Burt Foundation

The Burt Foundation is a tightly held, family-operated private foundation administered through Miller Canfield, one of Michigan's largest and oldest law firms. Directors Andrea L. Holmes and Christine M. Holmes — the family principals — share governance with Erik H. Serr, the attorney-trustee who manages day-to-day administration. No staff compensation is paid, no public RFP process exists, and no grants portal is available on the foundation's IRS-registered website. This is definitionally an invite-only grantmaker.

The foundation's giving philosophy reflects three consistent traits: deep thematic focus on animal welfare and Northern Michigan conservation, geographic specificity anchored in the Burt Lake corridor of Northern Michigan and Pima County, Arizona, and long-term relationship stability. Of the top 50 funded organizations, 31 have received four or five consecutive grants — an 87% multi-year retention rate that signals the foundation maintains a stable core portfolio of approximately 27–30 grantees per year rather than rotating in new organizations.

First-time applicants must reframe the challenge. The question is not how to submit an application but how to enter the Holmes family's philanthropic awareness. The practical strategies are:

• Geographic alignment: Ensure your organization operates visibly in Northern Michigan (especially Cheboygan, Emmet, or Charlevoix counties near Burt Lake) or in Pima County, Arizona. The foundation's grantees cluster tightly in these zones.
• Peer network activation: Seek endorsements or introductions from existing grantees — the Humane Society of Huron Valley, Michigan Anti-Cruelty Society, Alliance for the Great Lakes, and Paws With A Cause all have documented multi-year funding relationships and are credible intermediaries.
• Legal trustee contact: Erik H. Serr at Miller Canfield's Ann Arbor office is the operational contact. A respectful, brief introductory letter (not email) identifying organizational mission and geographic alignment — without a dollar ask — is the appropriate first move.

The typical funding arc for successful grantees appears to follow a multi-year progression: initial awareness through community overlap or peer referral, a first exploratory grant of $20,000–$50,000, and — if outcomes are satisfactory — elevation to sustained annual funding at $75,000–$175,000. Dig Deep Inc and Paws With A Cause exemplify this pattern, each having accumulated over $600,000 across five consecutive grant years.

The Burt Foundation's giving has grown fourfold over the past decade, from $410,000 in FY 2012 to $2,368,500 in FY 2024, tracking asset growth from $2.6M to $14.7M. The foundation distributes approximately 15–17% of total assets annually — far exceeding the IRS-mandated 5% minimum payout for private foundations — signaling a mission-forward philosophy that prioritizes impact over endowment preservation. Fiscal 2020 was an exception at $1.42M (COVID-related market contraction), but the foundation recovered strongly to $1.91M in 2021 and has accelerated since.

Grant volume runs 27–30 awards per year. Median grant: $50,000. Average grant: $52,556–$79,000 depending on the year. Full range: $4,000 (small wildlife refuges, food banks for pets) to $175,000 (top-tier sustained partners in 2024). The $4,000–$25,000 tier supports smaller shelters and local preservation organizations; the $75,000–$175,000 tier is reserved for long-established grantees with multi-year track records.

For the top multi-year grantees, estimated annual grant sizes are: Dig Deep Inc ~$135,000/yr, Paws With A Cause ~$125,000/yr, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary ~$120,000/yr, Dog Is My Copilot ~$100,000/yr, UMRC Foundation ~$100,000/yr, Friends of Pima County Animal Care ~$92,000/yr (combined), Michigan Animal Rescue League ~$99,000/yr, Michigan Anti-Cruelty Society ~$97,000/yr, and Humane Society of Huron Valley ~$95,000/yr.

Thematic distribution (estimated from documented grantee portfolio across 147 total grants and $8.96M in aggregate grantee spending): - Animal welfare and rescue: ~58% of grants. Includes shelters, humane societies, sanctuaries, service-animal providers, wildlife centers, and horse rescues across Michigan and Arizona. - Human services: ~15%. Concentrated in senior care (UMRC Foundation, Pima Council on Aging) and homeless services (Primavera in Tucson). - Environmental conservation: ~14%. Great Lakes protection (Alliance for the Great Lakes, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council), land trusts (Little Traverse Conservancy, Legacy Land Conservancy, Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy), and Burt Lake Preservation Association. - Water access: ~8%. Dominated by Dig Deep Inc ($675,000 total), the foundation's single largest funded organization.

Geographic split: Michigan 54% (79 grants), Arizona 27% (39 grants), California 6% (9 grants), and other states — Illinois, Indiana, Utah, Wyoming — 10% combined (25 grants).

The following foundations are identified as peers by Granted AI's matching algorithm — all share comparable asset size (~$14.65M–$14.67M) and NTEE category classification (Philanthropy & Grantmaking, T20Z).

The Burt Foundation stands apart from its asset-class peers in one critical dimension: it distributes approximately 15–17% of assets annually — three times the IRS minimum of 5% — making it one of the more generous private foundations in its size category. Its thematic coherence (animal welfare as a dominant programmatic anchor, consistent geographic focus on Michigan and Arizona) gives it a distinctive identity that most family foundations of this scale lack publicly. Peer foundations listed above have no confirmed public-facing grant criteria or application processes, suggesting the Burt Foundation's documentation — even if limited — is relatively transparent for its peer group.

The Burt Foundation maintains no public communications channel — no social media presence, no press releases, and no news section on any confirmed website. All recent activity is reconstructed from IRS 990 filings and third-party aggregators.

The most significant recent development is an acceleration in giving volume. FY 2024 grants reached $2,368,500 across 30 awards (Instrumentl), a 36% increase over FY 2023's $1,744,000. This represents the foundation's highest single-year distribution on record and aligns with asset growth to approximately $14.7M — an all-time high. The increase in giving likely reflects both portfolio appreciation and a deliberate decision by the Holmes family to increase distribution pace.

Leadership has been stable: Andrea L. Holmes, Christine M. Holmes, and Erik H. Serr have held their director positions consistently across multiple 990 filing years with no compensation and no governance changes detected. No new named program initiatives, strategic pivots, or public announcements have been identified in 2025 or 2026.

One notable ongoing commitment is the Burt Lake Preservation Association, which has received five consecutive grants totaling $75,000 — a personal connection to Burt Lake in Cheboygan County, Northern Michigan, that likely reflects the family's ties to that region. Similarly, Dig Deep Inc's elevation to the foundation's top funded position (from a newer grantee to a $675,000 cumulative recipient) marks the most visible programmatic evolution in recent years, suggesting growing interest in rural water access as a distinct funding priority alongside traditional animal welfare.

Because the Burt Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications, all of the following tips focus on earning an invitation rather than navigating a formal process.

Demonstrate geographic fit explicitly. The foundation's grantee map clusters in three zones: the Burt Lake corridor (Cheboygan, Emmet, Charlevoix counties in Northern Michigan), the Huron Valley/Ann Arbor metro (Washtenaw County), and Pima County, Arizona (Tucson metro). Organizations operating in these zones should lead any outreach with service-area specificity, naming the lakes, trails, watersheds, or communities they serve.

Frame animal welfare outcomes quantitatively. Animal welfare is the single largest programmatic priority at approximately 58% of giving. Proposal materials — even informal introductory letters — should quantify: animals rehomed or rescued annually, shelter capacity, medical cases handled, or service animals placed. Numbers matter more than narrative.

Reference the Great Lakes and Michigan watershed connections. For environmental organizations, emphasize Great Lakes tributary health, invasive species work, or shoreline preservation. The Alliance for the Great Lakes and Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council are benchmarks — your organization's work should be comparable in scope and rigor.

Contact Erik H. Serr at Miller Canfield directly. Address a one-page letter to Erik H. Serr, Director, Burt Foundation, c/o Miller Canfield, 101 N Main St 7th Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-5507, phone (734) 663-2445. Do not open with a funding request. Introduce your organization's mission, service area, and key outcomes, and express interest in the foundation's work. Follow up by phone within 30 days.

Identify an existing grantee as an introducer. A warm referral from a current grantee — Michigan Humane Society, Michigan Anti-Cruelty Society, Humane Society of Huron Valley — is likely the fastest path to the Holmes family's attention. Pursue board connections, partnership opportunities, or joint events with these organizations.

Think in a two- to three-year cultivation window. The foundation's 87% multi-year grantee retention rate means existing relationships consume nearly all grant capacity each year. New entrants must build visibility patiently. Begin outreach now; budget for a first grant no earlier than 12–24 months after initial contact.

Avoid common misalignments. There is no evidence of funding for advocacy, lobbying, faith-based programming, arts and culture, K-12 education, or national organizations without Michigan or Arizona operational presence.