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Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr at a glance

· Private foundation

Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$314k
Granted FY2025still arriving
38
Grants FY2025still arriving
12
States reached
$56k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$2.2MHealth$345kPhilanthropy$223kRecreation & Sports$23kArts & Culture$16kEmployment$4kAnimals$2kScience & Tech$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k29 grants · $78k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $136k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $107k
$3,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$6.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY$56,000
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN$51,000
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY$38,500
JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$25,000
SPRING ARBOR UNIVERSITY$17,000
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITSY$16,000
JACKSON COLLEGE$15,500
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY$12,500
SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY$11,000
MICHIAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY$9,500
Individual grant recipient$4,500
CALVIN UNIVERSITY$4,000
ALMA COLLEGE$4,000
INDIANA WESLEY UNIVERSITY$4,000
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY$4,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $50k → 8%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $51k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $48k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $39k → 8%EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: $25k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $31k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $48k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $29k → 8%EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: $18k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $25k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $47k → 14%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $22k → 8%GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 8%SCHOL: $46k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $64k → 16%WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITSY: $20k → 12%JACKSON COLLEGE: $32k → 13%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $63k → 16%WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITSY: $19k → 12%JACKSON COLLEGE: $27k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $39k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $61k → 16%JACKSON COLLEGE: $27k → 13%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $58k → 16%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $27k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $39k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $57k → 16%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 13%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $56k → 16%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $38k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $52k → 16%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 13%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $51k → 16%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $36k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $41k → 16%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $24k → 13%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $24k → 13%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $24k → 13%JACKSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $24k → 13%JACKSON COLLEGE: $22k → 13%JACKSON COLLEGE: $21k → 13%JACKSON COLLEGE: $21k → 13%JACKSON COLLEGE: $18k → 13%SPRING ARBOR UNIVERSITY: $18k → 13%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
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
PA
RI
CO
MO
KY
VA
AZ
KS
AR
TN
NC
DC
AL
GA
TX
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 58 repeat orgs$107k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +25% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

58 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 32 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

58
27

Total granted

$2.4M
$93k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+7%

Still filing today

43%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
EducationArts & CultureAnimalsRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • UO
    University of Michigan
    8× · 2017–2025 · $345k · revenue +202%
  • SA
    Spring Arbor University
    9× · 2017–2025 · $117k · revenue +4%
  • AC
    ALMA COLLEGE
    7× · 2017–2025 · $25k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • S
    SCHOL
    one grant, 2020 · $46k
  • MI
    MASSACHUSETTS INSSTITUTE OF TECH
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • JS
    Jackson School of the Arts Assocgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +53%
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
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
2
Xavier University

Xavier is a jesuit catholic university rooted in the liberal arts tradition. our mission is to educate each student intellectually, morally, and spiritually. we create learning opportunities through rigorous academic and professional…

Education
3
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
4
John Carroll University

As a jesuit catholic university committed to academic rigor, inclusive excellence, and care for the whole person, john carroll university inspires individuals of intellect and character to learn, lead and serve in the community and…

Education
5
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
6
Augustana University Association

Inspired by lutheran scholarly tradition and the liberal arts, augustana provides an education of enduring worth that challenges the intellect, fosters integrity and integrates faith with learning and service in a diverse world.

Education
7
Capital University

Capital university transforms lives by empowering an inclusive community of learners through engaging academic, co-curricular, and professional experiences.

Education
8
LaGrange College

Education - lagrange college challenges the minds and inspires the souls of its students. founded in 1831 and committed to its relationship with the united methodist church and its wesleyan and liberal arts traditions, the college supports…

Education
9
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
10
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
11
Otterbein University

Otterbein University is an inclusive community dedicated to educating the whole person in the context of humane values. Our mission is to prepare graduates to think deeply and broadly, to engage locally and globally, and to advance their…

Education
12
Boston Architectural College

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

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wheaton College; the most unlike its peers is Cascades Humane Society 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

47 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. 47 of the 101 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)
47/47
Grantees still filing
40/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $501,000 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITYUniversity of Michigan: $345,000 · OtherUniversity of MichiganGRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $294,500 · OtherGRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITYJACKSON COLLEGE: $194,228 · OtherJACKSON COLLEGEWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: $124,500 · OtherWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITYCENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: $103,000 · OtherEASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: $95,000 · Other+50 more: $493,000 · Other+50 moreSpring Arbor University: $116,993 · EducationSpring Arbor Univ…ALBION COLLEGE: $43,500 · EducationALBION COLLEGEALMA COLLEGE: $25,000 · EducationALMA COLLEGEUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $21,500 · EducationADRIAN COLLEGE: $18,000 · EducationKettering University: $17,500 · EducationCedarville University: $17,500 · Education+32 more: $172,834 · Education+32 moreJackson Community Foundation: $222,650 · PhilanthropyJACKSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION INC: $12,800 · Arts & CultureJackson School of the Arts Assoc: $3,000 · Arts & CultureCASCADES HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $2,000 · AnimalsNorthwestern University: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$2,150,228Education$432,827Philanthropy$222,650Arts & Culture$15,800Animals$2,000Recreation & Sports$1,000

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 budgetUniversity of Michigan: $345,000 over 8y, 18% of budgetJackson Community Foundation: $222,650 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetSpring Arbor University: $116,993 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetALBION COLLEGE: $43,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetALMA COLLEGE: $25,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $21,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetADRIAN COLLEGE: $18,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKettering University: $17,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCedarville University: $17,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJACKSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION INC: $12,800 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetAquinas College: $11,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKALAMAZOO COLLEGE: $11,334 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTrine University: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWheaton College: $8,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSavannah College of Art and DesignInc: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTaylor University: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY: $7,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSETON HILL UNIVERSITY: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCornerstone University: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDAVENPORT UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwood University: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCLEARY UNIVERSITY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOLIVET COLLEGE: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETHEL UNIVERSITY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe University of Findlay: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCASCADES HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHarding University Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHuntington University: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRochester Institute of Technology: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAINT MICHAEL'S COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetColumbia College Chicago: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 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 University of Michigan ↗
  • Who funds Jackson Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Spring Arbor University ↗
  • Who funds ALBION COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds ALMA COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
  • Who funds ADRIAN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Kettering University ↗
  • Who funds Cedarville University ↗
  • Who funds JACKSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Aquinas College ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Trine University ↗
  • Who funds Wheaton College ↗
  • Who funds Savannah College of Art and DesignInc ↗
  • Who funds Taylor University ↗
  • Who funds CALVIN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds LAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SETON HILL UNIVERSITY ↗

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.

The Alvin L Glick Fou…The Gerber FoundationConsumers Energy Foun…Community Foundation …The VombergTrumley Fo…Kanitz Louis J & Gold…Community Foundation …Charles Stewart Mott …Lorna a Welch Charita…Michigan Colleges All…Lavere & Gladys Chase…The Community Foundat…
The Alvin L Glick FoundationMI26.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Alvin L Glick Foundation · The Gerber Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · The VombergTrumley Foundation · Kanitz Louis J & Golda I Main Ac · Community Foundation for Muskegon County · Charles Stewart Mott Foundation · Lorna a Welch Charitable Foundation Xxx-Xx-Xxxx · Michigan Colleges Alliance · Lavere & Gladys Chase Scholarship Fd · The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area Inc

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 Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 26% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 5% of income from government
  • Saint Michael's College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
14report 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 Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr?

Find your warmest path to Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr 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 101 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 Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr’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