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The Buhr Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Buhr Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$351k
Granted FY2020
37
Grants FY2020
1
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of The Buhr Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year The Buhr Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 31 organizations, $351k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

39
’19
31
’20
0
’21

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2021.

Philanthropy$6.7MHealth$245kHuman Services$129kArts & Culture$117kYouth Development$85kHousing & Shelter$75kFood & Nutrition$57kRecreation & Sports$46kOther$0
02FY2020 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k19 grants · $118k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $233k
$9,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - MOTTS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$30,000
MICHIGAN THEATRE FOUNDATION$20,000
FISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN$17,500
ELE'S PLACE$15,000
HOME OF NEW VISION$15,000
FRIENDS OF THE RUTHERFORD POOL$15,000
EVERSIGHT$10,000
ANN ARBOR CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING$10,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$10,000
PACKARD HEALTH$10,000
UNITED METHODIST RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - BENTLEY HISTORICAL LIBRARY$10,000
OZONE HOUSE$10,000
THE TREELINE CONSERVANCY$10,000
GREENHILLS SCHOOL$10,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY19–20, $86k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 88% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%EVANGELICAL HOMES OF MICHIGAN: $5k → 8%EVANGELICAL HOMES OF MICHIGAN: $5k → 8%CHILDREN'S LITERACY NETWORK: $10k → 14%CHILDREN'S LITERACY NETWORK: $5k → 14%CHAD TOUGH FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%OZONE HOUSE: $10k → 14%OZONE HOUSE: $10k → 14%SOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $8k → 14%SOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $8k → 14%PEACE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $8k → 14%PEACE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $8k → 14%PEACE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $6k → 14%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 7% of The Buhr Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Buhr Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$644k · 30 repeat orgs$263k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2020, 0 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
25

Total granted

$644k
$219k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+18%

Still filing today

83%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $44k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20
Human ServicesYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHealthHousing & ShelterEducationOther
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

  • FH
    FISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN
    2× · 2019–2020 · $35k · revenue +47%
  • HO
    HOME OF NEW VISION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $30k · revenue +33%
  • AA
    ANN ARBOR CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING INC
    2× · 2019–2020 · $25k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • NS
    NORTH STAR REACH
    one grant, 2019 · $30k · revenue -59%
  • TA
    THE ARK
    one grant, 2019 · $20k
  • GH
    GROWING HOPE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $20k · revenue +66%
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
Michigan Legacy Art Park

Inspire awareness, appreciation and passion for michigan's history and stories, culture and environment through the arts.

Arts & Culture
2
Area Agency On Aging of Western Michigan Inc

Through internal expertise, external partnerships, and advocacy, the area agency on aging of western michigan provides older adults, adults with disabilities, and their caregivers equitable access to services that promote independence and…

Human Services
3
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
4
Elder Law of Michigan

To advocate for, educate, and assist our target populations. our services address the needs of many different people, but we continue to target our services to older adults and persons with disabilities.

Human Services
5
Business Leaders for Michigan

Business leaders for michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization driven by ceos from the state's leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.…

—
6
Mid Michigan Community Action Agency Inc

Mid michigan community action guides local residents on the path to self-sufficiency through empowerment, education and community enrichment.

—
7
Lincoln Behavioral Services

To provide comprehensive outpatient mental health services to over 5400 individuals and their families in a consumer driven person centered delivery system. Approximately 15% of our staff members are our clients who are involved in a…

Health
8
Washtenaw Housing Alliance

The mission of the washtenaw housing alliance is to end homelessness in our community.

Housing & Shelter
9
The Right Place Inc

The right place is the economic development organization that drives current and long-term economic prosperity in west michigan.

—
10
Lenawee Emergency and Affordable Housing Corp

to advance housing stability and affordable opportunities for low income people especially those in crisis or at risk individuals and families within Lenawee County

Housing & Shelter
11
Business Leaders for Michigan Foundation

Business leaders for michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization driven by ceos from the state's leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.…

Community Improvement
12
Detroit Food Policy Council

The organization was founded by a group of concerned citizens, working in cooperation with the detroit city council, to shape food policy and to work for a more localized, more just, and environmentally friendly food system. the…

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ozone House Inc; the most unlike its peers is St Louis Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

44 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. 44 of the 63 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/44
Grantees still filing
30/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ANN ARBOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,667,297 · PhilanthropyANN ARBOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - MOTTS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $60,000 · OtherANN ARBOR CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING INC: $25,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - BENTLEY HISTORICAL LIBRARY: $20,000 · OtherEversight: $20,000 · OtherTHE ARK: $20,000 · OtherNEW CENTER: $18,000 · OtherFISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN: $35,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF RUTHERFORD POOL: $30,000 · OtherGREENHILLS SCHOOL: $20,000 · Other+30 more: $248,460 · OtherPeace Neighborhood Center: $21,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK: $20,000 · Human ServicesOZONE HOUSE INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesCHILDRENS LITERACY NETWORK: $15,000 · Human ServicesSOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15,000 · Human ServicesEVANGELICAL HOMES OF MICHIGAN: $10,000 · Human ServicesCHADTOUGH DEFEAT DIPG FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesMICHIGAN THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureAnn Arbor Art Association: $20,000 · Arts & CultureDODWORTH SAXHORN BAND: $15,200 · Arts & CultureRiverside Arts Center Foundation Inc: $6,000 · Arts & CultureELE'S PLACE INC: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentNORTH STAR REACH: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentGROWING HOPE INC: $19,500 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS GROUP: $6,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $1,500 · Youth DevelopmentHOME OF NEW VISION: $30,000 · HealthUMRC-PORTER HILLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · HealthEMERGENT HEALTH PARTNERS: $20,000 · HealthPackard Health Inc: $10,000 · HealthHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $20,000 · Housing & ShelterSHELTER ASSOCIATION OF WASHTENAW COUNTY: $20,000 · Housing & ShelterEcoWorks: $6,748 · Housing & Shelter
Philanthropy$6,667,297Other$496,460Human Services$106,000Arts & Culture$91,200Youth Development$87,000Health$80,000Housing & Shelter$46,748

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetANN ARBOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,667,297 over 1y, 21% of budgetMICHIGAN THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN: $35,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetHOME OF NEW VISION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetELE'S PLACE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF RUTHERFORD POOL: $30,000 over 2y, 34% of budgetNORTH STAR REACH: $30,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetANN ARBOR CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetPeace Neighborhood Center: $21,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetOZONE HOUSE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetEversight: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAnn Arbor Art Association: $20,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetUMRC-PORTER HILLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGREENHILLS SCHOOL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEMERGENT HEALTH PARTNERS: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $20,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetSHELTER ASSOCIATION OF WASHTENAW COUNTY: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGROWING HOPE INC: $19,500 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetVETTER FAMILY ORGANIZATION INC: $16,000 over 1y, 48% of budgetDODWORTH SAXHORN BAND: $15,200 over 2y, 15% of budgetSALINE AREA SOCIAL SERVICE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCORNER HEALTH CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCHILDRENS LITERACY NETWORK: $15,000 over 2y, 6.6% of budgetSOS COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetYPSILANTI MEALS ON WHEELS: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFOOD GATHERERS: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $10,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetEVANGELICAL HOMES OF MICHIGAN: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TREELINE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetPackard Health Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEcoWorks: $6,748 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWASHTENAW CAMP PLACEMENT ASSOCIATION: $6,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetRiverside Arts Center Foundation Inc: $6,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetGIRLS GROUP: $6,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWILD SWAN THEATER: $6,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCHADTOUGH DEFEAT DIPG FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF HURON VALLEY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIVINGSTON COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF BENEVOLENT SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetEDUCATE YOUTH INC: $2,500 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetNeutral Zone: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY LEARNING INSTITUTE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

Ann Arbor Area Commun…Harry a and Margaret …United Way of Washten…James a and Faith Kni…The Martin Family Fou…Community Foundation …Duffy FoundationEdward F Redies Found…Herrick FoundationDTE Energy FoundationTHE MOSAIC FOUNDATION…Harold and Jean Gross…
Ann Arbor Area Community FoundationMI71.1× affinity32 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation · Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation · United Way of Washtenaw County · James a and Faith Knight Foundation · The Martin Family Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Duffy Foundation · Edward F Redies Foundation Inc · Herrick Foundation · DTE Energy Foundation · THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION (Of R & P Heydon) · Harold and Jean Grossman Family Foundation

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 The Buhr Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Buhr Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%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
    17report 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 The Buhr Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Buhr 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 63 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Buhr’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