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F Ross Birkhill and Laura Jean Birkhill at a glance

· Private foundation

F Ross Birkhill and Laura Jean Birkhill

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$68k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$139kHuman Services$128kEducation$67kHealth$46kAnimals$27kFood & Nutrition$26kHousing & Shelter$17kPublic Benefit$11kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $44k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $24k
$3,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY$13,310
THE SALVATION ARMY$10,500
GLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK INC$7,500
THE HENRY FORD$5,500
HUMANE SOCIETY OF HURON VALLEY$4,500
HOUSE N2 HOME$4,500
STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS$4,015
A2ETHICS ORG$3,000
EDCHOICE$2,500
HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC$2,500
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN$2,500
COVENANT HOUSE MICHIGAN$2,000
WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT$2,000
FISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN$2,000
PRESERVE HISTORIC SLEEPING BEAR$750
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 (FY18–25, $24k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 71% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $2k → 14%BLUE STAR SERVICE DOGS INC: $2k → 5%COVENANT HOUSE MICHIGAN: $2k → 21%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $2k → 14%COVENANT HOUSE MICHIGAN: $2k → 21%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $2k → 14%LEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $3k → 8%LEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $2k → 8%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $3k → 21%LEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $1k → 8%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $2k → 21%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $1k → 21%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $1k → 21%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $1k → 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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$442k · 23 repeat orgs$34k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +41% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
9

Total granted

$442k
$29k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+41%

Still filing today

78%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
Human ServicesHousing & ShelterFood & NutritionArts & CulturePublic BenefitEducationOther
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

  • TC
    THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS
    6× · 2018–2024 · $87k · revenue +30%
  • HS
    HUMANE SOCIETY OF HURON VALLEY
    7× · 2018–2025 · $23k · revenue +54%
  • UO
    University of Michigan
    3× · 2018–2025 · $19k · revenue +195%

Funded once

  • DA
    Dexter Area Museum Incgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $7k · revenue +130%
  • AP
    ARNOLD PALMER MEDICAL CENTER
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • FF
    FRANKLIN FURANCE ARCHIVE INC
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
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
Michigan Humane Society

To improve and save lives through compassionate care, community engagement and advocacy for animals.

Animals
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
The Greater Detroit Health Transition Company

Gdahc mission: together with our partners, we empower and improve the health and economic vitality of individuals, organizations and communities by catalyzing the power of collaboration. gdahc vision: healthy people. healthy community.…

—
4
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.…

—
5
Henry Ford Macomb Hospital Corporation

Henry ford health macomb hospital (hfmh) is an affiliate of henry ford health system dba henry ford health ("hf health") serving the northeastern metropolitan detroit michigan communities. as an integrated component of one of the nation's…

Health
6
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
7
Detroit Regional Chamber

The chamber is the voice for business and works to power the economy for southeast michigan through public policy, advocacy and leading regional economic development and talent initiatives.

—
8
Arbor Hospice Inc

To meet our patients and families where they are with urgency, purpose, and compassionate accountability surrounding them with decades of dedicated hospice expertise.

Human Services
9
Trinity Health - Michigan

We, trinity health-michigan and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities. trinity health-michigan is a member of trinity health.

Health
10
Michigan Farm Bureau

Michigan farm bureau (mfb) is a member directed agricultural organization whose purpose is to represent, protect, and enhance the business, economic, social, and educational interests of our members located throughout the state of michigan.

—
11
Arc of Wabash County Inc

The mission of arc of wabash county, inc. is to challenge, empower, and support individuals with disabilities to reach their highest level of independence. arc of wabash is dedicated to: 1) preserve, protect, and promote the dignity of…

Human Services
12
Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit

The friends are dedicated to the rescue, protection, and adoption of companion animals in need while inspiring the human-animal bond. we meet our mission by:-saving 100% of healthy and treatable animals.-providing high-quality animal care…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fisher House Michigan; the most unlike its peers is Dexter Area Museum Inc. 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

27 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. 27 of the 34 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/27
Grantees still filing
20/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SALVATION ARMY: $109,832 · OtherSALVATION ARMYTHE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS: $87,042 · OtherTHE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASSWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY: $44,310 · OtherWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITYUniversity of Michigan: $18,500 · OtherANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL: $14,032 · OtherTHE HENRY FORD: $13,500 · Other+15 more: $67,250 · Other+15 moreGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $16,338 · Food & NutritionFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $9,695 · Food & NutritionHospice of Michigan Inc: $7,895 · Human ServicesLEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $5,518 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $5,500 · Human ServicesCOVENANT HOUSE MICHIGAN: $4,000 · Human ServicesBLUE STAR SERVICE DOGS INC: $1,500 · Human ServicesHUMANE SOCIETY OF HURON VALLEY: $23,456 · AnimalsEdChoice Inc: $10,500 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $6,015 · EducationTHE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY: $13,415 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureOrlando Health Foundation Inc: $15,000 · Health
Other$354,466Food & Nutrition$26,033Human Services$24,413Animals$23,456Education$16,515Arts & Culture$15,415Health$15,000

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 budgetTHE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS: $87,042 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF HURON VALLEY: $23,456 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $18,500 over 3y, 5.1% of budgetGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $16,338 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOrlando Health Foundation Inc: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL: $14,032 over 6y, 13% of budgetTHE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY: $13,415 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetEdChoice Inc: $10,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $9,695 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHospice of Michigan Inc: $7,895 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN: $7,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetOAKLAND LITERACY COUNCIL: $6,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetDexter Area Museum Inc: $6,500 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $6,015 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $5,518 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSHELTER ASSOCIATION OF WASHTENAW COUNTY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSE N2 HOME INC: $4,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE MICHIGAN: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetARNOLD & WINNIE PALMER FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTEAM RED WHITE & BLUE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAVALON NONPROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWarrior Dog Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH JUSTICE FUND: $2,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBLUE STAR SERVICE DOGS INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSleeping Bear Forever DBA Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear: $750 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Community Foundation …Ann Arbor Area Commun…United Way of Washten…DTE Energy FoundationBaird Foundation IncRaymond James Charita…The Pfizer Foundation…The Blackbaud Giving …Charities Aid Foundat…American Online Givin…Network for GoodPaypal Charitable Giv…
Community Foundation for Southeast MichiganMI19.1× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation · United Way of Washtenaw County · DTE Energy Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Network for Good · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund

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 F Ross Birkhill and Laura Jean Birkhill funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from F Ross Birkhill and Laura Jean Birkhill. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
5report 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.

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 34 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 F Ross Birkhill and Laura Jean Birkhill’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