Skip to content
The Walters Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Walters Family Foundation

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.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
22
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$1.6MEducation$1.1MCommunity Improvement$883kYouth Development$705kArts & Culture$553kPhilanthropy$345kFood & Nutrition$315kHuman Services$135kOther$0
02FY2024 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k9 grants · $180k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.1M
$50,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE$150,000
HURON PINES RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC$125,000
LAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY$120,000
RACQUET UP DETROIT$100,000
LEAN ROCKET LAB$90,000
INDUSTRIAL SEWING AND INNOVATION CENTER$75,000
HEADWATERS LAND CONSERVANCY$68,000
SHAKESPEARE IN DETROIT$65,000
CENTER FOR SUCCESS NETWORK$65,000
Individual grant recipient$60,000
HURON RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL$50,000
DUCKS UNLIMITED INC$50,000
VENTURE NORTH$50,000
GIVE MERIT$40,000
BOOK HARVEST$30,000
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 (FY19–22, $260k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ALLEN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $120k → 16%JUDSON CENTER INC: $20k → 8%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $60k → 21%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $60k → 21%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 Walters Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 91% of the giving stays in MI; by stated purpose, 85%.

The Walters Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 5.8% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.5M · 22 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +71% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
23

Total granted

$4.5M
$955k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+71%
+33%

Still filing today

91%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $403k 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
Community ImprovementArts & CultureEducationEnvironmentRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesOther
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

  • CR
    CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $550k · revenue +74%
  • HP
    HURON PINES RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC
    5× · 2019–2024 · $425k · revenue +50%
  • THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
    4× · 2018–2023 · $400k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • AN
    Allen Neighborhood Centergraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $120k · revenue +188%
  • ME
    MICHIGAN EDUCATION EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $110k · revenue -98%
  • WI
    WATERFORD INSTITUTE INC
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue -20%
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 Enviromental Council

Informing and educating the public and decision makers about environmental issues.

Environment
2
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.…

—
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
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation

Promotion of activities to spur economic growth and revitalization in the city of detroit

—
5
Endeavor Detroit

Endeavor Detroit is leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement in Michigan and the wider Great Lakes region, catalyzing long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and supporting the best high-impact entrepreneurs in the…

Community Improvement
6
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
7
The Center for Michigan

For all state residents, diverse civic stakeholders and philanthropy, the center for michigan (the center) and its nonprofit newsrooms - bridge michigan and bridgedetroit - make michigan better through high-quality, nonpartisan journalism…

Public Benefit
8
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
9
The Greening of Detroit

The greening of detroit's mission is the sustainable growth of a healthy urban community through trees, green spaces, healthy living, education, training and job opportunities.

Environment
10
Traverse City Center of Entrepreneurship

To cultivate a thriving and connected startup ecosystem in nw lower michigan.

—
11
Community Education Commission

CEC works with diverse stakeholders across Detroit to develop critical resources and system-level solutions that address common challenges faced by Detroit families in accessing quality education.

Education
12
Detroit Experience Factory

Detroit Experience Factory is a leading resource for both visitors and locals to discover, experience and learn about the people, places and projects around the city of Detroit.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Affirmations Community Center; the most unlike its peers is Huron Pines Resource Conservation & Development Council Inc. 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, 2017–2026.

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. 44 of the 57 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/44
Grantees still filing
32/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $550,000 · OtherCONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCEVENTURE NORTH FUNDING AND DEVELOPMENT: $100,000 · OtherKALAMAZOO REG ED SERVICE AGENCY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherEASTERN MARKET CORPORATION: $265,000 · OtherEASTERN MARKET CORPORATIONTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $120,000 · OtherTHE EMPOWERMENT PLANAllen Neighborhood Center: $120,000 · OtherAllen Neighborhood CenterWATERFORD INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 · Other+23 more: $704,000 · Other+23 moreDOWNTOWN BOXING GYM YOUTH PROGRAM: $375,000 · Recreation & SportsDOWNTOWN BOXING…DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY INC: $250,000 · Recreation & SportsDETROIT RIVERFR…RACQUET UP DETROIT: $210,000 · Recreation & SportsRACQUET UP DETR…HURON PINES RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC: $425,000 · EnvironmentHURON PINES RE…AMERICAN RIVERS INC: $135,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN RIVER…HURON RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL: $100,000 · EnvironmentHURON RIVER WA…HEADWATERS LAND CONSERVANCY: $68,000 · EnvironmentHEADWATERS LAN…Ducks Unlimited Inc: $50,000 · EnvironmentDucks Unlimite…WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PARK IN THE CITY OF DETROIT: $200,000 · Community ImprovementWAYNE STATE U…LEAN ROCKET LAB: $190,000 · Community ImprovementLEAN ROCKET L…MIDTOWN DETROIT INC: $152,500 · Community ImprovementMIDTOWN DETRO…GLOBAL DETROIT: $75,000 · Community ImprovementGLOBAL DETROI…CENTER FOR SUCCESS NETWORK: $65,000 · Community ImprovementCENTER FOR SU…BUILD INSTITUTE: $45,000 · Community ImprovementBUILD INSTITU…DETROIT 90 90: $200,000 · EducationDETROIT 90 90INDUSTRIAL SEWING AND INNOVATION CENTER: $185,000 · EducationINDUSTRIAL SE…LAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY: $145,000 · EducationLAWRENCE TECH…MICHIGAN EDUCATION EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION: $110,000 · EducationMICHIGAN EDUC…BOOK HARVEST: $30,000 · EducationTHE CORRAL RIDING ACADEMY: $25,000 · EducationTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $400,108 · Arts & CultureTHE DETROI…SHAKESPEARE IN DETROIT: $65,000 · Arts & CultureSHAKESPEAR…Living Arts: $30,000 · Arts & CultureLiving Art…INSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT: $28,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $20,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY: $345,000 · Philanthropy
Other$2,059,000Recreation & Sports$835,000Environment$778,000Community Improvement$727,500Education$695,000Arts & Culture$543,108Philanthropy$345,000

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 budgetCONSERVATION RESOURCE ALLIANCE: $550,000 over 5y, 5.5% of budgetHURON PINES RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC: $425,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $400,108 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetDOWNTOWN BOXING GYM YOUTH PROGRAM: $375,000 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY: $345,000 over 3y, 57% of budgetEASTERN MARKET CORPORATION: $265,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetDETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY INC: $250,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetRACQUET UP DETROIT: $210,000 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetDETROIT 90 90: $200,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PARK IN THE CITY OF DETROIT: $200,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetLEAN ROCKET LAB: $190,000 over 3y, 6.9% of budgetINDUSTRIAL SEWING AND INNOVATION CENTER: $185,000 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetMIDTOWN DETROIT INC: $152,500 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetLAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY: $145,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $135,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $120,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetAllen Neighborhood Center: $120,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetMICHIGAN EDUCATION EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION: $110,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetVENTURE NORTH FUNDING AND DEVELOPMENT: $100,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetWATERFORD INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHURON RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL: $100,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetGLOBAL DETROIT: $75,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetHEADWATERS LAND CONSERVANCY: $68,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetCENTER FOR SUCCESS NETWORK: $65,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetGIVE MERIT INC: $65,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NORTH CAROLINA AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILD INSTITUTE: $45,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetMATRIX HUMAN SERVICES: $37,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLiving Arts: $30,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetBOOK HARVEST: $30,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT: $28,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CORRAL RIDING ACADEMY: $25,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUDSON CENTER INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAFFIRMATIONS COMMUNITY CENTER: $17,500 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetDesigned For Joy: $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetBRILLIANT DETROIT: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetRHONDA WALKER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSIGNAL RETURN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetTHE PEWABIC SOCIETY INC: $10,000 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.

Community Foundation …DTE Energy FoundationThe Ralph C Wilson Jr…The Fred & Barbara Er…The Kresge FoundationFord PhilanthropyWK Kellogg FoundationUnited Way for Southe…William Davidson Foun…The Skillman Foundati…The Gilbert Family Fo…Hudson-Webber Foundat…
Community Foundation for Southeast MichiganMI46.5× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · DTE Energy Foundation · The Ralph C Wilson Jr Foundation · The Fred & Barbara Erb Family Foundation · The Kresge Foundation · Ford Philanthropy · WK Kellogg Foundation · United Way for Southeastern Michigan · William Davidson Foundation · The Skillman Foundation · The Gilbert Family Foundation · Hudson-Webber 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 Walters Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Walters Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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.

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 57 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 Walters 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