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Tri-Star Charitable Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Tri-Star Charitable 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.

$172k
Granted FY2024still arriving
21
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$139kHuman Services$116kHousing & Shelter$83kRecreation & Sports$67kYouth Development$51kPhilanthropy$33kCommunity Improvement$15kArts & Culture$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $60k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $112k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$417k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CAN COUNCIL$20,000
SAGINAW COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH$20,000
BARB SMITH SUICIDE RESOURCE AND RESPONSE NETWORK$12,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
SAGINAW COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
THE ROCK CENTER FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT$10,000
LOVE FOR A CHILD$10,000
UNDERGROUD RAILROAD INC$10,000
SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY$10,000
GREAT LAKES BAY HEALTH CENTER$5,400
VICTORIOUS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT$5,000
BIERLEIN COMPANIES FOUNDATION$5,000
CARE FREE MEDICAL$5,000
CHILD AND FAMILY CHARITIES$5,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE GREAT LAKES BAY REGION$5,000
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 (FY22–24, $66k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 61% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GREAT LAKES BAY FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%CHILD AND FAMILY CHARITIES: $5k → 16%SELF LOVE BEAUTY: $16k → 9%ADOPTION OPTION INC: $5k → 9%SHELTERHOUSE: $5k → 9%CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF SAGINAW: $20k → 18%UNDERGROUD RAILROAD INC: $10k → 18%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 8% of Tri-Star Charitable Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 93% of the giving stays in MI; by stated purpose, 89%.

Tri-Star Charitable Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

19%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$94k · 4 repeat orgs$412k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
29

Total granted

$94k
$282k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+16%

Still filing today

75%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $130k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterRecreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentFood & 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

  • BS
    BARB SMITH SUICIDE RESOURCE AND RESPONSE NETWORK
    2× · 2022–2024 · $28k
  • RO
    Reaching Our Community Kids
    2× · 2022–2024 · $26k · revenue +61%
  • RM
    Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan
    2× · 2023–2024 · $25k · revenue 0%

Funded once

  • SB
    STRIKEOUT BASEBALL
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +23% · 34% of their budget
  • SV
    Shelterhouse Volunteer Group Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue +11%
  • SC
    SAGINAW COOPERATIVE HOSPITALS INC DBA/CMU MEDICAL EDUCATION PARTNERS
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue +16%
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
Home Builders Association of Michigan

A voice of the building industry in Michigan. The primary purpose is to positively influence the legislative, regulatory and legal issues that affect the industry.

—
2
Habitat for Humanity of Michigan Inc

Our mission is to assist our affiliates to increase capacity to build simple decent homes in partnership with people in need in the State of Michigan.

Housing & Shelter
3
Center for Family Health

The mission of the Center for Family Health is opening the door to health care for all.

Health
4
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.

—
5
Mymichigan Medical Center Midland

Creating healthy communities - together

Health
6
Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce

To be a catalyst for economic and community progress within the great lakes bay region.

—
7
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.…

—
8
Midmichigan Health Services

To provide high quality community-oriented, patient-centered health services for all.

Health
9
Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County Inc

Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.

—
10
Mymichigan Medical Center Saginaw

Creating healthy communities - together

Health
11
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
12
Habitat for Humanity of Lapeer - Tuscola

To eliminate sub-standard housing and homelessness from lapeer county.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mymichigan Health Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Bierlein Companies Foundation. 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

36 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. 36 of the 50 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
36/36
Grantees still filing
19/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BARB SMITH SUICIDE RESOURCE AND RESPONSE NETWORK: $28,000 · OtherBARB SMITH SUICIDE RESOURCE AND RESPONSE NETWORKCHILD AND FAMILY CHARITIES OF LANSING: $20,000 · OtherCHILD AND FAMILY CHARITIES OF LANSINGBAY AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $20,000 · OtherBAY AREA WOMEN'S CENTERSAGINAW COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $20,000 · OtherSAGINAW COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTHCHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT COUNCIL GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $20,000 · OtherCHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT COUNCIL GREAT LAKES BAY REGIONMIDLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $16,551 · OtherMIDLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONSVUS CAMPUS HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER: $16,000 · OtherSVUS CAMPUS HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTERBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $15,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE GREAT LAKES BAY REGIONDWELLING 114: $10,467 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherLOVE FOR A CHILD: $10,000 · OtherSAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · OtherGREATER LANSING FOOD BANK: $10,000 · OtherTEMPLEARTS: $10,000 · Other+12 more: $51,000 · Other+12 moreChild & Family Service of Saginaw: $20,000 · Human ServicesChild & Famil…SELF LOVE BEAUTY: $16,000 · Human ServicesSELF LOVE BEA…UNDERGROUND RAILROAD INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesUNDERGROUND R…ADOPTION OPTION INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesADOPTION OPTI…GREAT LAKES BAY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesGREAT LAKES B…Child and Family Charities: $5,000 · Human ServicesChild and Fam…COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: $5,000 · Human ServicesCOUNCIL ON DO…STRIKEOUT BASEBALL: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsSTRIKEOUT …BAY AREA SOCCER ASSOCIATION: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsBAY AREA S…FRIENDS OF HOYT PARK: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF…Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan: $25,000 · Housing & ShelterRescue Min…Shelterhouse Volunteer Group Inc: $20,000 · Housing & ShelterShelterhou…HABITAT FOR HUMANITY CAPITAL REGION INC: $2,500 · Housing & ShelterMidland County Habitat for Humanity: $2,500 · Housing & ShelterSAGINAW COOPERATIVE HOSPITALS INC DBA/CMU MEDICAL EDUCATION PARTNERS: $20,000 · HealthSAGINAW CO…Great Lakes Bay Health Centers: $5,400 · HealthGreat Lake…MICHIGAN PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE: $5,000 · HealthMICHIGAN P…CARE FREE MEDICAL INC: $5,000 · HealthCARE FREE …COVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthCOVENANT H…MCLAREN GREATER LANSING FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthMCLAREN GR…SPARROW FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthSPARROW FO…MYMICHIGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthMYMICHIGAN…Saginaw Community Foundation: $30,000 · PhilanthropyReaching Our Community Kids: $26,000 · Youth Development
Other$267,018Human Services$66,000Recreation & Sports$50,000Housing & Shelter$50,000Health$47,400Philanthropy$30,000Youth Development$26,000

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 budgetSaginaw Community Foundation: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetReaching Our Community Kids: $26,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetSTRIKEOUT BASEBALL: $25,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetRescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan: $25,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetShelterhouse Volunteer Group Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAGINAW COOPERATIVE HOSPITALS INC DBA/CMU MEDICAL EDUCATION PARTNERS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBAY AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetChild & Family Service of Saginaw: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetCHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT COUNCIL GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSELF LOVE BEAUTY: $16,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetBAY AREA SOCCER ASSOCIATION: $15,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE GREAT LAKES BAY REGION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetGREATER LANSING FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNDERGROUND RAILROAD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGreat Lakes Bay Health Centers: $5,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetADOPTION OPTION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIERLEIN COMPANIES FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGREAT LAKES BAY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMICHIGAN PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChild and Family Charities: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCARE FREE MEDICAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBAY COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMidland's Open Door: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Arc of Midland: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCOVENANT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMCLAREN BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMCLAREN GREATER LANSING FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPARROW FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMYMICHIGAN HEALTH FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY CAPITAL REGION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAGINAW-SHIAWASSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMidland County Habitat for Humanity: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBAY CITY IN BLOOM: $2,500 over 1y, 2.4% 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.

Bay Area Community Fo…Saginaw Community Fou…Bierlein Companies Fo…Midland Area Communit…Consumers Energy Foun…Morley FoundationBoutell Memorial FundYeo & Yeo FoundationFrank N Andersen Foun…Wm McNally Family Fou…Nickless Family Chari…Dow Company Foundation
Bay Area Community FoundationMI36.5× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Bay Area Community Foundation · Saginaw Community Foundation · Bierlein Companies Foundation · Midland Area Community Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · Morley Foundation · Boutell Memorial Fund · Yeo & Yeo Foundation · Frank N Andersen Foundation · Wm McNally Family Foundation · Nickless Family Charitable Foundation · Dow Company 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 Tri-Star Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Tri-Star Charitable 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report 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 Tri-Star Charitable Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Tri-Star Charitable 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 50 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 Tri-Star’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