Michigan · Nonprofit
THE GREENING OF DETROIT
THE GREENING OF DETROIT (Michigan) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,176,184 to it, the largest being American Forests ($2,368,257). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.9M
- Funders on record
- 62
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $5.5M
What The Greening of Detroit does
Mission
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.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The detroit conservation corps (dcc) provides certified pre-apprenticeship training in urban forestry, integrated with case management, work-readiness support, and job placement services. The program is designed to prepare detroit residentsparticularly those who have faced barriers to employmentfor sustainable, well-paying careers in the tree care and landscaping industries.graduates are placed in jobs that support families and communities, including tree planting and maintenance roles. Dcc serves as a talent pipeline for local employers and helps to build a diverse, inclusive workforce, empowering detroiters with the skills to achieve long-term economic stability.in 2024, The Greening of Detroit continued its mission with the goal of training 2,400 detroit residents over five years. This year, 109 residents graduated from the dcc program, with 92% placed in jobs at organizations such as davey tree, the city of detroit general services department, payne's landscaping, teddy's landscaping, and the greening's own planting crews.dcc also operates as a social enterprise, taking on public and private landscaping projects that provide both hands-on experience and paid employment for…
$1,248,321 spent30% of program spendingTree planting is central to The Greening of Detroit's vision for a healthier, more sustainable city. Since 1989, the organization has planted over 170,000 trees throughout detroit.in 2024 alone, the greening hosted 56 tree planting events across detroit, highland park, and hamtramck, resulting in 7,986 newly planted trees - including 1,000 distributed for private property planting. These efforts were made possible by 4,233 volunteers and 45 citizen foresters who led teams and supported maintenance work at the meyers tree nursery and lafayette greens.at the meyers tree nursery, 400 trees were harvested in 2024. Over 3,500 trees are currently in production using sustainable methods like recycled stormwater irrigation and pot-in-pot and gravel bed systems.community engagement is foundational to the greening's work. Each year, the organization partners with over 150 local groupsincluding block clubs, schools, churches, and nonprofitsto assess neighborhood tree needs and co-create greening strategies. In 2024, over 9,081 residents were directly engaged in community outreach activities.the greening also supports and advocates for grassroots leaders working to expand green space and…
$2,083,420 spent$11,406 earned by the program50% of program spendingThe greening operates a fee-for-service landscaping division offering both commercial and residential services. In 2024, the ffs program employed 8 graduates from the detroit conservation corps and generated over $686,364 in revenue. These funds directly support workforce training and create green job opportunities for detroiters.
$845,232 spent$686,363 earned by the program20% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,176,973.
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 $2.5M to $5.5M (+116%).
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: 2017 11% · 2018 12% · 2019 16% · 2020 39% · 2021 28% · 2022 22% · 2023 13% · 2024 54%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of THE GREENING OF DETROIT’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Marissa Ebersole-Wood
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $1.1M → $3.3M.
9 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% 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 THE GREENING OF DETROIT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 funders by total. 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
THE GREENING OF DETROIT has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
47% 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 THE GREENING OF DETROIT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 38% · 2019 80% · 2020 42% · 2021 30% · 2022 22% · 2023 39% — 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
40% of THE GREENING OF DETROIT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
THE GREENING OF DETROIT draws 57% of its grant income from funders outside Michigan, across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
THE GREENING OF DETROIT is better cushioned than half of the 2,187 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE GREENING OF DETROIT receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $12.7M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$12.3M
- Environmental Protection Agency$475k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE GREENING OF 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
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
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 THE GREENING OF 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 THE GREENING OF DETROIT?
- THE GREENING OF DETROIT (Michigan) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,176,184 to it, the largest being American Forests ($2,368,257). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE GREENING OF DETROIT have?
- IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $11,176,184 in grants to THE GREENING OF DETROIT, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE GREENING OF DETROIT?
- American Forests is the largest funder on record, with $2,368,257 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE GREENING OF 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 Greening of 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 62 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing