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The Traverse Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Traverse 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.

$403k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$165k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Health$1.7MEducation$300kInternational$120kEnvironment$60kFood & Nutrition$4kHuman Services$731
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $731
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $402k
$75,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$808k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Lucille Packard Foundation$164,834
Yale University$100,000
Invincikids$75,000
Bhutan Foundation$62,000
Sumaritan House$731
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 (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 85% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%The Nature Conservancy MN Chapter: $10k → 11%Invincikids: $125k → 7%Lucille Packard Foundation: $560k → 8%Monterey Bay Aquarium: $10k → 12%AFS-USA Inc: $5k → 17%Bhutan Foundation: $62k → 14%Little Traverse Conservancy: $5k → 9%Friends of Alta: $5k → 8%The Nature Conservancy MN Chapter: $8k → 11%Invincikids: $75k → 7%Lucille Packard Foundation: $375k → 8%AFS-USA Inc: $5k → 17%Bhutan Foundation: $35k → 14%Little Traverse Conservancy: $5k → 9%Friends of Alta: $3k → 8%The Nature Conservancy MN Chapter: $8k → 11%Invincikids: $75k → 7%Lucille Packard Foundation: $165k → 8%Bhutan Foundation: $10k → 14%Little Traverse Conservancy: $4k → 9%Friends of Alta: $3k → 8%Sumaritan House: $731 → 7%Lucille Packard Foundation: $150k → 8%Bhutan Foundation: $3k → 14%McLauren Northern Michigan Foundati: $10k → 9%Lucille Packard Foundation: $150k → 8%Ecumenical Hunger Program: $1k → 8%Ecumenical Hunger Program: $1k → 8%Ecumenical Hunger Program: $1k → 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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 9 repeat orgs$121k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
3

Total granted

$2.0M
$120k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+8%

Still filing today

67%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $731 went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
HealthEnvironmentInternationalAnimalsFood & 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

  • I
    Invincikids
    3× · 2023–2025 · $275k · revenue +81% · 33% of their budget
  • TB
    The Bhutan Foundation
    3× · 2021–2025 · $110k · revenue +50%
  • LT
    Little Traverse Conservancy Inc
    3× · 2021–2023 · $14k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • YU
    YALE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2024 · $100k
  • MN
    MCLAREN NORTHERN MICHIGAN FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +8%
  • MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue 0%
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
Elkhorn Slough Foundation

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation's mission is to conserve and restore Elkhorn Slough and its watershed, California's largest tidal salt marsh south of San Francisco Bay. Renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, Elkhorn Slough features a…

Philanthropy
2
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
3
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
4
Sempervirens Fund

To ensure coast redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains thrive for generations to come. since 1900, sempervirens has protected more than 36,000 acres. learn more about our mission, vision, and strategic plan through 2030 at:…

Environment
5
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
6
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
7
Earth & Space Research

Increase societal understanding of the earth system through scientific research and education.

Science & Tech
8
Wildlife Conservation Society

The wildlife conservation society (wcs) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

Animals
9
Chile-California Council

The Chile-California Council is a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to developing and promoting joint endeavors and cooperative relations between Chile and California, as well as individuals, legal entities and other institutions in…

International
10
Maine Audubon Society

Maine Audubon works to conserve Maine's wildlife and habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation, and action. We are helping the people of Maine become the nation's most informed and effective stewards of wildlife and…

Environment
11
Huron Pines Resource Conservation & Development Council Inc

It is our mission at huron pines to conserve and enhance northern michigan's natural resources to ensure healthy water, protected places and vibrant communities. for alomst 50 years, our work across the forests, lakes and streams of…

Environment
12
Sutter Bay Medical Foundation

Mission statement: mission: caring for our patients first and our people always. vision: to be the most comprehensive, integrated and connected health system for getting and staying well. values: excellence - we deliver high-quality,…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Afs-Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Invincikids. 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

9 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. 9 of the 13 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
6/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Lucille Packard Foundation: $1,399,834 · OtherLucille Packard FoundationYALE UNIVERSITY: $200,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITYThe Bhutan Foundation: $109,500 · OtherThe Bhutan FoundationYALE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITY+3 more: $36,731 · OtherInvincikids: $275,000 · HealthInvincikidsMCLAREN NORTHERN MICHIGAN FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $14,000 · EnvironmentAFS-USA INC: $10,000 · InternationalMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $10,000 · AnimalsECUMENICAL HUNGER PROGRAM: $3,510 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,846,065Health$285,000Environment$14,000International$10,000Animals$10,000Food & Nutrition$3,510

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 budgetInvincikids: $275,000 over 3y, 33% of budgetThe Bhutan Foundation: $109,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $14,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF ALTA INC: $11,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetMCLAREN NORTHERN MICHIGAN FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAFS-USA INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetECUMENICAL HUNGER PROGRAM: $3,510 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN HOUSE: $731 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.

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.

Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN10.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Traverse Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Traverse 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%19%38%56%75%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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Traverse Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Traverse 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 13 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 Traverse’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