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· Private foundation

Positive Step Foundation Inc

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.

$131k
Granted FY2024still arriving
46
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0199% classified

What you funded, over time

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

Animals$128kYouth Development$60kHuman Services$26kEnvironment$21kHealth$14kEmployment$7kHousing & Shelter$6kFood & Nutrition$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 46 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k43 grants · $85k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $46k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$374k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LACASA CENTER$17,772
BARK NATION$14,642
HOWELL NATURE CENTER$13,090
NO SWINE LEFT BEHIND$8,817
GRAND RAPIDS PITBULL ALLIANCE$6,955
THE ARC OF LIVINGSTON$6,200
DISTRICT 5 ANIMAL ALLIANCE$5,609
TAIL WAGGERS 1990$5,000
CAPITAL AREA HUMANE SOCIETY$5,000
COMMUNITY CATALYSTS$5,000
DOG AIDE$3,933
Individual grant recipient$3,737
LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY$3,626
TORCH 180$3,500
ODD MAN INN ANIMAL REFUGE$3,500
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:

Your human-services grants (FY22–24, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 80% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CALVIN JOHNSON JR FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 6%NATIONAL YOUTH ADVOCATE PROGRAM: $3k → 15%THE FOUNDATION FOR THE HORSE: $1k → 15%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

MI
OH
CA
KY
MD
TN
SC
GA

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.

68%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$186k · 14 repeat orgs$87k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships — 13 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 33 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
29

Total granted

$186k
$34k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+9%

Still filing today

64%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $53k 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
AnimalsYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesEnvironmentEducationFood & NutritionOther

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

  • DETROIT HORSE POWER
    3× · 2020–2023 · $55k · revenue +327%
  • TA
    THE ARC LIVINGSTON
    4× · 2021–2024 · $14k · revenue +23%
  • DA
    DOG AIDE
    2× · 2023–2024 · $8k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • MA
    Make A Difference Rescue Incgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue +45%
  • AM
    ACTION MATTERS (GRASS RIVER NATURAL AREA)
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • KA
    K9 ANIMAL RESCUE EMERGENCY NETWORK
    one grant, 2023 · $3k

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
Freedom Tails Ohio

Animal Rescue

Animals
2
Paws and Claws Animal Shelter
Animals
3
Countryside Animal Rescue Inc

Rescuing rehabilitating and housing of abandoned and homeless dogs cats and small animals with the mission of finding them new forever homes

Animals
4
Jl Animal Rescue Inc
Animals
5
Animal Rescue and Adoption Agency Inc

An animal rescue/adoption Agency. Rescued animals are from kill shelters or owner surrenders facing hardship then rehabbed/medical completed while in foster care then adopted into loving homes.

Animals
6
Animal House of South East Michigan

We have been created to provide a number of humane companion animal related services to the community such as: 1) operate an animal rescue providing a haven for homeless animals 2) work to place those animals into homes 3) attempt to keep…

Animals
7
Donna's Love Pet Rescue
Animals
8
Fur Animal Rescue

Animal rescue organization dedicated to finding homes for animals at the animal shelter. we also provde vet care foster homes, and assistance with homing for special needs animals.

Animals
9
Raskels Rescue
Animals
10
Happy Tails Animal Rescue of Washin County Virginia
Animals
11
Their Lives Matter

Dog rescue and care nurturing finding a home

Animals
12
Barking Mad Animal Rescue

Rescue abused & abandoned dogs, urgent at risk of euthanasia dogs, medical needs & hospice dogs to provide veterinary care, rehabilitation, and find homes for dogs that become adoptable. Sanctuary til end of life is provided for those not…

Animals

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Michigan Humane Society and the most unlike its peers is Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources. 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 11 years old; the field is 15. You back the younger end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%13%<5yr14%22%5–10yr19%33%10–20yr16%16%20–35yr13%9%35–55yr16%7%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%18%<5yr14%14%5–10yr19%40%10–20yr16%3%20–35yr13%19%35–55yr16%6%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 13% of your grantees by number, and just 18% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 5% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
5%
3/64
the rest of the field
14%
5,237/36,385

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

53 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 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 53 of the 76 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/53
Grantees still filing
21/53
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

LACASA — $25,516 · OtherLACASAHOWELL NATURE CENTER — $19,940 · OtherHOWELL NATURE CENTERTHE ARC LIVINGSTON — $14,400 · OtherTHE ARC LIVINGSTONNO SWINE LEFT BEHIND — $10,759 · OtherNO SWINE LEFT BEHINDGRAND RAPIDS PITBULL ALLIANCE INC — $8,239 · OtherGRAND RAPIDS PITBULL ALLIANCE INCDISTRICT5ANIMALALLIANCEDETROIT — $5,609 · OtherSECOND CHANCES ANIMAL RESOURCES INC — $4,000 · Other+27 more — $25,488 · Other+27 moreBARK NATION — $30,599 · AnimalsBARK NATIONDOG AIDE — $7,690 · AnimalsDOG AIDEINGHAM COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY — $5,000 · AnimalsINGHAM COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETYTail Waggers 1990 — $5,000 · AnimalsTail Waggers 1990LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY — $3,626 · AnimalsODD MAN INN ANIMAL REFUGE — $3,500 · AnimalsMake A Difference Rescue Inc — $3,430 · AnimalsK9 ANIMAL RESCUE EMERGENCY NETWORK — $3,239 · AnimalsMICHIGAN PIT BULL EDUCATION PROJECT — $3,117 · AnimalsANIMAL RESOURCE FUNDING FOUNDATION — $3,000 · Animals+22 more — $18,279 · Animals+22 moreDETROIT HORSE POWER — $54,500 · Youth DevelopmentDETROIT HORSE POWER+2 more — $1,500 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMUNITY CATALYSTS — $5,000 · Housing & ShelterNATIONAL YOUTH ADVOCATE PROGRAM INC — $3,000 · Human ServicesTHE FOUNDATION FOR THE HORSE FKA THE AAEP FOUNDATION INC — $1,000 · Human ServicesCalvin Johnson Jr Foundation Inc — $1,000 · Human ServicesTORCH 180 — $4,500 · EmploymentCLEARY UNIVERSITY — $2,500 · EducationLIVINGSTON ARTS COUNCIL INC — $500 · Education
Other$113,951Animals$86,480Youth Development$56,000Housing & Shelter$5,000Human Services$5,000Employment$4,500Education$3,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetDETROIT HORSE POWER — $54,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetBARK NATION — $30,599 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetLACASA — $25,516 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHOWELL NATURE CENTER — $19,940 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ARC LIVINGSTON — $14,400 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetDOG AIDE — $7,690 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY CATALYSTS — $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetINGHAM COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTail Waggers 1990 — $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTORCH 180 — $4,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetLITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY — $3,626 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetODD MAN INN ANIMAL REFUGE — $3,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMake A Difference Rescue Inc — $3,430 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetK9 ANIMAL RESCUE EMERGENCY NETWORK — $3,239 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetMICHIGAN PIT BULL EDUCATION PROJECT — $3,117 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetNATIONAL YOUTH ADVOCATE PROGRAM INC — $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDANNY & RONS RESCUE — $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCLEARY UNIVERSITY — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALL SPECIES KINSHIP — $2,325 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY — $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOld Friends Inc — $1,983 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMISFIT ANGELS RESCUE — $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPERFORMING ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAMSTON THEATRE — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMITTEN MISFITS FARM SANCTUARY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR THE HORSE FKA THE AAEP FOUNDATION INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH STAR REACH — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLUCKY DAY ANIMAL RESCUE — $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCalvin Johnson Jr Foundation Inc — $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPAWS AWES & CLAWS — $750 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetEVA BURRELL ANIMAL SHELTER — $750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRebel Dogs Detroit Inc — $526 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN — $504 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCLARKSTON FAMILY DISCOVERY FARM — $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPOET ANIMAL RESCUE — $500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLivingston Land Conservancy Inc — $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMBER REINECK HOUSE — $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetRECYCLE LIVINGSTON INC — $500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOGEMAW COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY — $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLIVINGSTON ARTS COUNCIL INC — $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOALITION TO PROTECT MICHIGAN RESOURCES — $500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOUNTIFUL HARVEST INC — $444 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBIRD CENTER OF MICHIGAN INC — $376 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAPPY FEET PET RESCUE — $350 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLOVE FROM LOUIE INC — $264 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGREAT LAKES HUMANE SOCIETY — $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGREAT LAKES DOG RESCUE INC — $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANIMAL PLACEMENT BUREAU — $250 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.

Ted and Jane Von Voig…Community Foundation …BISSELL Pet FoundationEdward and June Kello…Paypal Charitable Giv…Dte Energy FoundationAnn Arbor SparkCharles Stewart Mott …Robert W & Maxine C P…Livingston County Uni…Von Voigtlander Famil…Harry a and Margaret …
Ted and Jane Von Voigtlander FoundationMI22× affinity8 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ted and Jane Von Voigtlander Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · BISSELL Pet Foundation · Edward and June Kellogg Foundation Dba Kellogg Family Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Dte Energy Foundation · Ann Arbor Spark · Charles Stewart Mott Foundation · Robert W & Maxine C Parker Foundation Inc · Livingston County United Way · Von Voigtlander Family Foundation · Harry a and Margaret D Towsley 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 Positive Step Foundation Inc 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
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your 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
    8report 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

    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.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Positive Step Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Positive Step Foundation Inc 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 76 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

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