FundersMichigan

Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr

Jackson, MI · EIN 38-2715461. Reported 154 grants totalling $1,260,478 to 63 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,750median grant
$1,260,478granted, 2021-2024
63organizations funded
79%of grantees funded again the next year
$6,793,473assets, 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. Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr 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 $2,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $8,500; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $63,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
101 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
20 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
16 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
14 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 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
Michigan State UniversityE Lansing, MI$212,500442024
University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI$182,000442024
Grand Valley State UniversityAllendale Twp, MI$158,500442024
Jackson Community FoundationJackson, MI$101,500442024
Jackson CollegeJackson, MI$78,228442024
Western Michigan UniversitsyKalamazoo, MI$52,000442024
Spring Arbor UniversitySpring Arbor, MI$47,750442024
Central Michigan UniversityMt Pleasant, MI$44,500442024
Albion CollegeAlbion, MI$38,000542024
Michian Technological UniversityHoughton, MI$37,000442024
Ferris State UniversityBig Rapids, MI$29,500442024
Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti, MI$28,500442024
Saginaw Valley State UniversityUniversity Center, MI$25,000442024
Wayne State UniversityDetroit, MI$23,000442024
Adrian CollegeAdrian, MI$14,000442024
Lansing Community CollegeLansing, MI$9,000442024
Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, IN$8,500442024
Thrine UniversiyAngola, IN$8,500332023
University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN$7,500332024
Baker CollegeJackson, MI$7,000332023
Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN$7,000332024
Siena Heights UniversityAdrian, MI$7,000442024
Columbia CollgeChicago, IL$6,000442024
Indiana Wesley UniversityMarion, IN$6,000332024
Jackson Symphony OrchestraJackson, MI$6,000332023
Kalamazoo CollegeKalamazoo, MI$6,000332024
Kettering UniversityFlint, MI$6,000222024
Ohio State UniversityColumbus, OH$6,000222023
Savannah College of Art & DesignSavannah, GA$6,000332024
Taylor UniversityUpland, IN$6,000332024
Wheaton CollegeWheaton, IL$6,000442024
Davenport UniversityGrand Rapids, MI$5,000222024
Massachusetts Insstitute of TechCambridge, MA$5,000112021
Miami UniversityOxford, OH$5,000222022
St Mary's CollegeNotre Dame, IN$5,000222022
University of WisconcinMadison, WI$5,000222023
Belmont Abbey CollegeBelmont, NC$4,500222024
Alma CollegeAlma, MI$4,000222024
Calvin UniversityGrand Rapids, MI$4,000112024
University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, AL$4,000332024
George Mason UniversiyFairfax, VA$3,000112024
Kansas State UniversityManhattan, KS$3,000112021
Lawrence Technologial UniversitySouthfield, MI$3,000332024
Gerge Mason UniversiyFairfax, VA$2,500112023
Northern Michigan UniversityMarquette, MI$2,500112021
University of IowaIowa City, IA$2,500112021
Cleary UniversityHowell, MI$2,000112024
HarvardCambridge, MA$2,000112024
North Caralina State UniversityRaleigh, NC$2,000112022
Northwood UniversityMidland, MI$2,000112023
University of FindlayFindlay, OH$2,000112024
Aquinas CollegeGrand Rapids, MI$1,000112024
Concordia University of Ann ArborAnn Arbor, MI$1,000112021
Harding UniversitySearcy, AR$1,000112022
Hope CollegeHolland, MI$1,000112022
Kendall College of Art & DesignGrand Rapids, MI$1,000112024
Madonna UniveristyLivonia, MI$1,000112024
Northern Michign UniversityMarquette, MI$1,000112024
Olivet CollegeOlivet, MI$1,000112022
Rochester Institute of TechnologyRochester, NY$1,000112024
Saint Michael's CollegeColchester, VT$1,000112021
St Mary CollegeNotre Dame, IN$1,000112024
University of ToledoToledo, OH$1,000112022

39 of 63 (62%) 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 79%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 72 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
68 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202133$309,032$3,000
202239$330,000$2,500
202339$318,946$3,000
202443$302,500$2,500

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. 91% 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
$1.1M
Indiana
$50K
Ohio
$14K
Illinois
$12K
Massachusetts
$7K
North Carolina
$6K
Georgia
$6K
Virginia
$6K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund29 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc25 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc24 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust23 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America20 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc19 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,750. 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, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr'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: 4250 Horton Road, Jackson, MI, 49201. 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 38-2715461 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.