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Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards 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.

$102k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$54k
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.

Arts & Culture$752kEducation$134kYouth Development$75kCommunity Improvement$33kRecreation & Sports$20kHuman Services$16kCivil Rights$15kEmployment$13kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $28k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $54k
$3,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$3.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC$54,000
SKILLZ FINEST TNL INC$10,000
GLENELG COUNTRY SCHOOL INC$10,000
100 BLACK MEN OF LAS VEGAS$5,000
BLACK UNITED FUND OF MICHIGAN INC$5,000
MASTERING MINDSETS LAS VEGAS$3,500
TULIPS$3,500
AIKEN SC CHAPTER OF THE LINKS INC$3,500
OMEGA HOPE INCORPORATED$3,500
PONTIAC KAPPA FOUNDATION$2,000
BISON IN VEGAS HBCU ALUMNI GROUP$2,000
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 (FY19–25, $14k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 75% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%OMEGA HOPE INCORPORATED: $4k → 6%100 BLACK MEN OF LAS VEGAS: $5k → 13%100 BLACK MEN OF LAS VEGAS INC: $2k → 13%TULIPS: $4k → 13%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

IL
MI
NY
NV
CA
MD
SC
FL
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$896k · 13 repeat orgs$193k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
23

Total granted

$896k
$186k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+60%
+76%

Still filing today

54%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k 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
Human ServicesEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyEmploymentYouth 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

  • MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSUEM INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $725k · revenue +36%
  • GC
    Glenelg Country School Inc
    4× · 2021–2025 · $40k · revenue +39%
  • BLACK UNITED FUND OF MICHIGAN INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $17k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • TU
    TOWSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +76%
  • BF
    BOYZ FROM THE HOOD FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • AP
    AIKEN PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY
    one grant, 2019 · $14k · revenue 0%
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
Baltimore Chapter of the Links Inc

Educational, charitable svcs

—
2
The Links Inc Philadelphia Chapter

The organization is committed to responding to the needs and aspirations of black women. it focuses on three primary sectors - civic, educational and cultural. programs are implemented in these sectors, all while assisting women who…

—
3
Metropolitan Dc Chapter the Links Incorporated

To provide programs that empower communities of color

—
4
Links Inc Ann Arbor Chapter

Provide Civic, Charitable and Cultural

—
5
Oakland County (Mi) Chapter the Links Inc

Promote educational, civic and intercultural activities

—
6
Great Lakes Chapter the Links Inc

Friendship and service

—
7
Silver Spring Md Chapter Links Inc

Community service and support

—
8
New Orleans Chapter the Links Inc

Provide Civic, Charitable, and Cultural

—
9
Muskegon Young Black Professionals

Educate young professionals

Education
10
Jackson County(Mo) Chapter of the Links Incorporated

Educational, Cultural and Civic Activities

—
11
Jackson Ms Chapter of the Links Inc

Promote and engage in educational, civic, and intercultural activities throughout the Jackson, MS Metropolitan Area

—
12
Delta Fortitude Foundation

Educational and community support function

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is 100 Black Men of Las Vegas Inc; the most unlike its peers is Omega Hope Incorporated dba the Omega Hope Foundation. 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

23 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. 23 of the 38 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/23
Grantees still filing
17/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSUEM INC: $725,290 · Arts & CultureMOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSUEM INC+1 more: $2,500 · Arts & CultureBOYZ FROM THE HOOD FOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherBOYZ FROM THE HOOD F…PONTIAC KAPPA FOUNDATION: $21,000 · OtherPONTIAC KAPPA FOUNDA…SKILLZ FINEST TNL INC: $20,000 · OtherSKILLZ FINEST TNL IN…AIKEN PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY: $14,300 · OtherAIKEN PERFORMING ART…Aiken SC Chapter of The Links Incor porated: $12,500 · OtherAiken SC Chapter of …WELCOME MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH OF DETROIT: $12,300 · OtherWELCOME MISSIONARY B…AIKEN CHAPTER OF THE LINKS INC: $12,000 · OtherAIKEN CHAPTER OF THE…100 BLACK MEN LAS VEGAS: $10,000 · OtherTEACHING & UNITING LADIES TO INSPIRED POSITIVE SUCCESS (TULIPS): $9,000 · OtherMASTERING MINDSETS LAS VEGAS: $9,000 · OtherHERSHE LAS VEGAS INC: $7,500 · Other+14 more: $46,333 · Other+14 moreTOWSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · EducationTOWSON UN…Glenelg Country School Inc: $40,000 · EducationGlenelg C…DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Education100 BLACK MEN OF LAS VEGAS INC: $11,800 · Human ServicesHANNAH BROWN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $7,000 · Human ServicesOMEGA HOPE INCORPORATED dba The Omega Hope Foundation: $3,500 · Human ServicesTULIPS: $3,500 · Human ServicesBLACK UNITED FUND OF MICHIGAN INC: $16,500 · PhilanthropySEMAJ J MORGAN FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PARK IN THE CITY OF DETROIT: $10,000 · Community ImprovementNEVADA PARTNERS INC: $10,000 · Employment
Arts & Culture$727,790Other$198,933Education$95,000Human Services$25,800Philanthropy$21,500Community Improvement$10,000Employment$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSUEM INC: $725,290 over 9y, 3.3% of budgetTOWSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGlenelg Country School Inc: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBLACK UNITED FUND OF MICHIGAN INC: $16,500 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetAIKEN PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY: $14,300 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetAiken SC Chapter of The Links Incor porated: $12,500 over 3y, 18% of budget100 BLACK MEN OF LAS VEGAS INC: $11,800 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PARK IN THE CITY OF DETROIT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNEVADA PARTNERS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHANNAH BROWN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $7,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetSEMAJ J MORGAN FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetDETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGIVE MERIT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetVISTA MARIA: $4,333 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOMEGA HOPE INCORPORATED dba The Omega Hope Foundation: $3,500 over 1y, 22% of budgetTHE MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LINKS INC - DETROIT CHAPTER: $2,500 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetGREATER WAYNE COUNTY MI CHAPTER LINKS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 20% 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 FoundationMax M & Marjorie S Fi…Hudson-Webber Foundat…The Links Foundation …Ford PhilanthropyThe Kresge FoundationWK Kellogg FoundationGs Donor Advised Phil…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Bank of America C…Charities Aid Foundat…American Online Givin…
DTE Energy FoundationMI15× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: DTE Energy Foundation · Max M & Marjorie S Fisher Foundation Inc · Hudson-Webber Foundation · The Links Foundation Incorporated · Ford Philanthropy · The Kresge Foundation · WK Kellogg Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

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 Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get 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
    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 Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards 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 38 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 Esther Gordy Bullock Edwards’ 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