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The Ludington Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ludington Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$30k
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$65kPhilanthropy$37kReligion$29kArts & Culture$9kHuman Services$7kRecreation & Sports$7kHousing & Shelter$4kCommunity Improvement$4kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
6
States reached
$728k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MIDLAND FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$5,000
ALBION COLLEGE ENDOWMENT$5,000
PETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW$1,500
PURDUE FOUNDATION$1,500
CENTER FOR THE ARTS MIDLAND MICHIGAN$1,500
UNITED WAY OF MIDLAND COUNTY$1,200
SANFORD LAKE ASSOCIATION$1,000
SVSU FOUNDATION$1,000
MIDLAND OPEN DOOR$600
UNITED WAY OF BAY COUNTY$500
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FOUNDATION$500
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CENTRAL MICHIGAN$500
MIDLAND COMMUNITY FORMER OFFENDERS ADVOCACY AND REHABILITATION$500
ADOPTION OPTION$500
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 (FY20–25, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 73% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HARBOR SPRINGS CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $350 → 9%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $300 → 19%HARBOR SPRINGS CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $250 → 9%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $300 → 19%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $300 → 19%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $300 → 19%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $250 → 19%WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $200 → 19%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

IL
MI
NY
IN
CA
UT
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$139k · 35 repeat orgs$13k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
19

Total granted

$139k
$9k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+21%

Still filing today

57%
37%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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 SAN DIEGO
    5× · 2020–2025 · $8k · revenue +42%
  • MC
    Midland Center for the Arts Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $7k · revenue +107%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF BAY COUNTY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $3k · revenue +121%

Funded once

  • BC
    BAY CITY DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • BC
    BAY CITY DOWNTOWN MAGNET AUTHORITY
    one grant, 2020 · $800
  • NM
    NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $700 · revenue +21%
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
The Northern Michigan University Foundation

The nmu foundation will establish and foster relationships to generate resources that benefit the strategic goals of northern michigan university.

Education
2
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

To promote conditions favorable to job creation and business success in michigan.

—
3
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
4
Michigan Credit Union Foundation

Cooperatively empowering credit unions to increase financial well-being by supporting community enrichment, financial education, and credit union development initiatives

Public Benefit
5
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
6
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
7
Michigan Science Center

The mission of the michigan science center is to inspire curious minds of all ages to discover, explore and appreciate science, technology, engineering and math in a creative, dynamic learning environment.

Education
8
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.…

—
9
Michigan Assoc of Community Mental Health Boards

Assisting the community mental health boards of michigan in developing methods for mental health planning, care and treatment.

—
10
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.

—
11
Michigan State Medical Society Foundation

To advance the field of health for the public good.

—
12
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.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is West Midland Family Center; the most unlike its peers is Alzheimers Research Association. 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

30 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 30 of the 60 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/30
Grantees still filing
23/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALBION COLLEGE ENDOWMENT: $43,500 · OtherALBION COLLEGE ENDOWMENTMIDLAND FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $14,500 · OtherMIDLAND FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCHFIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $13,600 · OtherFIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCHUNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO: $7,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGOUnited Way of Midland County: $6,700 · Other+37 more: $41,195 · Other+37 moreMIDLAND AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $18,100 · PhilanthropyMIDLAND AREA COM…PETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,350 · PhilanthropyPETOSKEY-HARBOR …Reece Endeavor of Midland: $1,050 · Philanthropy+1 more: $250 · PhilanthropyMidland Center for the Arts Inc: $6,500 · Arts & CultureJAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER TEA HOUSE & GARDENS OF SAGINAW INC: $250 · Arts & CultureADOPTION OPTION INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesWEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $1,650 · Human ServicesCOUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: $1,150 · Human ServicesHARBOR SPRINGS CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $600 · Human ServicesSAGINAW BAY COMMUNITY SAILING ASSOCIATION: $2,450 · Recreation & SportsSPECIAL OLYMPICS MICHIGAN INC: $1,800 · Recreation & SportsUnited States Ski Team Foundation: $400 · Recreation & SportsUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $1,750 · EducationGERALD R FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION: $1,200 · EducationNORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $700 · EducationTHE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATION: $250 · EducationThe Little Forks Conservancy Inc: $2,150 · Environment
Other$126,995Philanthropy$24,750Arts & Culture$6,750Human Services$5,400Recreation & Sports$4,650Education$3,900Environment$2,150

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMIDLAND AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $18,100 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO: $7,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUnited Way of Midland County: $6,700 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMidland Center for the Arts Inc: $6,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,350 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF BAY COUNTY: $3,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMIDLAND COMMUNITY FORMER OFFFENDER ADVOCADY & REHABILITATION: $2,450 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetSAGINAW BAY COMMUNITY SAILING ASSOCIATION: $2,450 over 6y, 3.9% of budgetThe Little Forks Conservancy Inc: $2,150 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetADOPTION OPTION INC: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MICHIGAN INC: $1,800 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $1,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION: $1,650 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER: $1,650 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGERALD R FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION: $1,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: $1,150 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMidland's Open Door: $1,150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetReece Endeavor of Midland: $1,050 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMICHIGAN SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $650 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHARBOR SPRINGS CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $600 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUnited States Ski Team Foundation: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER TEA HOUSE & GARDENS OF SAGINAW INC: $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMidland County Habitat for Humanity: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMERS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $150 over 1y, 0.1% 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 MIDLAND AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds United Way of Midland County ↗
  • Who funds Midland Center for the Arts Inc ↗
  • Who funds PETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF BAY COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds MIDLAND COMMUNITY FORMER OFFFENDER ADVOCADY & REHABILITATION ↗
  • Who funds SAGINAW BAY COMMUNITY SAILING ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds The Little Forks Conservancy Inc ↗
  • Who funds ADOPTION OPTION INC ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS MICHIGAN INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Illinois Foundation ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WEST MIDLAND FAMILY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds GERALD R FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT ↗
  • Who funds Midland's Open Door ↗
  • Who funds Reece Endeavor of Midland ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds HARBOR SPRINGS CHAMBER FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Midland Area Communit…The Patricia and Davi…Rollin M Gerstacker F…Harry a and Margaret …Consumers Energy Foun…The Charles J Strosac…Bay Area Community Fo…Bill and Linda Stavro…The Herbert H & Grace…The Doan Family Found…Laura Ludington Holle…Edward and Elyse Roge…
Midland Area Community FoundationMI30.2× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Midland Area Community Foundation · The Patricia and David Kepler Foundation · Rollin M Gerstacker Foundation · Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · The Charles J Strosacker Foundation · Bay Area Community Foundation · Bill and Linda Stavropoulos Family Foundation · The Herbert H & Grace a Dow Foundation · The Doan Family Foundation · Laura Ludington Hollenbeck Foundation · Edward and Elyse Rogers 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 Ludington Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ludington 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%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 Ludington Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Ludington Family 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 60 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 Ludington Family’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