Young Foundation

Young Foundation is a small, closely-held family private foundation run entirely by four uncompensated Young-family trustees — Walter R. Young (President), Donna Young (Secretary/Treasurer), Michelle Young Bueltel and Mark Young. There is no staff, no program officer, and no online application system; the foundation's own IRS filing states the only channel is a written request addressed to Donna Young. That structure shapes everything about how to approach it: this is a relationship-driven, reputation-based funder, not a portal-and-committee process.

The grantee data makes the preferred profile unmistakable: of roughly 23 organizations tracked over a five-year window, 12 received funding in all five years — Gleaners Community Food Bank of SE Michigan, Oakland Family Services, Rochester Area Neighborhood House, Power Company Kids Club, Lighthouse of Oakland County, and The Salvation Army among them. This is a loyalty-based funder that renews trusted grantees annually rather than constantly rotating in new organizations. First-time applicants should not expect a fast path to a large award; the realistic opening move is a modest, specific request that can grow into a repeat relationship over subsequent years.

All 89 tracked grants went to Michigan organizations, concentrated in Oakland County (Bloomfield Hills, Pontiac, Rochester, Royal Oak) with some reach into metro Detroit. The foundation explicitly favors direct-service nonprofits working with 'at-risk children and families' — food security, emergency shelter/homelessness, family services, and youth programs dominate the recipient list. It explicitly will not fund scholarships, endowments, multi-year commitments, or general operating support, so proposals should frame a discrete, fundable program rather than core costs.

First-time applicants should keep the ask modest and concrete: describe one program, its population served, and expected outcomes, in a short letter rather than a formal grant application packet. Because the foundation is unstaffed, response times and communication style will likely be personal and informal rather than bureaucratic — patience and a willingness to build the relationship over several annual cycles matters more than proposal polish.

IRS 990-PF sampling puts the foundation's typical award at a median of $15,000 (average $16,788), with a documented range of $1,450 to $45,000 across a 12-grant sample. Looking at the fuller grantee history (89 grants, $1,267,650 total, average $14,243), the pattern holds: this is a five-figure funder, not a six-figure one, for the vast majority of recipients.

Annual grants paid were remarkably stable from 2011 to 2023 — $150,600 (2011), $169,600 (2012), $134,300 (2013), $174,300 (2014), $112,800 (2015), then $138,400 (2019), $201,450 (2020), $274,300 (2021), $270,750 (2022), and $250,400 (2023) — before a sharp jump to $562,000 across 19 grants (average $20,200) in the most recent year captured by third-party 990 aggregation. That newer figure's historical range tops out at $300,000, well above the $45,000 ceiling in the older IRS sample, suggesting at least one unusually large grant entered the mix rather than a broad increase across all recipients.

Total assets grew from $2.7 million (2011) to roughly $5.1 million (current), funded almost entirely by net investment income ($79,559 to $735,988 annually) rather than new contributions — outside contributions appear in only two of the ten years on record ($532,786 in 2021, $286,446 in 2020). Grant totals track investment income closely, meaning giving capacity rises and falls with market performance more than with programmatic strategy shifts.

By program area, the top-recipient list is entirely human-services-coded: food security ($160,000 to Gleaners over five years), family services ($125,000 each to Oakland Family Services and Rochester Area Neighborhood House), youth development ($120,000 to Power Company Kids Club), homelessness/shelter ($120,000 to Lighthouse of Oakland County, $90,000 to Baldwin Center, $70,000 to Grace Centers of Hope, $60,000 to Hope Warming Center, $60,000 to The Salvation Army), and basic needs ($50,000 to Furniture Bank of SE Michigan, $13,000 to Beds 4 Kids). Geographically, 100% of tracked grants — 89 of 89 — went to Michigan organizations, with Oakland County as the clear center of gravity.

Young Foundation is by far the smallest of this Oakland County/metro Detroit human-services cohort — its asset base is roughly 5 to 23 times smaller than these peer family foundations, and its unstaffed, letter-only application model is the most informal of the group (Carls and Applebaum lean invitation-only; DeRoy at least runs a defined LOI process). For grant seekers, that means lower total capacity and smaller checks than peers, but also comparatively easier access: a well-targeted written letter can reach a decision-maker directly, without competing through a formal committee process.

The most notable recent signal is financial, not programmatic: aggregated 990 data shows the foundation's giving roughly doubled to $562,000 across 19 grants in its latest reporting year, up from $256,450 in 2024 and $250,400 in 2023. Because this foundation's payout has tracked net investment income closely for over a decade, the increase most likely reflects a strong investment year (and possibly one larger-than-typical grant, given the historical range now tops out at $300,000) rather than a new strategic direction.

No leadership changes, new programs, or press coverage were found for this Michigan entity — the same four family trustees (Walter R. Young, Donna Young, Michelle Young Bueltel, Mark Young) appear across every year of available records, all uncompensated, consistent with a small closely-held family foundation that operates without public communications or media presence.

One important caveat for anyone researching this funder: web searches for "Young Foundation" and its own website, youngfoundation.org, surface a much more active and visible organization — a UK-based social-innovation think tank (registered charity GB-CHC-274345) that recently announced six new trustees, runs a Community Knowledge Fund awarding £10K-£100K grants, and administers an £8.9 million UK Research & Innovation program. That organization is unrelated to this Bloomfield Hills, MI family foundation despite the identical name and shared web address in this record — grant seekers should not treat UK program announcements, deadlines, or application routes as applicable here.

There is no online application, portal, LOI form, or published deadline calendar beyond a single historical reference to November 1 — the foundation's own 990 filing states the sole channel is a written request addressed to Donna Young, Secretary/Treasurer, Young Foundation, 6372 Muirfield Court, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301. Treat this as a direct-mail, relationship-first funder rather than a grants-management-system funder.

Do not request scholarships, endowment support, multi-year commitments, or general operating support — the foundation explicitly rules out all four in its own filing. Frame the ask around one specific, fundable program serving at-risk children and families; echoing that exact phrase from the foundation's own instructions signals alignment.

Size the request realistically: the IRS sample shows a median grant of $15,000 (range $1,450-$45,000), and even the fuller grantee history averages $14,243 per grant. A first-time ask in the $5,000-$25,000 range is well inside this funder's demonstrated comfort zone; six-figure single asks have no precedent here. Cumulative six-figure totals (e.g., Gleaners' $160,000, Oakland Family Services' and Rochester Area Neighborhood House's $125,000 each) were built through repeat annual grants, not one large award.

Relationship continuity matters more than novelty: 12 of roughly 23 tracked recipients were funded in all five sampled years, indicating the trustees renew organizations they trust rather than seeking new grantees each cycle. A realistic strategy for a first-time applicant is to open with a modest, well-documented request and demonstrate results in year one to earn consideration for renewed, larger support in later years.

Geographic fit is non-negotiable — 100% of the 89 tracked grants went to Michigan organizations, concentrated in Oakland County. Applicants outside Michigan, or without a clear Oakland County/metro Detroit service population, are very unlikely to be a fit regardless of program quality. Finally, do not attempt to apply through youngfoundation.org — that is an unrelated UK organization; this funder has no public website, application form, or grants portal on file.