Michigan · Private foundation
The Northern Lights Family Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $230k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 21
- Grants FY2025
- 18
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 33%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $25,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 3 to 27
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 9
- Total assets, FY2025
- $4.0M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 33% of the organizations The Northern Lights Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 15% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 19 | $210k | 79% |
| FY2024 | 18 | $169k | 33% |
| FY2023 | 23 | $200k | 39% |
| FY2022 | 27 | $171k | 81% |
| FY2021 | 15 | $104k | 67% |
| FY2020 | 13 | $77k | 92% |
| FY2019 | 3 | $37k | 67% |
| FY2018 | 4 | $18k | 50% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Central Kitchen Inc | $102,500 | 5 | 0% |
| Leelanau Conservancy | $95,000 | 7 | 1% |
| Feeding America | $45,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Traverse Area Recreation & Transportation Trails Inc | $30,000 | 3 | 1% |
| American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc | $24,000 | 2 | 0% |
| When We All Vote | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Direct Relief | $20,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Violence Policy Center | $20,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Protect Our Winters | $18,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Catholic Relief Services | $15,000 | 2 | n/a |
Show all 44 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 37 recipients with no EIN on record ($384k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Northern Lights Family Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Shell USA Company Foundation · Network for Good · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America
How this is measured
Compare The Northern Lights Family Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Northern Lights Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Northern Lights 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.
About The Northern Lights Family Foundation
- How much does The Northern Lights Family Foundation give?
- The Northern Lights Family Foundation reported 21 grants totaling $230,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 3 and 27 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does The Northern Lights Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (16%), Public Safety & Disaster (14%), Health (12%).
- Who are The Northern Lights Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: World Central Kitchen Inc ($103k), Leelanau Conservancy ($95k), Feeding America ($45k).
- Does The Northern Lights Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 33% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Northern Lights Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Northern Lights Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Impactassetsinc, Tides Foundation, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.
- Where is The Northern Lights Family Foundation based?
- The Northern Lights Family Foundation is based in MI.
Play a game based on Northern Lights Family’s filings →