Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

Old Trail 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.

$602k
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$480k
Largest
01What you fund
0191% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Environment$779kEducation$224kReligion$200kHealth$156kPhilanthropy$151kAnimals$46kArts & Culture$16kPublic Benefit$8kOther$0
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $55k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+1 grant · $480k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROJECT HEALING WATERS$480,000
ST JUDE$50,000
MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$35,000
ASPCA$20,000
FRIENDS OF LAKE LEELANAU$5,000
BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST$5,000
ARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING$2,500
NEW GROWTH PROJECT$2,500
Individual grant recipient$1,000
Individual grant recipient$500
LITTLE MANISTEE WATERSHED CONSERVATION COUNCIL$500
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 66% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%THE SMILE TRAIN: $5k → 17%PROJECT HEALING WATERS: $480k → 14%JOSE WEJEBE-SPANISH FLY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $2k → 13%BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST: $5k → 15%CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $40k → 7%REMEMBERING ERIC - FIGHT CHILDHOOD CANCER: $1k → 8%DOWNS SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF WEST MICHIGAN: $10k → 11%LITTLE MANISTEE WATERSHED CONSERVATION COUNCIL: $1k → 23%ST JUDE: $50k → 17%WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA: $3k → 16%PROJECT HEALING WATERS: $100k → 14%BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST: $5k → 15%CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $23k → 7%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT: $111k → 16%ST JUDE: $50k → 17%WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA: $3k → 16%BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST: $5k → 15%CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $20k → 7%EAST GRAND RAPIDS FOUNDATION: $51k → 11%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CLUB OF WEST MICHIGAN: $50k → 16%ST JUDE: $50k → 17%WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA: $2k → 16%CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $15k → 7%EAST GRAND RAPIDS FOUNDATION: $50k → 11%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CLUB OF WEST MICHIGAN: $50k → 16%ST JUDE: $50k → 17%CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $5k → 7%EAST GRAND RAPIDS FOUNDATION: $50k → 11%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CLUB OF WEST MICHIGAN: $3k → 16%LEELANAU CONSERVANCY: $30k → 7%LEELANAU CONSERVANCY: $30k → 7%KIDS FOOD BASKET: $3k → 11%LEELANAU CONSERVANCY: $20k → 7%NEW GROWTH PROJECT: $3k → 11%LEELANAU CONSERVANCY: $6k → 7%FISHTOWN PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $3k → 7%FISHTOWN PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $2k → 7%NEW GROWTH PROJECT: $3k → 11%MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $35k → 11%MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $30k → 11%MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%ARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING: $3k → 11%FUSION EDUCATION GROUP: $3k → 11%ARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING: $3k → 11%ARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING: $3k → 11%ARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING: $2k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

ME
IL
MI
NY
CA
NM
TN
DC
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.4M · 16 repeat orgs$154k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +37% since the first grant, against +19% for the ones you funded once.

16 repeat relationships — 10 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
21

Total granted

$1.4M
$153k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+19%

Still filing today

63%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsHuman ServicesArts & CultureHousing & ShelterHealthEnvironmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • MF
    MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $141k · revenue +830%
  • CR
    CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE
    6× · 2018–2023 · $104k · revenue +1%
  • TA
    THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
    3× · 2020–2024 · $30k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • MS
    MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT
    one grant, 2017 · $111k
  • DS
    DOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF WEST MICHIGAN
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +9%
  • TP
    THE POWER OF EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -45%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
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
2
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
3
Lake Leelanau Lake Association

The lake leelanau lake association is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the quality and beauty of lake leelanau and its surrounding watershed for current and future generations.

Environment
4
Mille Lacs Smallmouth Alliance

The Mille Lacs Smallmouth Alliance is a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to rebuilding, preserving and maintaining Mille Lacs Lake as a world class trophy smallmouth bass fishery. Our work will include: educating fishermen,…

Human Services
5
Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue

Friends of michigan animals rescue's mission is to protect animals and residents by promoting a safe and healthy environment for all.

Animals
6
Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership Inc

To inspire and advance manatee conservation by partnering cooperatively in manatee rescue, rehabilitation, release, and monitoring efforts; improve understanding of manatee biology and health through scientific research; and promote…

Animals
7
Friends of Ludington State Park

FLSP was established May 25, 1992 and functions privately, as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, to promote the wise use and conservation of the Ludington State Park, one of the most beautiful state parks ever.

Philanthropy
8
Florida Wildlife Federation

To safeguard Florida's water, wildlife, and wild spaces by taking action today to prevent irreversible loss tomorrow.

Animals
9
Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy

The mission of gtrlc is to protect significant natural, scenic and farm lands and advance land stewardship now and for future generations.

Environment
10
Michigan Animal Rescue League

The mission of the michigan animal rescue league is to provide the highest quality of life to dogs and cats through rescue, medical care, socialization and behavioral support, short- and long-term sanctuary, adoption, and community…

Animals
11
Michigan Water Environment Association

Be and create stewards for the water environment of michigan. provide high quality education for michigan's water professionals. educate and inform policy makers and the general public. promote scientifically sound environmental practices…

Environment
12
Friends of Detroit Animal Care and Control

Friends of the detroit animal care and control is committed to ensuring equal access to companion animals for those of all socioeconomic levels and raising the care for animals living in detroit.

Animals

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids' Food Basket Inc and the most unlike its peers is Aim High. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 28 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%14%<5yr14%9%5–10yr19%18%10–20yr16%27%20–35yr13%14%35–55yr16%18%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%3%<5yr14%2%5–10yr19%35%10–20yr16%7%20–35yr13%46%35–55yr16%7%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 14% of your grantees by number, and just 3% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/24
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,541

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

23 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 23 of the 38 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
17/23
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

PROJECT HEALING WATERS — $580,000 · OtherPROJECT HEALING WATERSST JUDE — $200,000 · OtherST JUDEEAST GRAND RAPIDS FOUNDATION — $150,550 · OtherEAST GRAND RAPIDS FOUNDATIONMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT — $111,000 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENTCONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE — $103,500 · OtherCONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCEMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CLUB OF WEST MICHIGAN — $102,500 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CLUB OF WEST MICHIGAN+19 more — $45,062 · OtherMARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $140,500 · HealthMARY FREE…+1 more — $500 · HealthLEELANAU CONSERVANCY — $87,000 · Environment+1 more — $1,574 · EnvironmentTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS — $30,000 · AnimalsBONEFISH & TARPON TRUST INC — $15,000 · Animals+1 more — $500 · AnimalsARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING — $9,500 · Arts & CultureFISHTOWN PRESERVATION SOCIETY INC — $6,500 · Arts & CultureTHE POWER OF EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $10,000 · InternationalSea Turtle Conservancy — $500 · InternationalFRIENDS OF LAKE LEELANAU — $5,500 · Human ServicesAIM HIGH — $2,500 · Human Services
Other$1,292,612Health$141,000Environment$88,574Animals$45,500Arts & Culture$16,000International$10,500Human Services$8,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetMARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $140,500 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetCONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE — $103,500 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetLEELANAU CONSERVANCY — $87,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS — $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBONEFISH & TARPON TRUST INC — $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF WEST MICHIGAN — $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetTHE POWER OF EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetARMED FORCES THANKSGIVING — $9,500 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetWreaths Across America — $7,503 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFISHTOWN PRESERVATION SOCIETY INC — $6,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF LAKE LEELANAU — $5,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetNEW GROWTH PROJECT — $5,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIDS' FOOD BASKET INC — $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAIM HIGH — $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS YOUTH COMMONWEALTH INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF GRAND RAPIDS — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSea Turtle Conservancy — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBEER CITY DOG BISCUITS — $500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOC — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGUARDIAN ANGEL BASSET RESCUE INC — $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAUTISM SUPPORT OF KENT COUNTY INC — $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Frey FoundationMI15.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Frey Foundation · Grand Rapids Community Foundation · The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Old Trail Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 1%
  • Sea Turtle Conservancy1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 38 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph