Michigan · Nonprofit
HUMANS FIRST DETROIT
HUMANS FIRST DETROIT (Michigan) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,381,155 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($7,150,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 75% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.1M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Humans First Detroit does
Mission
Civilla is a nonprofit design studio dedicated to changing the way our public-serving institutions work. Our process is deeply rooted in human-centered design. We collaborate with leaders, listen to community members, and learn from staff within institutions to design effective services that build a more beautiful, civil society for all.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Child welfare, project resource, mi bridges 3.0, and non-partisan voter registration.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Washington: creating an integrated and more human-centered model for public benefits delivery in partnership with the washington state health and human services enterprise coalition.
$1,014,261 spent24% of program spendingConnecticut: improving the customer experience for public benefits delivery in partnership with connecticut department of social services, with a focus on snap, cash assistance, and magi medicaid.
$958,883 spent23% of program spendingMichigan unemployment insurance agency: developing a modern and human-centered process for unemployment insurance benefits delivery in michign. Civilla partnered with leo to research and design tools to support community navigators and support individuals access unemployment benefits.
$779,360 spent19% of program spendingChild welfare: civilla partnered with mdhhs and change and innovation to supporting the design and development of a modern comprehensive child welfare information system (ccwis) to improve outcomes for frontline staff as well as michigan's children, youth, and families. Project resource: civilla is partnering with mdhhs to develop design recommendations for a knowledge management system for esa staff. Through user feedback, technology optimization, and sustainable governance processes, this system will help staff efficiently access policy information, business processes, job aids, and training materials.mi bridges 3.0: civilla is partnering with mdhhs to enhance the nationally recognized mibridges platform's core functionality and expand its impact for michigan residents and community partners by exploring new cross-agency integrations and other emerging technologies.non-partisan voter registration: civilla partnered with the u.s. Election assistance commission to redesign the look and feel of the national mail voter registration form (nvrf), which is the nationwide form voters in any state can use to register to vote. Practica: developing and operating an online learning program…
$1,453,357 spent35% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,205,861.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $8.2M to $14M (+71%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 56% · 2022 46% · 2023 49% · 2024 93%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of HUMANS FIRST DETROIT’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Michael Brennan
CEO
Board chair
Ken Whipple
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $82k → $4.7M.
3 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 75% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of HUMANS FIRST DETROIT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
HUMANS FIRST DETROIT leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
79% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund HUMANS FIRST DETROIT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 61% · 2018 56% · 2019 56% · 2020 68% · 2021 96% · 2022 66% · 2023 42% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
33% of HUMANS FIRST DETROIT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
75% of HUMANS FIRST DETROIT's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.1M that is directly attributable, 85% of it comes from funders outside Michigan, across 7 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
HUMANS FIRST DETROIT holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 4,203 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like HUMANS FIRST DETROIT
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HUMANS FIRST DETROIT: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds HUMANS FIRST DETROIT?
- HUMANS FIRST DETROIT (Michigan) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,381,155 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($7,150,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 75% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does HUMANS FIRST DETROIT have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $12,381,155 in grants to HUMANS FIRST DETROIT, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HUMANS FIRST DETROIT?
- GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $7,150,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HUMANS FIRST DETROIT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Humans First Detroit →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 13 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing