FundersMichigan

Birtwistle Family Foundation

Ludington, MI · EIN 38-2787567. Reported 97 grants totalling $455,450 to 43 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,000median grant
$455,450granted, 2021-2024
43organizations funded
74%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,341,664assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Birtwistle Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $2,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,500 and $7,500; the smallest was $200 and the largest $30,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
8 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
54 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
23 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
8 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Mason County Historical SocietyLudington, MI$86,500332024
Ludington Area School DistrictLudington, MI$35,000442024
Gabriella GonzalesLudington, MI$30,000442024
Methodist Children's Home SocietyRedford, MI$30,000112023
Olivia FlewellingLudington, MI$30,000442024
Abigail BandstiroLudington, MI$22,500332024
Community Foundation for Mason CountyLudington, MI$20,000222022
Community Foundation for MuskegonMuskegon, MI$16,000112023
Ludington Police DepartmentLudington, MI$16,000332023
American Red CrossWashington, DC$12,000222024
United Way of Mason CountyLudington, MI$10,500332024
Lakeshore Children's Advocacy CenterManistee, MI$10,000112023
Mason County Community FoundationLudington, MI$10,000112024
Salvation ArmyLudington, MI$9,000442024
Pere Marquette Memorial AssociationLudington, MI$8,000332024
American Diabetes AssociationArlington, VA$7,500332024
J T WalnusLudington, MI$7,500112021
Kylie SailorLudington, MI$7,500112024
Ludington Area Arts CouncilLudington, MI$7,500442024
Meghan MulheirenLudington, MI$7,500112021
Ruby HendricksonLudington, MI$7,500112021
Sandcastle Childrens MuseumLudington, MI$7,000442024
Grace Place for Children and FamiliesNaples, FL$6,500442024
Ludington Youth Sailing School IncLudington, MI$6,500442024
Ludington Petunia ParadeLudington, MI$6,000442024
Communities Overcoming Violent Encounters (cove)Ludington, MI$5,500442024
West Shore Community College FoundationScottsville, MI$5,500442024
Tunnel to Towers FoundationStaten Island, NY$5,000112024
Ludington Jaycees Freedom FestivalLudington, MI$4,500332023
Habitat for Humanity - Mason CountyScottville, MI$4,000222024
Council of Mi FoundationsDetroit, MI$2,600222024
Council of Michigan FoundationsGrand Haven, MI$1,500112021
Grand Haven Area Community FoundationGrand Haven, MI$1,500112022
Habitat for HumanityLudington, MI$1,500112021
Ludington Area Freedom FestivalLudington, MI$1,500112024
March of DimesArlington, VA$1,500222022
Disabled Veterans NationLanham, MD$1,200222024
United Services OrganizationsArlington, VA$1,200222024
Shriners Hospital for ChildrenTampa, FL$500112024
St Jude Children's Research HospitalMemphis, TN$500112022
Wounded Warrior ProjectJacksonville, FL$500112024
St Joseph's Indian SchoolChamberlain, SD$250112024
American Heart AssociationDallas, TX$200112022

25 of 43 (58%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 74%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 43 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
10 grants
Human Services
10 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
7 grants
Diseases & Disorders
6 grants
Recreation & Sports
4 grants
Education
4 grants
Crime & Legal
1 grant
Health Care
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202124$106,500$1,750
202226$115,100$2,000
202319$114,300$2,000
202428$119,550$2,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 92% of this one's giving went to organizations in Michigan. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Michigan
$419K
District of Columbia
$12K
Virginia
$10K
Florida
$8K
New York
$5K
Maryland
$1K
Tennessee
$500
South Dakota
$250

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Community Foundation for Muskegon County13 shared recipientsPennies From Heaven Foundation9 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc8 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program6 shared recipientsCommunity Foundation for Southeast6 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Michigan.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Birtwistle Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 300 South Rath Avenue Apt 25, Ludington, MI, 49431. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 38-2787567 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.