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· Private foundation

Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
111
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$270k
Largest
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$6.7MEducation$6.6MArts & Culture$4.7MHuman Services$2.9MEnvironment$1.6MHousing & Shelter$1.5MYouth Development$1.1MAnimals$1.1MOther$0
02FY2025 · 111 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k33 grants · $139k
  • $10k–50k51 grants · $1.2M
  • $50k–250k26 grants · $2.2M
  • $250k+1 grant · $270k
$20,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$51M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS$269,500
FREEDOM RIVER$200,000
UM KELLOGG EYE CENTER$200,000
UM BELLEVILLE HIGH SBHC$155,400
UM FORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY$150,000
MIDLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS$128,000
IHN AT ALPHA HOUSE$100,000
MANY HANDS LIFESHARING COMM$100,000
MARY FREE BED REHAB HOSPITAL$100,000
ST LOUIS CENTER$100,000
LACASA CENTER$100,000
CALVIN UNIVERSITY$85,000
YPSILANTI DISTRICT LIBRARY$80,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN$77,000
HOPE CLINIC$61,500
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 (FY17–25, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 78% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%JUBILEE MINISTRIES: $30k → 10%RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $20k → 12%GLADWIN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 14%RIVER HOUSE: $25k → 14%YWCA GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $20k → 14%MIDMICHIGAN BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $35k → 17%MIDLAND COUNTY COUNCIL ON AGING: $50k → 9%RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $17k → 12%RIVER HOUSE INC: $20k → 14%MIDMICHIGAN BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTER: $25k → 17%MICHIGAN FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $20k → 21%RESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $15k → 12%RIVER HOUSE: $20k → 14%POPE FRANCIS CENTER: $22k → 21%FIRST DAY SHOE FUND: $15k → 12%MICHIGAN FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $15k → 21%SELF LOVE BEAUTY: $20k → 9%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $50k → 19%POPE FRANCIS CENTER: $22k → 21%LIVINGSTON COUNTY CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $27k → 5%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $40k → 19%MICHIGAN FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $15k → 21%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $30k → 19%LIVINGSTON COUNTY CATHOLIC CHARITIE: $15k → 5%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $30k → 19%POPE FRANCIS CENTER: $17k → 21%HOPE FOR SINGLE MOMS: $35k → 11%STARFISH FAMILY SERVICES: $53k → 21%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $20k → 11%STARFISH FAMILY SERVICES: $28k → 21%SOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 14%LIGHTUP: $50k → 8%LIGHTUP: $50k → 8%CLEVELAND MANOR: $100k → 9%ARAB AMERICAN AND CHALDEAN COUNCIL: $25k → 8%UNITED METHODIST RETIREMENT COMMUNI: $100k → 14%FREEDOM HOUSE DETROIT: $30k → 21%OZONE HOUSE: $100k → 14%OZONE HOUSE: $100k → 14%MICHIGAN ABILITY PARTNERS: $25k → 14%MICHIGAN ABILITY PARTNERS: $25k → 14%OZONE HOUSE: $100k → 14%OZONE HOUSE: $100k → 14%SOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $30k → 14%SOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 14%SOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 14%MICHIGAN FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $55k → 14%OUR HOUSE: $20k → 14%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
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
CT
CA
UT
MO
VA
MD
TN
DC
TX
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 172 repeat orgs$5.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

172 repeat relationships: 58 still active in FY2025, 114 since wound down; 52 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

172
193

Total granted

$26M
$3.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+17%

Still filing today

70%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M 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 & CultureHealthEnvironmentYouth 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

  • TH
    TRINITY HEALTH - MICHIGAN
    5× · 2018–2022 · $1.0M · revenue +28%
  • AB
    American Bird Conservancy
    6× · 2018–2024 · $850k · revenue +96%
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN
    8× · 2018–2025 · $528k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • UG
    UM GERALD R FORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
    one grant, 2017 · $250k
  • UC
    UM CENTER FOR EDUCATION OF WOMEN
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • CO
    COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERHOUSE
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
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
Mid Michigan Community Action Agency Inc

Mid michigan community action guides local residents on the path to self-sufficiency through empowerment, education and community enrichment.

—
2
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.…

—
3
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
4
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
5
Michigan Legacy Art Park

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

Arts & Culture
6
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

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

—
7
Michigan Assoc of Community Mental Health Boards

Assisting the community mental health boards of michigan in developing methods for mental health planning, care and treatment.

—
8
Michigan Enviromental Council

Informing and educating the public and decision makers about environmental issues.

Environment
9
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
10
Great Lakes Community Action Partnership

The mission of great lakes community action partnership is to create partnerships and opportunites to help individuals, families and communities thrive.

Human Services
11
Michigan Family Resources

Michigan Family Resources mission is to deliver holistic family-centered services to children that promote their well-being and development.

Education
12
Lakeshore Legal Aid

Standing with our neighbors, Lakeshore Legal Aid fights poverty and injustice through advocacy and by providing meaningful and dignified access to the legal system.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ozone House Inc; the most unlike its peers is Build a Team of Hope 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

267 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. 267 of the 422 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
69
Early backer (in before they grew)
262/267
Grantees still filing
178/267
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UM SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $1,250,000 · OtherUM SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONUM KELLOGG EYE CENTER: $1,000,000 · OtherUM KELLOGG EYE CENTERUM LIBRARY: $800,000 · OtherUM FORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY: $600,000 · Other+129 more: $14,191,101 · Other+129 moreINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $1,148,500 · Arts & CultureINTERLOCHEN …MICHIGAN THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $885,000 · Arts & CultureMICHIGAN THE…Midland Center for the Arts Inc: $500,500 · Arts & CultureMidland Cent…Ann Arbor Art Association: $382,500 · Arts & CultureAnn Arbor Ar…+6 more: $370,000 · Arts & Culture+6 moreALBION COLLEGE: $500,000 · EducationALBION CO…CALVIN UNIVERSITY: $475,000 · EducationCALVIN UN…GREENHILLS SCHOOL: $200,000 · EducationGREENHILL…WASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $200,000 · EducationWASHTENAW…DELTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $170,000 · EducationDELTA COL…Spring Arbor University: $150,000 · EducationSpring Ar…NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $150,000 · EducationNORTHWEST…LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EducationGREAT LAKES BOAT BUILDING SCHOOL: $100,000 · EducationFAMILY LEARNING INSTITUTE: $82,000 · Education+4 more: $215,000 · Education+4 moreTRINITY HEALTH - MICHIGAN: $1,000,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN: $527,500 · HealthUMRC-PORTER HILLS FOUNDATION: $400,000 · HealthPackard Health Inc: $100,000 · HealthCOREWELL HEALTH FOUNDATION WEST MICHIGAN: $100,000 · Health+5 more: $187,000 · HealthOZONE HOUSE INC: $400,000 · Human ServicesWEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $155,000 · Human ServicesMICHIGAN FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $105,000 · Human ServicesCLEVELAND MANOR INC: $101,000 · Human ServicesUNITED METHODIST RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesLIGHTUP: $100,000 · Human ServicesSOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $90,000 · Human ServicesSTARFISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $80,645 · Human ServicesRIVER HOUSE INC: $65,000 · Human ServicesRESPITE VOLUNTEERS OF SHIAWASSEE: $62,000 · Human ServicesPOPE FRANCIS CENTER: $60,000 · Human ServicesMICHIGAN ABILITY PARTNERS: $60,000 · Human ServicesMID MICHIGAN BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $60,000 · Human Services+8 more: $324,287 · Human ServicesAmerican Bird Conservancy: $850,235 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $102,000 · AnimalsELE'S PLACE INC: $255,500 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS GROUP: $157,000 · Youth DevelopmentNeutral Zone: $125,000 · Youth DevelopmentGROWING HOPE INC: $85,000 · Youth DevelopmentReaching Our Community Kids: $75,000 · Youth DevelopmentNORTH STAR REACH: $65,000 · Youth DevelopmentLOA SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentDETROIT HORSE POWER: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN: $41,500 · Youth Development+1 more: $30,000 · Youth Development
Other$17,841,101Arts & Culture$3,286,500Education$2,342,000Health$2,314,500Human Services$1,762,932Animals$952,235Youth Development$939,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $1,148,500 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetTRINITY HEALTH - MICHIGAN: $1,000,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMICHIGAN THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $885,000 over 7y, 4.0% of budgetAmerican Bird Conservancy: $850,235 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetST LOUIS CENTER: $551,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN: $527,500 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetMidland Center for the Arts Inc: $500,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetALBION COLLEGE: $500,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFREEDOM RIVER INC: $500,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $475,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOZONE HOUSE INC: $400,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetLACASA: $400,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetUMRC-PORTER HILLS FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetHOPE MEDICAL CLINIC INC: $394,000 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetAnn Arbor Art Association: $382,500 over 6y, 8.3% of budgetCORNER HEALTH CENTER: $362,500 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $302,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Arbor Hospice Foundation: $275,000 over 6y, 7.0% of budgetELE'S PLACE INC: $255,500 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetCONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $230,000 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetFINLANDIA UNIVERSITY: $224,071 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetGREENHILLS SCHOOL: $200,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetMUNSON HEALTHCARE FOUNDATIONS: $200,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCommunities First Inc: $200,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetWASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetDELTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $170,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetGIRLS GROUP: $157,000 over 5y, 6.0% of budgetLEGACY LAND CONSERVANCY: $155,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetWEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $155,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetEagle Village Inc: $150,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetFERRIS FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSpring Arbor University: $150,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetSHELTER ASSOCIATION OF WASHTENAW COUNTY: $138,500 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MASTER INC: $130,000 over 3y, 28% of budgetTHE MADE INSTITUTE: $125,000 over 3y, 6.6% of budgetNeutral Zone: $125,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetThe Stewardship Network: $120,000 over 3y, 9.9% of budgetGRAND TRAVERSE REGIONAL LAND CONSERVANCY: $120,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMIDLAND AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $118,500 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetHURON RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL: $110,955 over 5y, 3.6% of budgetFood Bank of Eastern Michigan: $110,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMICHIGAN FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $105,000 over 4y, 24% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $102,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCLEVELAND MANOR INC: $101,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetLAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetUNITED METHODIST RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetM&M CHILDRENS MUSEUM INC: $100,000 over 2y, 10% 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.

  • Who funds INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds TRINITY HEALTH - MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds MICHIGAN THEATER FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds American Bird Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds ST LOUIS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds Midland Center for the Arts Inc ↗
  • Who funds ALBION COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds FREEDOM RIVER INC ↗
  • Who funds CALVIN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds OZONE HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds LACASA ↗
  • Who funds UMRC-PORTER HILLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HOPE MEDICAL CLINIC INC ↗
  • Who funds Ann Arbor Art Association ↗
  • Who funds CORNER HEALTH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds The Arbor Hospice Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ELE'S PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds FINLANDIA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds GREENHILLS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MUNSON HEALTHCARE FOUNDATIONS ↗
  • Who funds Communities First Inc ↗
  • Who funds WASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Ann Arbor Area Community FoundationMI125.1× affinity67 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation · United Way of Washtenaw County · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · DTE Energy Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · James a and Faith Knight Foundation · The Carls Foundation · United Way for Southeastern Michigan · Midland Area Community Foundation · The Martin Family Foundation · Michigan Health Endowment Fund · Trinity Health - Michigan

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 Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 22%
  • Enterprise Community Partners Inc: 22% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
77report 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 Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Harry a and Margaret D Towsley 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 422 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

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