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Matilda R Wilson Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Matilda R Wilson Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$400k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$2.9MArts & Culture$1.2MHuman Services$602kPhilanthropy$594kEnvironment$525kYouth Development$365kHealth$145kReligion$135kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $210k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $675k
  • $250k+1 grant · $400k
$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY$400,000
Individual grant recipient$200,000
DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS$75,000
THE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION$75,000
BELOIT COLLEGE$75,000
ALMA COLLEGE$50,000
THE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE CO$50,000
COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES$50,000
THE SALVATION ARMY$50,000
DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY$50,000
COVENANT CHRISTIAN CENTER$30,000
INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS$25,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN$25,000
LIFE DIRECTIONS$25,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN$15,000
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 (FY20–23, $210k) land where the poverty rate runs at 20%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YMCA OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT: $20k → 21%MOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $20k → 10%MOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $10k → 10%EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $15k → 21%EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $15k → 21%CHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY: $35k → 21%CHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY: $35k → 21%CHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY: $35k → 21%CHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY: $25k → 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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.8M · 30 repeat orgs$870k to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
9

Total granted

$6.8M
$770k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+33%

Still filing today

80%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsHealthYouth 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

  • THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
    5× · 2020–2024 · $450k · revenue +14%
  • DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $400k · revenue +51%
  • BELOIT COLLEGE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $275k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • CF
    COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SE MICHIGAN COVID- 19 FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $500k
  • HF
    HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEMgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue +33%
  • DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +36%
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 Enviromental Council

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

Environment
2
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
3
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.

—
4
Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Mcad provides a transformative education within a community of support for creative students of all backgrounds to work, collaborate, and lead with confidence in a dynamic, interconnected world.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
7
Detroit Athletic Club

To create life-enriching experiences that build meaningful relations, foster personal and professional growth, and celebrate culture in the heart of detroit.

—
8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
9
Michigan State University College of Law

The mission of the michigan state university college of law is to provide a rigorous educational program which prepares a diverse community of students to be national and international leaders in private legal practice, business and…

—
10
Kalamazoo College

The mission of kalamazoo college is to prepare its graduates to better understand, live sucessfully within, and provide enlightened leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world. as a highly selective, nationally renowened…

Education
11
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
12
The Detroit Creativity Project

The detroit creativity project ("dcp") seeks to empower and inspire detroit's young people through improvisation, an art form that helps people build confidence and develop a creative and collaborative approach to their lives.

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Detroit Public Media; the most unlike its peers is The Nature Conservancy. 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

29 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. 29 of the 43 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/29
Grantees still filing
20/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $2,000,000 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITYIndividual grant recipient: $1,000,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SE MICHIGAN COVID- 19 FUND: $500,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SE MICHIGAN COVID- 19 FUNDSALVATION ARMY: $400,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMY+16 more: $781,847 · Other+16 moreTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $450,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DETROIT INS…INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $225,000 · Arts & CultureINTERLOCHEN CEN…THE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY: $150,000 · Arts & CultureTHE PURPLE ROSE…THE PEWABIC SOCIETY INC: $70,000 · Arts & CultureTHE PEWABIC SOC…DETROIT OPERA: $65,000 · Arts & CultureDETROIT OPERADETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureDETROIT PUBLIC MEDIA: $50,000 · Arts & CultureDetroit Historical Society: $40,000 · Arts & CultureBELOIT COLLEGE: $275,000 · EducationBELOIT COLLEG…COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES: $250,000 · EducationCOLLEGE FOR C…ALMA COLLEGE: $250,000 · EducationALMA COLLEGEMICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTER: $100,000 · EducationMICHIGAN SCIE…Math Corps: $70,000 · EducationMath Corps+1 more: $10,000 · EducationDETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY INC: $400,000 · Recreation & SportsRACQUET UP DETROIT: $40,000 · Recreation & SportsBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $275,000 · Youth DevelopmentCHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY INC: $130,000 · Human ServicesTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $30,000 · Human ServicesMOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $30,000 · Human ServicesYMCA of Metropolitan Detroit: $20,000 · Human ServicesHENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM: $100,000 · HealthRACING FOR KIDS: $45,000 · Health
Other$4,681,847Arts & Culture$1,100,000Education$955,000Recreation & Sports$440,000Youth Development$275,000Human Services$210,000Health$145,000

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 DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $450,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetDETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY INC: $400,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetBELOIT COLLEGE: $275,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $275,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetCOLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES: $250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetALMA COLLEGE: $250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $225,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY: $150,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY INC: $130,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $125,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $105,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTER: $100,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetMath Corps: $70,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetTHE PEWABIC SOCIETY INC: $70,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetDETROIT OPERA: $65,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetVISTA MARIA: $52,397 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE DIRECTIONS: $50,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetDETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDETROIT PUBLIC MEDIA: $50,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRACING FOR KIDS: $45,000 over 3y, 6.0% of budgetDetroit Historical Society: $40,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetRACQUET UP DETROIT: $40,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $30,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetYMCA of Metropolitan Detroit: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOUNCIL OF MICHIGAN FOUNDATIONS: $19,450 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY LIGGETT SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% 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 THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds BELOIT COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES ↗
  • Who funds ALMA COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS CENTER OF WAYNE COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM ↗
  • Who funds MICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Math Corps ↗
  • Who funds THE PEWABIC SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT OPERA ↗
  • Who funds VISTA MARIA ↗
  • Who funds LIFE DIRECTIONS ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds RACING FOR KIDS ↗
  • Who funds Detroit Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds RACQUET UP DETROIT ↗
  • Who funds THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN ↗
  • Who funds MOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION ↗
  • Who funds YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL OF MICHIGAN FOUNDATIONS ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY LIGGETT SCHOOL ↗

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 FoundationCommunity Foundation …Ford PhilanthropyThe Kresge FoundationElizabeth Allan & War…Hudson-Webber Foundat…The Ralph C Wilson Jr…William & Martha Ford…The Gilbert Family Fo…The Fred & Barbara Er…Children's Hospital o…The Skillman Foundati…
DTE Energy FoundationMI31.7× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: DTE Energy Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Ford Philanthropy · The Kresge Foundation · Elizabeth Allan & Warren Shelden Fund · Hudson-Webber Foundation · The Ralph C Wilson Jr Foundation · William & Martha Ford Fund · The Gilbert Family Foundation · The Fred & Barbara Erb Family Foundation · Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation · The Skillman 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 Matilda R Wilson Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Matilda R Wilson Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report 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 Matilda R Wilson Fund?

    Find your warmest path to Matilda R Wilson 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 43 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 Matilda R Wilson’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