FundersMichigan

Re Olds Foundation

East Lansing, MI · EIN 38-1485403. Reported 141 grants totalling $808,815 to 87 organizations across tax years 2022-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$3,000median grant
$808,815granted, 2022-2024
87organizations funded
56%of grantees funded again the next year
$4,498,514assets, 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. Re Olds 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 $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $6,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $60,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
26 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
54 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
31 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
24 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
4 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 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
Woldumar Nature CenterLansing, MI$75,000332024
Child & Family CharitiesLansing, MI$62,000222024
Annie's Big Nature LessonKalamazoo, MI$60,000112022
Wildside Rehabilitation & EducationEaton Rapids, MI$36,000332024
Greater Lansing Food BankLansing, MI$35,000332024
Communities in Schools-LansingLansing, MI$34,000332024
Lansing Promise for Lansing SaveLansing, MI$28,000112023
Impression 5 Science MuseumLansing, MI$26,000222024
Re Olds Transportation MuseumLansing, MI$22,800222024
Capital Area Humane SocietyLansing, MI$22,500222024
HighfieldsOnondaga, MI$21,000222024
Canter MichiganCommerce Township, MI$19,500332024
Experiential InkBellaire, MI$19,000222024
Mikey 23 FoundationLansing, MI$17,000332024
Charlotte School Band BoostersCharlotte, MI$15,000112024
Lansing SymphonyLansing, MI$15,000332024
The Turning Point of LansingLansing, MI$14,500222023
Wai-Iam IncLansing, MI$14,000222024
Mitten Misfits Farm SanctuaryGrand Ledge, MI$13,500222024
Allen Neighborhood CenterLansing, MI$10,000112024
Athena InternationalLansing, MI$10,000222023
Everett High SchoolLansing, MI$10,000112024
Experiential Ink'sBellaire, MI$10,000112022
Sleep in Heavenly Peace IncTwin Falls, ID$10,000112022
Small Talk Children's Assessment CenterLansing, MI$10,000112023
Trojan AthleticsEast Lansing, MI$10,000222024
Lansing Area Safety CouncilLansing, MI$8,790112022
Historical Society of MichiganLansing, MI$8,000222024
Crime Stoppers of Mid-MichiganLansing, MI$7,000332024
Waverly RoboticsLansing, MI$6,500222024
Lansing Art GalleryLansing, MI$6,000222023
Camp Hayo-Went-HaCentral Lake, MI$5,500222024
Hayo-Went-Ha ArbutusTraverse City, MI$5,250112022
Brotherhood Against DrugsLansing, MI$5,000112024
Canines for ChangeGrand Ledge, MI$5,000112024
Eaton County Humane SocietyOlivet, MI$5,000112024
Girl Scouts Heart of MichiganGrand Ledge, MI$5,000112023
Giving PawsSt Johns, MI$5,000112023
Grit Glam and GutsEast Lansing, MI$5,000332024
Haven HouseEast Lansing, MI$5,000112023
Patriarche Park Pickleball AssociationMason, MI$5,000112024
The Commanders Club of MichiganLansing, MI$5,000112023
Tri-County TriadLansing, MI$5,000112022
US Naval Sea CadetsLansing, MI$5,000112024
VFW National HomeEaton Rapids, MI$5,000112023
Potter Park Zoological SocietyLansing, MI$4,600112023
Rescue of Southern Sudan Village PeopleLansing, MI$4,000112024
Weekend Survival KitsWilliamston, MI$4,000112022
Council of Michigan FoundationsGrand Haven, MI$3,750222023
YMCA Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-HaTraverse City, MI$3,500112024
All-of-US Express Children's TheatreEast Lansing, MI$3,000112024
Reach Studio Art CenterLansing, MI$3,000222024
Cherryland Humane SocietyTraverse City, MI$2,500332024
Cinderella's Closet of Mid-MichiganEaton Rapids, MI$2,500112024
East Lansing Public SchoolsEast Lansing, MI$2,500112024
Next Generation Family ServicesLansing, MI$2,500112024
Sleep in Heavenly Peace IncLansing, MI$2,500112024
Tyler Weymouth FoundationMethuen, MA$2,250112022
Leelanau SchoolGlen Arbor, MI$2,200332024
Saving the Scales Reptile RescueDansville, MI$2,200222024
American Red Cross - Mid-MichiganDetroit, MI$2,000112022
Gospel Army Black History GroupJackson, MI$2,000112024
Hurstolds Club of AmericaWayland, MI$2,000112022
Lake Charlevoix AssociationCharlevoix, MI$2,000222024
Michigan Red Cross - Tiffany CircleDetroit, MI$2,000112023
Michigan Waterways StewardsEast Lansing, MI$2,000112023
Nature ConservancyMerrifield, VA$2,000222024
Riverwalk TheatreLansing, MI$2,000222024
Torch Lake Protection AllianceBellaire, MI$2,000222024
YMCA Hayo-Went-Ha Camp ArbutusTraverse City, MI$2,000112023
Cis of MichiganLansing, MI$1,500112023
Dr Martin Luther King JR CommissionLansing, MI$1,500112024
East Lansing Public LibraryEast Lansing, MI$1,500222023
Tip of the Mitt Watershed CouncilPetoskey, MI$1,500222024
Lansing Regional Chamber of CommerceLansing, MI$1,375332024
Michigan Science Teachers AssociationOkemos, MI$1,300222024
Wkar TvEast Lansing, MI$1,150332024
Desk Drawer FundEast Lansing, MI$1,000112022
East Lansing Educational FoundationEast Lansing, MI$1,000112024
Magic AcademyLansing, MI$1,000112023
Todd Martin Youth LeadershipLansing, MI$1,000112024
The Sparrow Hospital FoundationLansing, MI$850332024
Mason Orchestral SocietyWilliamston, MI$600112023
Michigan History FoundationLansing, MI$500112022
Planned ParenthoodAnn Arbor, MI$500112022
Michigan RadioAnn Arbor, MI$450222023
East Lansing InfoEast Lansing, MI$250112023

40 of 87 (46%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 56%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 41 grants to individuals totalling $266,350 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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 65 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Animal Welfare
13 grants
Arts & Culture
12 grants
Youth Development
8 grants
Education
7 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Environment
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
3 grants
Housing & Shelter
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202237$276,565$4,000
202351$256,875$2,000
202453$275,375$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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 98% 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
$795K
Idaho
$10K
Massachusetts
$2K
Virginia
$2K

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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.

Capital Region Community Foundation17 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund13 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund8 shared recipientsLansing Rotary Foundation8 shared recipientsConsumers Energy Foundation8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,000. 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, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Re Olds 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: Po Box 4900, East Lansing, MI, 48826. 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 38-1485403 · 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.