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Miller-Davis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Miller-Davis 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.

$59k
Granted FY2024still arriving
30
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$6k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$88kHuman Services$40kCommunity Improvement$21kArts & Culture$18kHousing & Shelter$16kFood & Nutrition$11kYouth Development$10kReligion$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Milestone Senior Services$6,000
Western Michigan University Foundation$6,000
Kalamazoo College$5,000
Air Zoo$5,000
Girls Build Kalamazoo$3,500
Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition$3,000
Kalamazoo Cultural Center$3,000
PoWer Book Bags$2,500
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre$2,000
Traverse City Area Public Schools$2,000
Gryphon Place$2,000
Comstock Public Schools$2,000
Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services Inc$2,000
Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation$2,000
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra$1,500
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 (FY21–24, $12k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 17%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 17%Father Fred Foundation: $2k → 10%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES: $5k → 12%DISABILITY NETWORK OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $2k → 12%KALAMAZOO DREAM CENTER: $2k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $500 → 12%First Day Shoe Fund: $500 → 12%First Day Shoe Fund: $500 → 12%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.

60%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$146k · 26 repeat orgs$97k to everyone else

26 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
25

Total granted

$146k
$75k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+99%

Still filing today

62%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k 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
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterYouth 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

  • KC
    KALAMAZOO COLLEGE
    4× · 2021–2024 · $25k · revenue +8%
  • WM
    WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $12k · revenue +115%
  • KL
    KALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC
    2× · 2020–2023 · $11k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • KR
    KALAMAZOO RESA FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
  • HC
    HERITAGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • FC
    FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UCC
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Kalamazoo Foundation for Excellence

The mission of the kalamazoo foundation for excellence is to support the goals of the city of kalamazoo, fund aspirational investments in the city, and empower kalamazoo residents to achieve the lives they want for themselves and their…

Public Benefit
2
Kalamazoo Community Foundation Real Estate Holdings Inc

Supporting organization to kalamazoo community foundation

Philanthropy
3
Kalamazoo County Humane Society

The mission of the kalamazoo humane society is to nuture the wellbeing of animals and people in our communities.

Animals
4
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center

To promote the arts of book printing, binding, printmaking, papermaking, and creative writing through a community workshop, teaching classes, publishing, and exhibitions

Arts & Culture
5
Can-Do Kalamazoo

Activating inclusive programs, resources, and physical space to support our community's diverse entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Food & Nutrition
6
Kalamazoo Nature Center

Create relationships & experiences that welcome and inspire people to discover, enjoy, value, and care for nature. Kalamazoo Nature Center envisions a resilient community where all people have strong interconnections with the natural world.

Environment
7
Kalamazoo Country Day School

An independent school providing a supportive, challenging and creative academic environment for talented and motivated students to prepare them for life long achievement.

Education
8
Kalamazoo County Parks and Recreation Development Foundation

Long term development, stewardship, and protection of michigan parks located in kalamazoo county.

Recreation & Sports
9
Downtown Tomorrow Inc

Assist downtown development authority in implementing the arcadia creek plan.

Community Improvement
10
Kalamazoo Eastside Neighborhood Association

To improve and enhance the physical, social, and economic environment of the eastside section of the city of kalamazoo, michigan to the ends that the community may have a more pleasant, attractive, safe and convenient place to live and…

—
11
Kalamazoo Community Foundation

Kalamazoo community foundation's mission is to mobilize people, resources, and expertise to advance racial, social, and economic justice.

Philanthropy
12
Kankakee Community College Foundation

Scholarships and financial assistance to promote educational opportunities at kankakee community college

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo; the most unlike its peers is Power Book Bags. 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

36 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. 36 of the 61 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/36
Grantees still filing
25/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KALAMAZOO RESA FOUNDATION: $15,000 · OtherKALAMAZOO RESA FOUNDATIONTRAVERSE CITY AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $11,500 · OtherTRAVERSE CITY AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLSCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOO: $8,500 · OtherCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOOMilestone Senior Services: $6,000 · OtherDIOCESE OF KALAMAZOO: $5,500 · OtherHERITAGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherHISPANIC AMERICAN COUNCIL INC: $5,000 · OtherFIRST CONGREGATIONAL UCC: $5,000 · OtherTHE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM: $5,000 · OtherGRYPHON PLACE: $5,000 · Other+27 more: $57,700 · Other+27 moreKALAMAZOO COLLEGE: $25,000 · EducationKALAMAZOO COLLEGEWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $12,000 · EducationWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVE…GULL LAKE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDAT: $6,000 · EducationGULL LAKE COMMUNITY SC…COMSTOCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $3,000 · EducationCOMSTOCK PUBLIC SCHOOL…KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationKALAMAZOO CULTURAL CENTER: $6,000 · Arts & CultureKALAMAZOO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $4,500 · Arts & CultureARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER KALAMAZOO: $2,000 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY CENTER GREAT LAKES: $2,000 · Arts & CulturePARK CLUB HISTORIC FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Arts & CultureKalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Serv: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterKALAMAZOO VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $4,500 · Housing & ShelterKALAMAZOO NONPROFIT ADVOCACY COALITION: $5,500 · Community ImprovementEDISON NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 · Community ImprovementBUILDING BLOCKS OF KALAMAZOO: $2,000 · Community ImprovementJUNIOR LEAGUE OF KALAMAZOO INC: $500 · Community ImprovementFAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesFATHER FRED FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Human ServicesDISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $2,000 · Human ServicesKalamazoo Dream Center: $1,800 · Human ServicesCOMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesFIRST DAY SHOE FUND: $1,000 · Human ServicesKALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC: $11,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$129,200Education$49,000Arts & Culture$15,500Housing & Shelter$14,500Community Improvement$13,000Human Services$12,800Food & Nutrition$11,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetKALAMAZOO COLLEGE: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetKalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Serv: $10,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOO: $8,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetGULL LAKE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDAT: $6,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetKALAMAZOO CULTURAL CENTER: $6,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetKALAMAZOO NONPROFIT ADVOCACY COALITION: $5,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetEDISON NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetGRYPHON PLACE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHISPANIC AMERICAN COUNCIL INC: $5,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKALAMAZOO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetKALAMAZOO VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $4,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKalamazoo Civic Theatre: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGIRLS BUILD KALAMAZOO INC: $3,500 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCOMSTOCK PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetLAKE MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTRAVERSE CITY CENTER OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP: $2,700 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPOWER BOOK BAGS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBronson Health Foundation: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFATHER FRED FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER KALAMAZOO: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDISCOVERY CENTER GREAT LAKES: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBUILDING BLOCKS OF KALAMAZOO: $2,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetKALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKalamazoo Dream Center: $1,800 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetPARK CLUB HISTORIC FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCITIZENS RESEARCH COUNCIL OF MICHIGAN INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREAD AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCOMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST DAY SHOE FUND: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJUNIOR LEAGUE OF KALAMAZOO INC: $500 over 1y, 1.2% 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.

Kalamazoo Community F…Irving S Gilmore Foun…Dorothy U Dalton Foun…Harold and Grace Upjo…Tyler-Little Family F…Marvin and Rosalie Ok…The Burdick-Thorne Fo…The Ronda E Stryker a…Suzanne Upjohn Delano…John E Fetzer Institu…Ws & Lois Vandalson F…H P & Genevieve Conna…
Kalamazoo Community FoundationMI62.4× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kalamazoo Community Foundation · Irving S Gilmore Foundation · Dorothy U Dalton Foundation Inc · Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation · Tyler-Little Family Foundation · Marvin and Rosalie Okun Foundation · The Burdick-Thorne Foundation · The Ronda E Stryker and William D Johnston Foundation · Suzanne Upjohn Delano Parish Foundation · John E Fetzer Institute Inc · Ws & Lois Vandalson Foundation · H P & Genevieve Connable 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 Miller-Davis Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Miller-Davis Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%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
    15report 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 Miller-Davis Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Miller-Davis 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 61 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 Miller-Davis’ 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