FundersMichigan

Wolverine World Wide Foundation

Rockford, MI · EIN 32-0140361. Reported 37 grants totalling $845,765 to 30 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$845,765granted, 2021-2024
30organizations funded
11%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,639,501assets, 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. Wolverine World Wide 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 $1,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $50 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
9 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
7 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
7 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
4 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
4 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
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
AmedenWaltham, MA$200,000112024
Greater Grand Rapids Chamber FoundationGrand Rapids, MI$200,000222022
Greater Grand Rapids ChamGrand Rapids, MI$100,000112024
World Affairs Council of Western MichiganGrand Rapids, MI$71,000332023
Th Mcm Am JimmyBend, OR$50,000112024
The Conservation AlianceBend, OR$50,000112024
Pensole Lewis Colege of BDetroit, MI$49,000112024
Footwear Distributors and Retailers of AmericaWashington, DC$25,000112022
Grand Valley StateAllendale, MI$20,000112024
American Cancer Society Relay for LifeGrand Rapids, MI$10,000112023
Parent Project for Muscular DystrophyWashington, DC$10,000222022
Parent Project Muscular DWashington, DC$10,000112024
Calvin UniversityGrand Rapids, MI$8,000112024
West Michigan Aviation Academy FoundationGrand Rapids, MI$8,000222022
American Cancer SocietyGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112024
Daniella Haf AssociationGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112024
Ic Filn ExperienceIthaca, NY$5,000112024
Ronald Mcdonald House of West MichiganGrand Rapids, MI$4,500112022
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture ParkGrand Rapids, MI$3,500112023
Horizons for Homeless ChiRoxbury, MA$3,500112024
Grand Rapids Public Schools FoundationGrand Rapids, MI$3,000222022
Kids Food BasketGrand Rapids, MI$2,165112024
Down Syndrome Association of West MichiganGrand Rapids, MI$1,000112022
Aquinas College Office of AdvancementGrand Rapids, MI$600222022
Grand Valley State UniversityAllendale, MI$500112024
Thompsonhine CollegeAmherst, MA$500112024
Aquinas CollegeGrand Rapids, MI$200112024
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$200112024
301W FultonGrand Rapids, MI$50112024
Miami UniversityOxford, OH$50112024

6 of 30 (20%) 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 11%, 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.

Plus 146 grants to individuals totalling $3,052,633 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 14 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
7 grants
International Affairs
3 grants
Human Services
2 grants
Environment
1 grant
Food & Nutrition
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20216$136,300$5,000
20229$166,300$4,500
20233$34,000$10,000
202419$509,165$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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 58% 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
$492K
Massachusetts
$204K
Oregon
$100K
District of Columbia
$45K
New York
$5K
Ohio
$50

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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.

Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc10 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund10 shared recipientsGrand Rapids Community Foundation9 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc9 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc8 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in MichiganEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Wolverine World Wide 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: 9341 Courtland Dr Ne, Rockford, MI, 49351. 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 32-0140361 · 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.