Kresge Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismMakes PRIsFunds Individuals
About Kresge Foundation
Kresge concentrates on place-based equitable urban revitalization and civic infrastructure, with especially deep investment in Detroit neighborhood development, community development intermediaries, and cultural vitality for Black and local artists. The foundation frequently funds organizations that operate as grantmakers or intermediaries, research and policy groups that shape metropolitan and federal-local policy, and cross-sector efforts advancing equitable climate resilience and public health in low-income communities. Grants are largely project and operating support aimed at scaling systems-level change rather than one-off program pilots.
Focus Areas
Equitable neighborhood and economic redevelopment in Detroit (strategic neighborhood funds, land use, and downtown/campus revitalization)Community development intermediaries and regranting vehicles (local foundations, Invest Detroit, Co.Act/Wayne State partnerships)Advancing equitable climate resilience and urban sustainability (capacity for city sustainability directors and resilience networks)Support for Black cultural workers and local arts infrastructure in Detroit and the MidwestPolicy, research, and capacity-building for metropolitan equitable development (think tanks and national coalitions influencing place-based policy)
About Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation’s recent grantmaking is marked by large, repeated commitments to Detroit organizations that drive neighborhood revitalization, arts infrastructure, and community development finance. One clear example is the $5 million project-support grant to Invest Detroit Foundation for the second round of its Strategic Neighborhood Fund, followed by another $5 million grant to Foundation for Detroits Future for the Detroit Retiree- Art Trust. Those awards sit alongside major operating and project support for intermediaries such as Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and Enterprise Community Partners, showing a preference for organizations that can move capital through local systems. The foundation also uses its portfolio to back institutions that coordinate citywide change. Grants to Wayne State University Research & Technology Park for Co.act Detroit, the University of South Florida College of Public Health as a national program office, and the College for Creative Studies for support to individual artists in the tri-county region point to a funder that blends place-based redevelopment with field-building, regranting, and cultural support. Its scale is substantial: annual grants exceed $499 million, and recent awards frequently land in the seven-figure range.
What Kresge Foundation Funds
In Detroit neighborhood redevelopment, The Kresge Foundation backed Invest Detroit Foundation with $5 million for the second round of its Strategic Neighborhood Fund, a vehicle for equitable and inclusive revitalization in Detroit’s neighborhoods. A separate $1.85 million grant to Downtown Detroit Partnership supported community engagement consulting and a comprehensive design framework. For community development finance, the foundation gave $2.15 million to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc. to aid operating support to the Center for Community Investment, and $1.725 million to Enterprise Community Partners Inc. for a CDO fund that would provide operating support to Detroit community development organizations for three years. Arts and culture appears in both institutional and direct-support forms. Kresge gave $1.757 million to Culturesource for implementation of key programmatic functions for the Detroit Arts Support Initiative, and $1.823 million to the College for Creative Studies to support individual artists in the tri-county region. Public health and education also surface through large project support, including grants tied to the Emerging Leaders in Public Health initiative and the Marygrove Early Education Center.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$499.2M
Total Assets
$4B
Total Revenue
$61.3M
Total Expenses
$214.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $75K and $225K, with a median of $150K.
25th Percentile
$75K
Median
$150K
75th Percentile
$225K
Geographic Reach
National38 states funded
About 20% of grants go to recipients in MI.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
RICHARD RIP RAPSON STMT 24
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Kresge Foundation Funds
Top 4 recipient countries by grant volume for Kresge Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 2,596 | $609.9M | 97.4% |
| 2 | South Africa | 64 | $11M |
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