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Plinth

· Private foundation

Dragonfly 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.

$2.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20222025.

Philanthropy$10MEnvironment$3.3MArts & Culture$884kHealth$400kEducation$299kInternational$110kPublic Benefit$90kHousing & Shelter$75kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $34k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $110k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+2 grants · $2.3M
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$43M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY INC$2,000,000
HARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE$250,000
CHILDRENS HEALING CENTER$100,000
THE VANDENBERG COALITION$40,000
AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM FOUNDATION$25,000
LITERACY CENTER OF WEST MICHIGAN$25,000
CALVIN COOLIDGE PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION$10,000
BOYNE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS$10,000
HARBOR BEACH UNITED COMMUNITY FUND$6,000
US SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY$5,000
HARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY$5,000
ACTON INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND LIBERTY$5,000
LAND CONSERVANCY OF WEST MICHIGAN$5,000
BIOGRAPHERS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOUNDATION$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE BOYNE DISTRICT LIBRARY$3,250
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY22–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 68% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $75k → 22%WRITERS SERIES OF TRAVERSE CITY: $50k → 7%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY INC: $135k → 8%BOYNE HERITAGE CENTER: $60k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY INC: $2.0M → 9%HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN: $25k → 9%WRITERS SERIES OF TRAVERSE CITY: $43k → 10%CHILDRENS HEALING CENTER: $100k → 11%GERALD R FORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY - THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $20k → 14%THE HENRY FORD: $10k → 21%THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10.0M → 14%NATURE CONSERVANCY - MICHIGAN CHAPTER: $50k → 7%CALVIN COOLIDGE PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $25k → 22%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $50k → 8%BOYNE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $10k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY INC: $1.0M → 9%BRODYS BE CAFE LLC: $20k → 11%THE HENRY FORD: $10k → 21%IRON LIGHT LABS: $20k → 14%CALVIN COOLIDGE PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $25k → 22%THE VANDENBERG COALITION: $40k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $50k → 8%HARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE: $250k → 9%GRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $25k → 11%AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%VANDENBERG COALITION: $40k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $50k → 8%LYRIC THEATRE: $100k → 9%AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%THE CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $15k → 14%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY INC: $100k → 9%PLAINSONG FARM & MINISTRY: $20k → 11%THE CENTER FOR US GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: $15k → 14%HARBOR SPRINGS GARDEN CLUB INC: $20k → 9%SCHOOLS FOR SIERRA LEONE: $30k → 11%NORTHERN MICHIGAN REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION: $80k → 9%PETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%NORTHWEST MICHIGAN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $40k → 9%NORTHWEST MICHIGAN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $35k → 9%NORTHERN MICHIGAN REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION: $20k → 9%CHILDRENS HEALING CENTER: $100k → 11%CHILDRENS HEALING CENTER: $100k → 11%GRAND RAPIDS BALLET CO: $50k → 11%LITERACY CENTER OF WEST MICHIGAN: $25k → 11%LITERACY CENTER OF WEST MICHIGAN: $25k → 11%LITERACY CENTER OF WEST MICHIGAN: $25k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

VT
IL
MI
MA
PA
NJ
VA
NM
DC

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

30%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$4.5M · 23 repeat orgs$11M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +67% since the first grant, against +2% for the ones you funded once.

23 repeat relationships — 14 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
21

Total granted

$4.5M
$10M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+67%
+2%

Still filing today

78%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $250k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentCivil RightsReligionYouth DevelopmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • LT
    Little Traverse Conservancy Inc
    4× · 2022–2025 · $3.2M · revenue +10%
  • NC
    NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER
    3× · 2022–2024 · $125k · revenue +76%
  • WS
    WRITERS SERIES OF TRAVERSE CITY
    2× · 2022–2024 · $93k · revenue +113%

Funded once

  • CC
    CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $10M
  • LT
    LYRIC THEATRE
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • BH
    BOYNE HERITAGE CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $60k

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

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
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
2
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
3
Michigan Legacy Art Park

Inspire awareness, appreciation and passion for michigan's history and stories, culture and environment through the arts.

Arts & Culture
4
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum

Ann arbor hands-on museum creates moments of discovery that inspire curiosity, exploration and respect for stem and the natural world. together with the leslie science & nature center, we envision a world where curiosity today leads to…

Arts & Culture
5
The Northern Michigan University Foundation

The nmu foundation will establish and foster relationships to generate resources that benefit the strategic goals of northern michigan university.

Education
6
Michigan Science Center

The mission of the michigan science center is to inspire curious minds of all ages to discover, explore and appreciate science, technology, engineering and math in a creative, dynamic learning environment.

Education
7
Michigan Humanities Council

The michigan humanities council connects people and communities by fostering and creating quality cultural programs

Arts & Culture
8
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
9
The Center for Michigan

For all state residents, diverse civic stakeholders and philanthropy, the center for michigan (the center) and its nonprofit newsrooms - bridge michigan and bridgedetroit - make michigan better through high-quality, nonpartisan journalism…

Public Benefit
10
The Little Forks Conservancy Inc

To permanently protect and improve natural environments in Mid-Michigan by leading and inspiring actions that conserve vital habitats and waterways for the benefit of our entire community.

Environment
11
Grand Rapids Public Museum

The grpm exists to be a living monument of artifacts, ideas and stories told through exhibitions, events, and educational programming designed to inspire, motivate and celebrate our human bond. we enrich the lives of our community through…

Arts & Culture
12
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

To promote conditions favorable to job creation and business success in michigan.

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Constitution Center and the most unlike its peers is Biographers International Organization. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 33 years old; the field is 17. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number21%3%<5yr14%16%5–10yr18%16%10–20yr17%21%20–35yr14%29%35–55yr15%16%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value21%0%<5yr14%2%5–10yr18%5%10–20yr17%1%20–35yr14%91%35–55yr15%2%55yr+

The field is 21% startups (under 5 years old) — 3% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 15% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/41
the rest of the field
15%
8,935/59,785

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 35 of the 48 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
23/35
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $10,000,000 · OtherCHICAGO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+24 more — $790,750 · Other+24 moreLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc — $3,235,000 · EnvironmentLittle Traverse Conserv…+1 more — $10,000 · EnvironmentHARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE — $250,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER — $125,000 · Arts & CultureBOYNE HERITAGE CENTER — $60,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM — $50,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND RAPIDS BALLET — $50,000 · Arts & CultureHistorical Society of Michigan — $25,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DIATRIBE INC — $25,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more — $46,500 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER — $300,000 · HealthWRITERS SERIES OF TRAVERSE CITY — $92,500 · EducationLiteracy Center of West Michigan — $75,000 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS — $25,000 · EducationGERALD R FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION — $15,000 · EducationBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER — $10,000 · Education+2 more — $10,000 · EducationTHE VANDENBERG COALITION INC — $80,000 · InternationalPETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $50,000 · Philanthropy
Other$10,790,750Environment$3,245,000Arts & Culture$631,500Health$300,000Education$227,500International$80,000Philanthropy$50,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc — $3,235,000 over 4y, 8.9% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER — $300,000 over 3y, 6.0% of budgetHARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE — $250,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER — $125,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetWRITERS SERIES OF TRAVERSE CITY — $92,500 over 2y, 11% of budgetTHE VANDENBERG COALITION INC — $80,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetNORTHWEST MI HABITAT FOR HUMANITY — $75,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetLiteracy Center of West Michigan — $75,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM — $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS BALLET — $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetPETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCenter for US Global Leadership — $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHistorical Society of Michigan — $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCALVIN COOLIDGE PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION INC — $25,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS — $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DIATRIBE INC — $25,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetIRON LIGHT LABS — $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetBiographers International Organization — $20,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetBE CAFE — $20,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetHARBOR BEACH UNITED COMMUNITY FUND — $17,000 over 3y, 33% of budgetGERALD R FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLand Conservancy of West Michigan — $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNATIONAL ARCHIVES FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT — $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFANS OF VALLEY FIELD — $10,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty — $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $6,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOWER BOOK BAGS — $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetKIDS' FOOD BASKET INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

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

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Meijer FoundationMI34.5× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Meijer Foundation · Frey Foundation · Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Steve & Amy Van Andel Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · Daniel & Pamella Devos Foundation · WK Kellogg Foundation · The Meijer Foundation · The David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation · Ufp Industries Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · Dick and Betsy Devos Family Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Dragonfly Fund funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%your share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College7% of income from government
  • Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
9report 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, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Dragonfly Fund?

Find your warmest path to Dragonfly 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 48 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

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

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph