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Robert M Hoffer Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert M Hoffer Family 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.

$9k
Granted FY2023
7
Grants FY2023
4
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2023.

Education$21kEnvironment$7kAnimals$3kFood & Nutrition$3kPhilanthropy$500Health$500
02FY2023 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$109k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF MILWAUKEE$4,000
CORAL REEF ALLIANCE$1,500
FORGOTTEN HARVEST$1,000
OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE$1,000
MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY$500
TUFTS UNIVERSITY$500
DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$200
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 (FY20–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $1k → 8%OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $1k → 10%CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $2k → 10%FORGOTTEN HARVEST: $1k → 8%KYLE PAVONE FOUNDATION: $500 → 14%UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE: $5k → 17%TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $1k → 8%OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $1k → 10%CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $1k → 10%FORGOTTEN HARVEST: $1k → 8%UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE: $5k → 17%TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $500 → 8%OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $500 → 10%CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $1k → 10%FORGOTTEN HARVEST: $500 → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MILWAUKEE: $4k → 17%TUFTS UNIVERSITY: $500 → 8%CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $1k → 10%MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $1k → 8%UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE: $3k → 17%MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 → 8%MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 → 8%MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 → 8%DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $200 → 8%DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $200 → 8%MICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC FORENSIC ASSOCIATION: $1k → 8%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $500 → 8%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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$28k · 7 repeat orgs$6k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2023, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
3

Total granted

$28k
$2k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+41%

Still filing today

100%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23
EducationEnvironmentAnimalsFood & NutritionOther
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 UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION
    3× · 2020–2022 · $13k · revenue +59%
  • TC
    THE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE
    4× · 2020–2023 · $5k · revenue +42%
  • Trustees of Tufts College
    4× · 2020–2023 · $3k · revenue +39%

Funded once

  • MI
    MICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC FORENSIC ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +41%
  • KP
    KYLE PAVONE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $500
  • AC
    AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
    one grant, 2021 · $500
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
Detroit Historical Society

The Detroit Historical Society tells Detroit's stories and why they matter through its exhibits, programs, outreach, and the preservation and dissemination of its artifacts and collections.

Arts & Culture
2
Delta Dental Fund

Delta dental fund's mission is to improve the oral health of the public and to advance dental science and the dental profession through research and education.

—
3
Michigan Enviromental Council

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

Environment
4
Michigan Anti-Cruelty Society

To maintain and operate a hospital, ambulance and veterinary services for the care of animals. the maintenance and operation of kennels and suitable chambers for the humane destruction of wounded animals.

Animals
5
The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

Animals
6
Michigan Biotechnology Institute

Bridging the gap between early-stage innovation and commercial application. partnering to de-risk, develop and scale-up discoveries into commercially-viable technology packages.

Education
7
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
8
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…

—
9
Michigan Farm Bureau

Michigan farm bureau (mfb) is a member directed agricultural organization whose purpose is to represent, protect, and enhance the business, economic, social, and educational interests of our members located throughout the state of michigan.

—
10
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
11
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
12
Michigan State Medical Society

Promote a health care environment that supports physicians in caring for and enhancing the health of michigan citizens through science, quality, and ethics in the practice of medicine.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Michigan Humane Society; the most unlike its peers is Ocean Defenders Alliance. 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

8 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. 8 of the 11 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/8
Grantees still filing
8/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $12,500 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATIONTrustees of Tufts College: $3,000 · EducationTrustees of Tufts CollegeMICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC FORENSIC ASSOCIATION: $1,000 · EducationMICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC FORENSIC ASSOCIATIONTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $4,500 · EnvironmentTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCEOCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $2,500 · EnvironmentOCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANC…UNIVERSITY OF MILWAUKEE: $4,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MI…KYLE PAVONE FOUNDATION: $500 · OtherKYLE PAVONE FOUN…AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $500 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER …MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $2,500 · AnimalsMICHIGAN …DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $400 · AnimalsDETROIT Z…FORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $2,500 · Food & Nutrition
Education$16,500Environment$7,000Other$5,000Animals$2,900Food & Nutrition$2,500

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 UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $3,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $2,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $2,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC FORENSIC ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $400 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Robert M Hoffer Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert M Hoffer Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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.

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 11 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

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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