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Dragonfly Fund at a glance

· 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 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, FY2022 to 2025.

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

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

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
BIOGRAPHERS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOUNDATION$5,000
LAND CONSERVANCY OF WEST MICHIGAN$5,000
ACTON INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND LIBERTY$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE BOYNE DISTRICT LIBRARY$3,250
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 (FY22–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 68% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its 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
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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
IL
MI
MA
PA
NJ
VA
NM
DC
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.

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

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +60% since the first grant, against +2% for those 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

+60%
+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
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

  • 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
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 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.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Constitution Center; 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.
04the grantee network

35 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, 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.

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

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
22/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and 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 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 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, 1.2% 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
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.

The Meijer FoundationFrey FoundationGrand Rapids Communit…Steve & Amy Van Andel…Consumers Energy Foun…Daniel & Pamella Devo…WK Kellogg FoundationThe Meijer FoundationThe David and Carol V…Ufp Industries Founda…Douglas & Maria Devos…Dick and Betsy Devos …
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

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 Dragonfly Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dragonfly Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation Inc: 0% 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, 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 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 48 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 Dragonfly’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