FundersMichigan

Cronin Foundation

Marshall, MI · EIN 38-2908362. Reported 51 grants totalling $3,434,908 to 28 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$25,000median grant
$3,434,908granted, 2021-2024
28organizations funded
45%of grantees funded again the next year
$20.4Massets, 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. Cronin 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 $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $75,000; the smallest was $2,386 and the largest $400,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
6 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
14 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
8 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
7 grants
$100,000 and Up
11 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
Oaklawn HospitalMarshall, MI$1,107,000542024
City of MarshallMarshall, MI$825,000542024
Marshall Public SchoolsMarshall, MI$541,983832024
Kellogg Community CollegeBattle Creek, MI$200,000112021
Kids 'n' Stuff Children's MuseumMarshall, MI$105,000332023
Playright Sports AcademyAlbion, MI$84,000112024
Innovate AlbionAlbion, MI$75,000112023
Starr CommonwealthAlbion, MI$75,000112022
Brass Band of Battle CreekMarshall, MI$65,000442024
Battle Creek Family YMCABattle Creek, MI$50,000112022
Marshall Junior FootballMarshall, MI$48,435112023
Be Henry AssociationMarshall, MI$30,000112023
Frank Center for the ArtsMarshall, MI$25,000112022
Franke Center for the ArtsMarshall, MI$25,000112021
Fountain CinicMarshall, MI$22,400112024
Calhoun County Agricultural SocMarshall, MI$20,000112022
Eastend Studio & GalleryMarshall, MI$20,000112021
Marshall Historical SocietyMarshall, MI$20,000112022
Region 3B Area Agency on AgingBattle Creek, MI$20,000112021
East End Studio & GalleyMarshall, MI$16,590112022
City of Marshall-Terra Nova CollectiveMarshall, MI$14,000442024
Binder Park ZooBattle Creek, MI$10,000112021
Kellogg Comunity CollegeBattle Creek, MI$10,000112023
Wilder Creek Conservation ClubMarshall, MI$9,500112022
Boy Scouts of AmericaKalamazoo, MI$5,000112021
Scouting America Michigan Crossroads CouncilKalamazoo, MI$5,000112024
Albion Care AllianceAlbion, MI$3,000112024
City of AlbionAlbion, MI$3,000112022

6 of 28 (21%) 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 45%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 15 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
6 grants
Health Care
5 grants
Human Services
2 grants
Environment
1 grant
Animal Welfare
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202112$765,000$20,000
202215$849,370$20,000
202310$888,435$54,217
202414$932,103$26,200

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

Marshall, MI
$2.9M
Battle Creek, MI
$290K
Albion, MI
$260K
Kalamazoo, MI
$10K

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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.

Battle Creek Community Foundation7 shared recipientsWk Kellogg Foundation4 shared recipientsMiller Foundation3 shared recipientsConsumers Energy Foundation3 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust2 shared recipientsSouthwest Michigan First Corp2 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. 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 Cronin 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: 203 East Michigan Avenue, Marshall, MI, 49068. 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 38-2908362 · 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.