Skip to content
Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner 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.

$3.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
57
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$473k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$4.6MFood & Nutrition$3.9MEducation$2.6MYouth Development$2.5MHousing & Shelter$1.5MEmployment$1.3MArts & Culture$1.1MHuman Services$1.1MOther$0
02FY2025 · 57 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $77k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $296k
  • $50k–250k21 grants · $2.1M
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.4M
$27,500
Median grant
8
States reached
$160M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FORGOTTEN HARVEST$472,500
GLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK$400,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER$250,000
OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIV FOU$250,000
GARY BURNSTEIN COMMUNITY HEALTH$231,828
WAYNE METRO COMMUNITY ASSOC$200,000
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH$125,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER$125,000
GIVE MERIT$125,000
ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$125,000
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER$125,000
MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM$110,000
MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY$100,000
FOOD GATHERERS$100,000
RACQUET UP DETROIT$100,000
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 (FY20–25, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 20%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%PRECIOUS CHILD: $10k → 5%OZONE HOUSE: $135k → 14%YOUTH ZONE: $5k → 8%THE CHAD TOUGH FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%THE CHAD TOUGH FOUNDATION: $13k → 14%THE CHAD TOUGH FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%THE ROCKET GIVING FUND: $30k → 14%THE CHAD TOUGH FOUNDATION: $8k → 14%THE ROCKET GIVING FUND: $25k → 14%THE CHAD TOUGH FOUNDATION: $3k → 14%THE ROCKET GIVING FUND: $20k → 14%THE ROCKET GIVING FUND: $20k → 14%THE ROCKET GIVING FUND: $20k → 14%FOCUS POINT FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $10k → 12%FOCUS POINT FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $10k → 12%CLOTHES TO KIDS DENVER: $10k → 12%ZAMAN INTERNATIONAL: $34k → 21%STARFISH FAMILY SERVICES: $30k → 21%ZAMAN INTERNATIONAL: $29k → 21%STARFISH FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 21%ZAMAN INERNATIONAL: $10k → 21%MILE HIGH MINISTRIES: $20k → 12%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $250k → 21%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $210k → 21%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $200k → 21%THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $125k → 21%SAMARITAS: $50k → 21%COVENENT HOUSE MICHIGAN: $32k → 21%HIGHER HOPES: $5k → 8%CHRISTNET: $10k → 21%FOCUS HOPE: $20k → 21%CHRISTNET: $5k → 21%DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE: $200k → 21%DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE: $121k → 21%DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE: $79k → 21%DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE: $90k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
CT
CA
CO
MD
TN
TX
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$22M · 102 repeat orgs$3.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

102 repeat relationships: 46 still active in FY2025, 56 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

102
85

Total granted

$22M
$3.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+23%

Still filing today

57%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $311k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureEducationAnimalsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • FORGOTTEN HARVEST INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $1.7M · revenue +2%
  • DE
    DETROIT EMPLOYMENT SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    4× · 2020–2023 · $1.2M · revenue +23%
  • TE
    THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN
    4× · 2020–2023 · $785k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $307k · revenue +32%
  • TC
    THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $250k
  • NS
    NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE ORGANIZATION
    one grant, 2021 · $195k · revenue -33%
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
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
4
The Greater Detroit Health Transition Company

Gdahc mission: together with our partners, we empower and improve the health and economic vitality of individuals, organizations and communities by catalyzing the power of collaboration. gdahc vision: healthy people. healthy community.…

—
5
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
6
Detroit Food Policy Council

The organization was founded by a group of concerned citizens, working in cooperation with the detroit city council, to shape food policy and to work for a more localized, more just, and environmentally friendly food system. the…

Food & Nutrition
7
Detroit Regional Chamber

The chamber is the voice for business and works to power the economy for southeast michigan through public policy, advocacy and leading regional economic development and talent initiatives.

—
8
Mymichigan Medical Center Midland

Creating healthy communities - together

Health
9
Trinity Health - Michigan

We, trinity health-michigan and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities. trinity health-michigan is a member of trinity health.

Health
10
Delta Dental Fund

Delta dental fund's mission is to improve the oral health of the public and to advance dental science and the dental profession through research and education.

—
11
Detroit Food & Entrepreneurship Academy

Detroit food academy partners with local high schools, educators, and food entrepreneurs to facilitate a year-round program. as students develop food-based solutions in their communities, they grow as holistic leaders who are healthy,…

Education
12
Michigan Virtual University

Maximize learning and teaching by bringing together the best in people and technology.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mile High United Way Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Aspen Strong 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

129 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. 129 of the 204 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)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
126/129
Grantees still filing
96/129
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GARY BURNSTEIN COMMUNITY HEALTH: $635,328 · OtherFRIENDSHIP CIRCLE: $630,000 · OtherTHE MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM: $699,800 · Other+137 more: $13,149,366 · Other+137 moreGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $1,898,500 · Food & NutritionGLEANERS COMMUNIT…FORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $1,674,500 · Food & NutritionFORGOTTEN HARVEST…FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $495,705 · Food & NutritionFOOD BANK OF THE …+1 more: $10,000 · Food & NutritionUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $537,317 · EducationUNIVERSIT…UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $500,000 · EducationUNIVERSIT…TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $500,000 · EducationTRUSTEES …WINNING FUTURES: $190,000 · EducationWINNING F…JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $125,000 · EducationJOHNS HOP…University of Miami: $125,000 · EducationUniversit…Math Corps: $104,400 · Education+5 more: $107,500 · EducationTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $785,000 · Human ServicesDETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INCORPORATED: $489,822 · Human ServicesOZONE HOUSE INC: $135,000 · Human ServicesROCKET GIVING FUND: $115,000 · Human ServicesZAMAN INTERNATIONAL: $72,000 · Human Services+12 more: $283,973 · Human ServicesDETROIT EMPLOYMENT SOLUTIONS CORPORATION: $1,236,775 · EmploymentPRODIGY VENTURES INC: $105,000 · EmploymentCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER: $500,000 · HealthVISION TO LEARN: $300,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $148,344 · HealthAUTISM ALLIANCE OF MICHIGAN: $100,000 · HealthNational Kidney Foundation of Michigan Inc: $56,500 · HealthBEAUMONT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $55,000 · HealthHENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM: $45,500 · Health+11 more: $102,500 · HealthDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $469,200 · AnimalsMICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $407,500 · Animals+5 more: $72,000 · Animals
Other$15,114,494Food & Nutrition$4,078,705Education$2,189,217Human Services$1,880,795Employment$1,341,775Health$1,307,844Animals$948,700

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $1,898,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetFORGOTTEN HARVEST INC: $1,674,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetDETROIT EMPLOYMENT SOLUTIONS CORPORATION: $1,236,775 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $785,000 over 4y, 8.0% of budgetTHE MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM: $699,800 over 6y, 8.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $537,317 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $500,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $500,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER: $500,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $495,705 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetDETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INCORPORATED: $489,822 over 4y, 6.9% of budgetDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $469,200 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetMICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $407,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetRACQUET UP DETROIT: $405,625 over 5y, 4.9% of budgetMILE HIGH UNITED WAY INC: $345,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetDETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $307,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetVISION TO LEARN: $300,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFOOD GATHERERS: $285,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetVISTA MARIA: $223,755 over 2y, 0.7% of budget826 MICHIGAN INC: $200,000 over 2y, 28% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE ORGANIZATION: $195,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWINNING FUTURES: $190,000 over 3y, 5.9% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF DETROIT: $189,650 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetYPSILANTI MEALS ON WHEELS: $185,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN: $176,667 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGIVE MERIT INC: $175,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetDETROIT HORSE POWER: $150,625 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $148,344 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH OAKLAND SHELTER: $147,820 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetTHE MAURICE & JANE SUGAR LAW CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: $137,500 over 3y, 6.7% of budgetOZONE HOUSE INC: $135,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $125,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $125,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROCKET GIVING FUND: $115,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetAccounting Aid Society: $114,317 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetANDERSON RANCH ARTS CENTER: $113,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetDENVER ART MUSEUM: $109,780 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPRODIGY VENTURES INC: $105,000 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetMath Corps: $104,400 over 1y, 11% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN INC: $100,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetCOTS: $100,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetAUTISM ALLIANCE OF MICHIGAN: $100,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetMATRIX HUMAN SERVICES: $85,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetATLANTIC IMPACT: $77,500 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetZAMAN INTERNATIONAL: $72,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $71,221 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 5y, 0.1% 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 GLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds FORGOTTEN HARVEST INC ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT EMPLOYMENT SOLUTIONS CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN ↗
  • Who funds THE MIDNIGHT GOLF PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds RACQUET UP DETROIT ↗
  • Who funds MILE HIGH UNITED WAY INC ↗
  • Who funds DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds VISION TO LEARN ↗
  • Who funds FOOD GATHERERS ↗
  • Who funds VISTA MARIA ↗
  • Who funds 826 MICHIGAN INC ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE ORGANIZATION ↗

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 …United Way for Southe…DTE Energy FoundationFord PhilanthropyThe Kresge FoundationUnited Jewish Foundat…Comerica Charitable F…Harry a and Margaret …The Barton Malow Foun…The Carls FoundationChildren's Hospital o…The Skillman Foundati…
Community Foundation for Southeast MichiganMI63.6× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · United Way for Southeastern Michigan · DTE Energy Foundation · Ford Philanthropy · The Kresge Foundation · United Jewish Foundation · Comerica Charitable Foundation · Harry a and Margaret D Towsley Foundation · The Barton Malow Foundation · The Carls Foundation · Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation · The Skillman 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 Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
39report 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 Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner 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 204 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 Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation Dba Dresner’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