Foundat…
DTE Energy FoundationMI35.9× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: DTE Energy Foundation · United Way for Southeastern Michigan · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation · Detroit Lions Charities · Ford Philanthropy · Ally Charitable Foundation · The Barton Malow Foundation · The Skillman Foundation · The Kresge Foundation · Comerica Charitable Foundation · United Jewish 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 Detroit Pistons Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Detroit Pistons Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 Detroit Pistons Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Detroit Pistons 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 18 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 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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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