Skip to content
Garber Automotive Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Garber Automotive Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$894k
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$285k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$1.1MHealth$225kEducation$220kHuman Services$143kHousing & Shelter$105kAnimals$100kPhilanthropy$67kEnvironment$50kOther$0
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $92k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $267k
  • $250k+2 grants · $535k
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FRIENDS OF HOYT PARK$285,242
GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CENTER$250,000
YMCA OF SAGINAW$67,000
COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION$50,000
RESCUE MINISTRIES OF MID-MICHIGAN$50,000
SAGINAW CHILDREN'S ZOO$50,000
SAGINAW URBAN YOUTH HOCKEY PROGRAM$50,000
SAGINAW COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$41,667
JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER & TEA HOUSE$25,000
SAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$15,000
DOW TREASURE ACADEMY$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY: $35k → 9%GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CENTER: $250k → 9%SVSU FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%FRIENDS OF HOYT PARK: $285k → 18%LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY: $25k → 9%GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CENTER: $250k → 9%SVSU FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%YMCA OF SAGINAW: $67k → 18%GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CENTER: $250k → 9%CAMP FISH TALES: $20k → 14%YMCA OF SAGINAW: $66k → 18%CANCER SERVICES: $15k → 9%SAGINAW BASIN LAND CONSERVANCY: $50k → 14%FRIENDS OF HOYT PARK: $63k → 18%SAGINAW CHILDREN'S ZOO: $50k → 18%SAGINAW CHILDREN'S ZOO: $50k → 18%SAGINAW URBAN YOUTH HOCKEY PROGRAM: $50k → 18%JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER & TEA HOUSE: $25k → 18%THE WELL OF SAGINAW: $10k → 18%COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $50k → 18%COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $50k → 18%COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $50k → 18%SAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $15k → 18%SAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $15k → 18%SAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $15k → 18%DOW TREASURE ACADEMY: $10k → 18%CAN COUNCIL: $10k → 18%DOW TREASURE ACADEMY: $10k → 18%RELEASED TO REIGN: $13k → 18%SAGINAW TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT: $5k → 18%RESCUE MINISTRIES OF MID-MICHIGAN: $50k → 18%SAGINAW COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $42k → 18%SAGINAW COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 18%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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 9 repeat orgs$248k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
7

Total granted

$1.8M
$123k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-13%
-5%

Still filing today

67%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $125k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
Recreation & SportsHealthHousing & ShelterEnvironmentAnimalsOther
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

  • GM
    GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $750k · revenue -13%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF HOYT PARK
    2× · 2023–2024 · $348k · revenue +175%
  • SF
    SVSU FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2023 · $200k

Funded once

  • SB
    SAGINAW BASIN LAND CONSERVANCY
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue -5%
  • FT
    FISH TALES
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue -21%
  • CS
    CANCER SERVICES
    one grant, 2022 · $15k
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
Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce

To be a catalyst for economic and community progress within the great lakes bay region.

—
2
Saginaw Society for Crippled Children
Health
3
Great Lakes Bay Health Centers

To provide high quality health care to individuals and community groups in Saginaw, Bay, and other nearby counties. Services are provided without regard to race, beliefs or ability to pay.

Health
4
Saginaw County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Promotion of conventions & tourism in saginaw county

—
5
Historical Society of Saginaw County

The historical society of saginaw county is committed to serve the community by telling the continuing story of the people of the saginaw region through exploration, preservation and presentation of their historical and cultural heritage.

—
6
Humane Society of Saginaw County Incorporated

The Betterment of the lives of stray, owned and abandoned companion animals in Saginaw County, MI. Our county has over 20,000 households living below the federal poverty guidelines that own at least one pet. We are their safety net. We…

Animals
7
Good Samaritan Ministries

Good samaritan is committed to ending poverty and homelessness, in partnership with our community, by leading the way in providing affordable housing solutions and supportive services.

Human Services
8
Child & Family Service of Saginaw

Child and Family Service of Saginaw County is a social work agency dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in our community by fostering personal growth, emotional development, recovery from trauma, self- reliance, and healthy…

Human Services
9
Genesee County Habitat for Humanity

Seeking to put God's love into action. Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.

—
10
Siouxland Habitat for Humanity

To provide affordable housing for low-income families

—
11
Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources

The coalition to protect michigan resources's mission is to be a strong voice for the equitable co-management of michigan's fisheries, with both the great lakes and inland lakes and streams, to insure that conservation principles remain in…

Environment
12
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Child Abuse & Neglect Council Great Lakes Bay Region; the most unlike its peers is Blood Cancer United 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

12 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. 12 of the 20 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
5/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC: $750,000 · Recreation & SportsGREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INCFRIENDS OF HOYT PARK: $347,742 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF HOYT PARKSVSU FOUNDATION: $200,000 · OtherSVSU FOUNDATIONYMCA OF SAGINAW: $133,000 · OtherYMCA OF SAGINAWSAGINAW URBAN YOUTH HOCKEY PROGRAM: $50,000 · OtherSAGINAW URBAN YOUTH HOCKEY P…SAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $45,000 · OtherSAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT F…JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER & TEA HOUSE: $25,000 · OtherDOW TREASURE ACADEMY: $20,000 · OtherFISH TALES: $20,000 · Other+4 more: $42,500 · Other+4 moreCOVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $150,000 · HealthCOVENANT HE…BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $60,412 · HealthBLOOD CANCE…SAGINAW VALLEY ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $100,000 · AnimalsSaginaw Community Foundation: $66,667 · PhilanthropyRescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterWELL OF SAGINAW: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterSAGINAW BASIN LAND CONSERVANCY: $50,000 · Environment
Recreation & Sports$1,097,742Other$535,500Health$210,412Animals$100,000Philanthropy$66,667Housing & Shelter$60,000Environment$50,000

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 budgetGREATER MIDLAND COMMUNITY CTRS INC: $750,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCOVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetSAGINAW VALLEY ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $100,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetSaginaw Community Foundation: $66,667 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $60,412 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSAGINAW BASIN LAND CONSERVANCY: $50,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetSAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $45,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetFISH TALES: $20,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT COUNCIL GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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.

Bierlein Companies Fo…Allen E & Marie A Nic…Wickson-Link Memorial…Saginaw Community Fou…Alice E Turner Memori…Tri-Star Charitable F…Morley FoundationYeo Family FoundationBoutell Memorial FundFrank N Andersen Foun…Wm McNally Family Fou…Consumers Energy Foun…
Bierlein Companies FoundationMI22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Bierlein Companies Foundation · Allen E & Marie A Nickless Memorial Foundation · Wickson-Link Memorial Foundation · Saginaw Community Foundation · Alice E Turner Memorial Trust · Tri-Star Charitable Foundation · Morley Foundation · Yeo Family Foundation · Boutell Memorial Fund · Frank N Andersen Foundation · Wm McNally Family Foundation · Consumers Energy 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 Garber Automotive Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Garber Automotive Foundation. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report 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 Garber Automotive Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Garber Automotive 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 20 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Garber Automotive’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