Skip to content
Wolf Robe Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wolf Robe 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.

$65k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Health$100kEducation$98kPhilanthropy$89kArts & Culture$67kReligion$55kHuman Services$11kEnvironment$3kFood & Nutrition$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $50k
$3,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$721k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MALCOLM SMITH MOTORSPORTS FOUNDATION$15,000
Spirit Rock Meditation Center$15,000
Jeremie Rising$10,000
Interlochen Center for the Arts$10,000
LEELANAU HISTORICAL SOCIETY$4,000
Leelanau Uncaged$3,000
YALE UNIVERSITY$2,500
LEELANAU CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS$1,250
5Loaves2Fish NMI$1,250
LEELANAU ENERGY$1,250
PoWer BOOK BAGS$1,250
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 (FY23–23, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Angel's Place: $10k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MI
NY
CT
CA
WV
VA
AZ
DC
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.

68%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$490k · 8 repeat orgs$231k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
10

Total granted

$490k
$223k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
+13%

Still filing today

75%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • MS
    MALCOLM SMITH MOTORSPORTS FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2025 · $89k · revenue +74%
  • JR
    JEREMIE RISING
    3× · 2023–2025 · $30k · revenue +87%
  • LH
    Leelanau Historical Society
    4× · 2019–2025 · $9k · revenue +71%

Funded once

  • MC
    Mayo Clinic
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • SA
    St Anthony Catholic School
    one grant, 2018 · $65k
  • THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +13%
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
Leelanau Conservancy

To conserve the land, water and scenic character of leelanau county, and to provide educational programs to develop an understanding and appreciation of leelanau county's natural heritage.

Environment
2
Marquette Maritime Museum

To preserve and promote maritime history

Arts & Culture
3
Little Traverse Conservancy Conservation Trust

To protect scenic and natural lands in northern Michigan.

—
4
Great Lakes Center for the Arts

The Center's mission is to inspire, entertain, educate, and serve all in Northern Michigan year-round by presenting exceptional experiences across the full spectrum of the performing arts and offering impactful educational opportunities.

Arts & Culture
5
The Great Northern Winter Festival

The great northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through ten days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. in an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action,…

Arts & Culture
6
Belle Isle Conservancy

Form 990 - organization's mission the mission of the belle isle conservancy (the organization) is to protect, preserve, restore, and enhance the natural environment, historic structures and unique character of belle isle as a public park…

Community Improvement
7
Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources

The coalition to protect michigan resources's mission is to be a strong voice for the equitable co-management of michigan's fisheries, with both the great lakes and inland lakes and streams, to insure that conservation principles remain in…

Environment
8
The Michigan Glass Project
Public Benefit
9
Little Traverse Conservancy Inc

Little Traverse Conservancy protects land in northern Michigan by owning it as Nature Preserves and Working Forest Reserves, and through Conservation Easements (perpetual, voluntary agreements that guard the conservation values of the…

Environment
10
Lake Leelanau Lake Association

The lake leelanau lake association is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the quality and beauty of lake leelanau and its surrounding watershed for current and future generations.

Environment
11
Detroit Artists Market

Promoting and exhibiting work of southeastern michigan artists.

Arts & Culture
12
Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network

The mission of the northwest michigan arts & culture network ("the network") is to harness the collective power of the creative sector to cultivate vibrant communities by strengthening the regional ecosystem that supports arts and culture.…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Leelanau Historical Society; the most unlike its peers is 5LOAVES2FISHNMI. 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

15 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. 15 of the 24 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
9/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $275,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMayo Clinic: $100,000 · OtherMayo ClinicSt Anthony Catholic School: $65,050 · OtherSt Anthony Catholic SchoolSPIRIT ROCK MEDITATION CENTER: $55,000 · OtherSPIRIT ROCK MEDITATION CENTER+8 more: $26,600 · OtherMALCOLM SMITH MOTORSPORTS FOUNDATION: $89,000 · PhilanthropyMALCOLM SMITH…THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DETROI…INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $22,500 · Arts & CultureINTERLOCHE…Leelanau Historical Society: $9,000 · Arts & CultureLeelanau H…LEELANAU UNCAGED CORPORATION: $8,000 · Arts & CultureLEELANAU U…+2 more: $2,100 · Arts & CultureJEREMIE RISING: $30,000 · EducationANGELS' PLACE: $10,000 · Human ServicesTHE WEST VIRGINIA LAND TRUST INC: $1,500 · EnvironmentLeelanau Energy: $1,250 · EnvironmentPOWER BOOK BAGS: $1,250 · Youth Development
Other$521,650Philanthropy$89,000Arts & Culture$66,600Education$30,000Human Services$10,000Environment$2,750Youth Development$1,250

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 budgetMALCOLM SMITH MOTORSPORTS FOUNDATION: $89,000 over 6y, 25% of budgetJEREMIE RISING: $30,000 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $22,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetANGELS' PLACE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLeelanau Historical Society: $9,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetLEELANAU UNCAGED CORPORATION: $8,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetNORTHPORT ARTS ASSOCIATION: $1,600 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE WEST VIRGINIA LAND TRUST INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLeelanau Energy: $1,250 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetPOWER BOOK BAGS: $1,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLEELANAU CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS INC: $1,250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $500 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.

Leelanau Township Com…Grand Traverse Region…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Leelanau Township Community FoundationMI17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Leelanau Township Community Foundation · Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Wolf Robe Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wolf Robe Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%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
    3report 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.

    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 24 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 Wolf Robe’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