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The Summers Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Summers 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.

$17k
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Animals$49kHealth$29kHuman Services$21kReligion$15kRecreation & Sports$13kEducation$12kArts & Culture$10kEnvironment$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$800
Median grant
1
States reached
$321k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HARBOR SPRINGS SCHOOL SYSTEM$3,068
LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC$1,749
CHALLENGE MOUNTAIN$1,509
LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY$1,449
BISSELL PET FOUNDATION$1,237
HOLY CHILDHOOD CHURCH$1,200
RISING HOPE$1,025
TOPONEXUS-CENTER FOR LEARN LOCAL$1,000
LAKEVIEW CEMETERY$800
HARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE$750
WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER$749
BLISSFEST MUSIC ORGANIZATION$678
HARBOR SPRINGS FOOD PANTRY$500
HARBOR SPRINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY$300
Individual grant recipient$259
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 11% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ELS FOR AUTISM: $3k → 11%ALZHEIMERS ASSOCIATIONS: $1k → 7%HAMMERHEAD SWIM CLUB: $2k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $12k → 9%BISSELL PET FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%RISING HOPE: $908 → 16%STVINCENT DE PAUL: $3k → 21%CAMP WEHAKEE: $2k → 15%RHONDAS KISS: $1k → 17%SOCIETY OF AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINE: $1k → 9%ST ISIDORE THE FARMER CATHOLIC: $1k → 10%LESS CANCER NEXT GENERATION: $11k → 5%ELS FOR AUTISM: $2k → 11%HAMMERHEAD SWIM CLUB: $893 → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $11k → 9%BISSELL PET FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%LESS CANCER NEXT GENERATION: $5k → 5%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $6k → 9%LESS CANCER NEXT GENERATION: $5k → 5%CHALLENGE MOUNTAIN: $2k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $6k → 9%PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $4k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $3k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS SCHOOL SYSTEM: $3k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCI: $3k → 9%ST MARGARET'S SAVANNAH SOUND: $3k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE SAILORS: $3k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS SCHOOL SYSTEM: $3k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $2k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS SCHOOL SYSTEM: $2k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCI: $2k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $2k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOC: $2k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS LIBRARY: $1k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 9%HOLY CHILDHOOD CHURCH: $1k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 9%RISING HOPE: $1k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCI: $1k → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS FOOD PANTRY: $1k → 9%TOPONEXUS-CENTER FOR LEARN LOCAL: $1k → 9%LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 9%PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $940 → 9%HARBOR SPRINGS LIBRARY: $928 → 9%HARBOR SPRING SKI TEAM: $869 → 9%WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $10k → 9%WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $3k → 9%WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $2k → 9%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

NH
IL
WI
MI
OH
VA
AL
FL
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$151k · 24 repeat orgs$15k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
16

Total granted

$151k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
+10%

Still filing today

38%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
PhilanthropyArts & CultureEnvironmentAnimalsYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • LT
    LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $43k · revenue +263%
  • BP
    BISSELL Pet Foundation
    8× · 2017–2024 · $6k · revenue +137%
  • EF
    ELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2023 · $5k · revenue +74%

Funded once

  • SD
    STVINCENT DE PAUL
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • SO
    SOCIETY OF AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINE
    one grant, 2022 · $1k
  • SI
    ST ISIDORE THE FARMER CATHOLIC
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
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
Little Traverse Bay Foundation

I) lessening the burdens of government and improving the environment by reducing fuel emissions by providing a ferry service between the cities of petoskey and harbor springs; (ii) providing access to the great lakes that otherwise may not…

—
2
Little Traverse Conservancy Conservation Trust

To protect scenic and natural lands in northern Michigan.

—
3
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
4
The Little Forks Conservancy Inc

To permanently protect and improve natural environments in Mid-Michigan by leading and inspiring actions that conserve vital habitats and waterways for the benefit of our entire community.

Environment
5
Fund for Lake Michigan Inc

Lake Michigan is one of Wisconsin's greatest assets, and its water is critical to the state's future. The Fund for Lake Michigan is here to help sustain the Lake on behalf of the people and places that depend on it. Our goal is to have a…

Environment
6
Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy

The mission of gtrlc is to protect significant natural, scenic and farm lands and advance land stewardship now and for future generations.

Environment
7
Friends of Ludington State Park

FLSP was established May 25, 1992 and functions privately, as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, to promote the wise use and conservation of the Ludington State Park, one of the most beautiful state parks ever.

Philanthropy
8
Humane Society of South Central Mi

Animal shelter - provide a safe haven for animals without homes.

Animals
9
Humane Society of Midland County

Our mission is to provide an adoption-friendly animal shelter that will unify the community toward a common goal of responsible animal treatment and increased animal adoptions to design and incorporate new education and public programs…

—
10
Humane Society of the Lakes

To provide services for abandoned, stray or unwanted animals while they await life long homes. our vision is that all animals are cared for with dignity and respect.

Animals
11
Heart of the Lakes Ctr for Land Cons

Heart of the Lakes provides technical assistance, leadership training, and strategic communication tools that help organizations thrive - from grassroots land conservancies to larger regional conservation groups. Programs such as peer…

Environment
12
Legacy Land Conservancy

Safeguard southern michigan's land and water to support diverse, resilient, and thriving communities - forever

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Harbor Springs Lyric Theatre; the most unlike its peers is Bissell Pet Foundation. 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

17 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. 17 of the 47 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
13/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LESS CANCER NEXT GENERATION: $22,448 · OtherLESS CANCER NEXT GENERATIONWOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $17,581 · OtherWOMENS RESOURCE CENTERHARBOR SPRINGS SCHOOL SYSTEM: $8,285 · OtherHARBOR SPRINGS SCHOOL SYSTEMHARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCI: $7,454 · OtherHARBOR SPRINGS AREA HISTORICAL SOCIPRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $5,398 · OtherPRESBYTERIAN CHURCHST MARGARET'S SAVANNAH SOUND: $3,370 · Other+31 more: $35,233 · Other+31 moreLITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY: $42,719 · AnimalsLITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SO…BISSELL Pet Foundation: $6,233 · PhilanthropyRHONDA'S KISS: $1,000 · PhilanthropyVETS RETURNING HOME INC: $400 · Philanthropy+1 more: $175 · PhilanthropyLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $3,790 · EnvironmentTIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL: $760 · EnvironmentELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION: $4,500 · HealthLITTLE TRAVERSE SAILORS: $3,958 · Recreation & SportsHAMMERHEAD SWIM CLUB: $2,680 · Youth Development
Other$99,769Animals$42,719Philanthropy$7,808Environment$4,550Health$4,500Recreation & Sports$3,958Youth Development$2,680

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 budgetLITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY: $42,719 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetBISSELL Pet Foundation: $6,233 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLITTLE TRAVERSE SAILORS: $3,958 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $3,790 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHAMMERHEAD SWIM CLUB: $2,680 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetHarbor Springs Library: $2,661 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetCHALLENGE MOUNTAIN OF WALLOON HILLS INC: $2,117 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHARBOR HALL FOUNDATION: $1,050 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRHONDA'S KISS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL: $760 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE: $750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLISSFEST MUSIC ORGANIZATION: $678 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGreat Lakes Center for the Arts: $319 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $175 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Brain Tumor Association: $105 over 1y, 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.

  • Who funds LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BISSELL Pet Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE TRAVERSE SAILORS ↗
  • Who funds Little Traverse Conservancy Inc ↗
  • Who funds HAMMERHEAD SWIM CLUB ↗
  • Who funds Harbor Springs Library ↗
  • Who funds CHALLENGE MOUNTAIN OF WALLOON HILLS INC ↗
  • Who funds HARBOR HALL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RHONDA'S KISS ↗
  • Who funds TIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds HARBOR SPRINGS LYRIC THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds BLISSFEST MUSIC ORGANIZATION ↗
  • Who funds VETS RETURNING HOME INC ↗
  • Who funds Great Lakes Center for the Arts ↗

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.

Petoskey-Harbor Sprin…The Offield Family Fo…Frey FoundationPatricia Miller Anton…Henry E & Consuelo S …Triford FoundationThe James Family Char…Charles Stewart Mott …Mps FoundationSteve & Amy Van Andel…Oleson FoundationFarmer Family Foundat…
Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community FoundationMI24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation · The Offield Family Foundation · Frey Foundation · Patricia Miller Anton and William Conrad Anton Foundation · Henry E & Consuelo S Wenger Foundation Inc · Triford Foundation · The James Family Charitable Foundation · Charles Stewart Mott Foundation · Mps Foundation · Steve & Amy Van Andel Foundation · Oleson Foundation · Farmer 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 Summers Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Summers Foundation Inc. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s 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
    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 Summers Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Summers 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 47 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Summers’ 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