Funders › Michigan

The Richard L and Freda K Flerlage

Maple City, MI · EIN 31-1066269. Reported 114 grants totalling $510,500 to 52 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$3,000median grant
$510,500granted, 2021-2025
52recipients, as named on its returns
63%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,389,156assets, 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. The Richard L and Freda K Flerlage 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 $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
63 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
37 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
13 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
100 FriendsNewport Beach, CA$51,500552025
Transform Cincinnati (community Shares of Greater Cincinnati)Cincinnati, OH$32,000552025
Flow (for Love of Water)Traverse City, MI$30,000442025
Title TrackWilliamsburg, MI$28,000442025
On the Ground GlobalTraverse City, MI$25,000332025
Healthy Food for AllIthaca, NY$24,000442024
Peninsula HousingSuttons Bay, MI$22,000332024
Youth Farm Project IncIthaca, NY$21,000442024
1N5Cincinnati, OH$18,000222023
May We HelpCincinnati, OH$18,000442024
Soaring Unlimited HaitiHolt, MI$16,000222024
Doula Access InitiativeIthaca, NY$15,000332023
On the GroundTraverse City, MI$15,000222022
UpspringCincinnati, OH$15,000552025
East End Adult Education CenterCincinnati, OH$14,000442025
World Central KitchenWashington, DC$13,000332025
Mentoring PlusNewport, KY$12,000442025
Magdalene Inc (thistle Farm)Nashville, TN$11,000222022
Community Matters (opportunity Matters Inc)Cincinnati, OH$10,000552025
Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education FundAnn Arbor, MI$10,000112025
Literacy Network of Greater CincinnatiCincinnati, OH$9,000442025
Cornerstone Renter EquityCincinnati, OH$8,500332023
Advocacy CenterIthaca, NY$7,000222022
Gigi's Playhouse CincinnatiLoveland, OH$5,500222025
Buckets of RainEmpire, MI$5,000222022
Khuba International Quarter Acre for the PeopleIthaca, NY$5,000112022
LasoupeCincinnati, OH$5,000222022
Soaring Unlimited HaitiCincinnati, OH$5,000112025
Breakthrough CincinnatiCincinnati, OH$4,000222025
Crayons to ComputersCincinnati, OH$4,000222024
Row By RowEmpire, MI$4,000222024
The Tandana FoundationSpring Valley, OH$4,000222025
Empire Area Community Center-Emergency FundEmpire, MI$3,000112021
Freedom to Read FoundationChicago, IL$3,000112025
Michigan Advocacy ProgramYpsilanti, MI$3,000112025
National Writers SeriesTraverse City, MI$3,000112025
Out in the OpenBrattleboro, VT$3,000112023
University of the Cumberlands (cumberland College) Mountain OutreachWilliamsburg, KY$3,000112021
Unadilla Community Farm Education Center IncWest Emeston, NY$2,500112025
Down Syndrome AssociationCincinnati, OH$2,000112025
Dress for Success CincinnatiNorwood, OH$2,000112021
Everybody Vs RacismNashville, TN$2,000112024
Friendship Community CenterSuttons Bay, MI$2,000112024
Give Like a MotherCincinnati, OH$2,000112025
Madisonville Education & Assistance CenterCincinnati, OH$2,000112021
New Life Furniture BankCincinnati, OH$2,000112022
SCRAP2HOMECincinnati, OH$2,000112025
Seven Valleys Health CoalitionMcgraw, NY$2,000112024
The East End Adult Education CenterColumbia, MO$2,000112024
Unadilla Community Farm Education Center IncWilliamsburg, KY$2,000112024
Henry Hosea House Soup KitchenNewport, KY$1,000112025
Gorman Heritage FarmEvendale, OH$500112025

29 of 52 (56%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 63%, across 4 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 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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 65 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
12 grants
Human Services
8 grants
Environment
8 grants
Community Improvement
5 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Housing & Shelter
4 grants
Health Care
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202122$106,500$3,750
202223$114,500$5,000
202323$92,000$3,000
202421$92,000$3,000
202525$105,500$3,000

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

33% 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
$166K
Ohio
$164K
New York
$76K
California
$52K
Kentucky
$18K
Tennessee
$13K
District of Columbia
$13K
Vermont
$3K

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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 Fund24 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc21 shared recipientsThe Greater Cincinnati Foundation15 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsEdelweiss Foundation10 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program9 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,000. 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 groupFoundations funding education in OhioEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in New YorkEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Richard L and Freda K Flerlage's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 9020 S Dunns Farm, Maple City, MI, 49664. 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 31-1066269 · 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.