Funders › Michigan

Serra Family Foundation

Grand Blanc, MI · EIN 38-3352324. Reported 123 grants totalling $821,600 to 56 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$821,600granted, 2021-2024
56recipients, as named on its returns
74%of grantees funded again the next year
$5,589,471assets, 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. Serra 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $8,000; the smallest was $600 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
2 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
43 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
50 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
23 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Everest AcademyClarkston, MI$105,000442024
Our Lady of the Lakes HsWaterford, MI$60,000332024
St Vincent Depaul SocietyWaterford, MI$60,000442024
Northwood UniversityMidland, MI$51,000442024
Lourdes IncWaterford, MI$43,000442024
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$41,500442024
St Joseph Mercy OaklandPontiac, MI$33,000332023
Habitat for Humanity Oakland CountyPontiac, MI$26,000332024
Our Lady of the Lakes SchoolsWaterford, MI$25,000112021
Church of the Holy Family OutreachGrand Blanc, MI$24,100332023
Open Door Outreach CenterWaterford Twp, MI$23,500332024
Albion CollegeAlbion, MI$20,000442024
Friends of the Grand Blanc GridGrand Blanc, MI$20,000442024
C S Mott Children's HospitalFlint, MI$16,500332023
Our Lady of the Lakes Alumni AssocWaterford, MI$15,000332024
The Friendship CircleWest Bloomfield, MI$15,000442024
Waterford Senior CenterWaterford Twp, MI$15,000332024
Church of the Holy FamilyGrand Blanc, MI$13,250442024
Our Lady of the Lake ChurchWaterford, MI$13,250442024
Kinghts of Columbus CouncilGrand Blanc, MI$11,000222024
Boys Scouts of AmericaAuburn, MI$10,000222024
Crossover OutreachFlint, MI$10,000112024
First Tee of the LowcountryHilton Head Island, SC$10,000222024
Furniture Bank of Southeastern MiPontiac, MI$10,000222022
Henry Ford Health SystemSaginaw, MI$10,000112024
Make a Wish FoundationBrighton, MI$10,000332023
YMCA of Greater FlintFlint, MI$8,000442024
Conservation Resource AllianceTraverse City, MI$7,750442024
Building Beds 4 KidsOak Park, MI$7,500222024
On My Own of MichiganTroy, MI$7,500332024
Regents of the University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI$7,500112024
VFW 882 AuxilaryGrand Blanc, MI$6,400112021
Epilepsy Foundation of MiSouthfield, MI$6,000332024
Rosary Community Retreats FoundationWestland, MI$6,000332024
Advocates for Waterford Senior CtrWaterford, MI$5,000112021
Boy Scouts of AmericaBurton, MI$5,000112021
Crossroads for YouthOxford, MI$5,000222022
Guiding Star FoundationGrand Blanc, MI$5,000112021
Miracle League of Greater FlintMundy Township, MI$5,000112024
Oakland UniversityRochester, MI$5,000112021
Our Lady of the Lake Alumni AssocWaterford, MI$5,000112021
Shelter of FlintFlint, MI$5,000112021
The Well of WaterfordWaterford Twp, MI$5,000112022
Consecrated Women of Regnum ChristiBloomfield Hills, MI$4,000112024
Kingsbury Parent Assn IncOxford, MI$4,000112023
Fish Inc of Grand BlancGrand Blanc, MI$3,500112021
First Tee of the Low CountryHilton Head, SC$2,500112021
Grace Centers of HopePontiac, MI$2,500112021
Mental Health Association MiLansing, MI$2,500112023
Faith Lutheran Church PreshoolGrand Blanc, MI$2,100222023
Community Housing NetworkTroy, MI$2,000112021
Xceptional HeroesGrand Blanc, MI$2,000112023
Special Olympics MiBloomfield Hills, MI$1,000112022
Special Olympics MichiganBloomfield Hills, MI$1,000112021
Special OlympicsMt Pleasant, MI$1,000112024
St Francis Prayer CenterFlint, MI$750112022

31 of 56 (55%) 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. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 49 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
13 grants
Human Services
13 grants
Health Care
9 grants
Recreation & Sports
6 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Housing & Shelter
3 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202133$252,500$5,000
202229$175,000$5,000
202331$186,100$5,000
202430$208,000$5,000

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

98% of its giving went to organizations in Michigan. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Michigan
$809K
South Carolina
$12K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund15 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc12 shared recipientsCommunity Foundation for Southeast12 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc11 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust10 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc10 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in MichiganEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Serra Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 9095 S Saginaw Road Unit 9, Grand Blanc, MI, 48439. 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 38-3352324 · 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.

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