Desk Drawer Fund
Desk Drawer Fund is a public charity based in East Lansing, Michigan, formed in 2018. Its 2025 filing describes a grantmaking organization with five philanthropic pillars: the arts, stable housing, youth empowerment, financial education, and entrepreneurship.
Desk Drawer Fund at a glance
In short: Desk Drawer Fund gave $648K across 17 grants in 2025 (avg $38K), mostly in Michigan. 53% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $648,192
- -17.5% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 17
- +6.3% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $38,129
- -22.3% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $20,066
- Total assets
- $2,511,460
- +0.8% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 53% first-time grantees (9 of 17, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Michigan (94% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Desk Drawer Fund
- Next open deadline
- December 1, 2026 (Transformational Grants)
- Contact
Mailing address: 3777 West Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: (517) 333-2299
Website: https://deskdrawerfund.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
2 open opportunities from Desk Drawer Fund
Who Desk Drawer Fund funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Child and Family Charities ($100K). Together the top 10 received $540K.
Grant Size Distribution
90 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 72 grants of 90 (80%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2025, 94% of grant dollars went to recipients in Michigan and 6% to recipients in Illinois.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 17 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Desk Drawer Fund open to new grantees?
53%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 9 of 17 grantees (53%) were first-time recipients. With only 17 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 6 points. First grants averaged $28K; repeat grants $50K. How we count
Medians: $20K first-time, $25K repeat.
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $164K (2019) to $786K (2024). In 2025 it made 17 grants totaling $648K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Child and Family Charities Lansing, MI | Youth Empowerment | $100,000 |
| Lighthouse MI Pontiac, MI | Stable Housing | $100,000 |
| Traverse City Philharmonic Traverse City, MI | The Arts | $100,000 |
| Women's Center of Greater Lansing Lansing, MI | Entrepeneurship | $60,199 |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters Capital Region Lansing, MI | Youth Empowerment | $50,000 |
| Affirmations Fernadale, MI | Youth Empowerment | $40,133 |
| Habitat for Humanity Capital Region Lansing, MI | Stable Housing | $25,000 |
| Impression 5 Lansing, MI | Youth Empowerment | $25,000 |
| United Way of South Central Michigan Lansing, MI | Financial Education and Youth Empowerment | $20,066 |
| Family Promise of West Michigan Grand Rapids, MI | Stable Housing | $20,066 |
Ready to take the next step with Desk Drawer Fund?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $2,511,460 | $765,059 | $739,713 | $648,192 | 17 |
| 2024 | $2,490,302 | $680,167 | $878,667 | $785,573 | 16 |
| 2023 | $2,670,368 | $3,201,547 | $658,488 | $603,545 | 19 |
| 2022 | $186,107 | $597,167 | $589,303 | $482,441 | 18 |
| 2021 | $109,063 | $526,094 | $510,673 | $330,748 | 20 |
| 2020 | $103,526 | $467,330 | $454,234 | $313,283 | 16 |
| 2019 | $79,277 | $321,625 | $242,348 | $163,628 | 9 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated October 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The funder states its mission is “to partner with donors to empower transformational change to make a sustainable difference in our communities.” Its filing identifies five areas used as grant-selection criteria: the arts, stable housing, empowering youth, financial education, and entrepreneurship. It reports serving 2 organizations in the arts, 6 in stable housing, 13 in youth empowerment, 1 in financial education, and 2 in entrepreneurship.
The grantees’ own mission statements illustrate the types of organizations supported. Traverse Symphony Orchestra describes its work as promoting musical knowledge and appreciation through education and performances. Child and Family Charities says it works to protect children by strengthening families and providing child welfare services. South Oakland Shelter describes Lighthouse MI’s mission as building equitable communities and alleviating poverty. Other supported organizations include the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing, which helps women achieve their potential and independence, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Michigan, which creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships for youth.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the funder reported 17 grants totaling $648,192. Grant amounts ranged from $10,000 to $100,000, with a median of $20,066. Notable grants included $100,000 each to Child and Family Charities, Lighthouse MI, and Traverse City Philharmonic; $60,199 to the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing; and $50,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters Capital Region.
The filing describes annual reports from all funded organizations as part of its monitoring procedures.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Angela Brown as chair, Diane Ottarson-Landry as vice chair, Daniel Spadafore as secretary/treasurer, and Elliot Daniels, Erin Carter, Ernest Betts, and William Beekman as directors. Rebecca Surian is listed as executive director.
Desk Drawer Fund is led by Rebecca Surian, Executive Director on every filing since 2024; none of the 8 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Rebecca Surian
Executive Director
On filings since 2024
24 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Angela Brown
Chair
Chair → Secretary, 2022
Secretary → Chair, 2024
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Ernest Betts
Director
Treasurer → Chair, 2022
Chair → Director, 2024
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Elliot Daniels
Director
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Erin Carter
Director
On filings since 2024
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
William Beekman
Director
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Diane Ottarson-Landry
Vice Chair
Director → Vice Chair, 2025
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Daniel Spadafore
Secretary & Treasurer
Director → Secretary & Treasurer, 2024
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (12)
- Former: Elizabeth Lawrence (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Dylan Minor (2022–2023) — Director -
- Former: Susanne Elkins (2022–2023) — Executive Director -
- Former: Greg Deppong (2019–2022) — Director -
- Former: Whitney Anderson-Harrell (2019–2022) — Executive Director -
- Former: April Clobes (2022) — Interim Executive Director -
- Former: Bill Beekman (2019–2021) — Past Chair -
- Former: Janet Lillie (2019–2021) — Director -
- Former: John Brick (2019–2021) — Director -
- Former: Michael Hudson (2019–2021) — Director -
- Former: Steven Kurncz (2019–2021) — Secretary -
- Former: Susan Carter (2019–2020) — Secretary
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Desk Drawer Fund
How much does Desk Drawer Fund give each year?
Desk Drawer Fund gave $648K across 17 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $786K across 16 grants.
What is Desk Drawer Fund's typical grant size?
Desk Drawer Fund's median grant in 2025 was $20,066, and its average grant was $38,129, across 17 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Desk Drawer Fund that year got $28K on average.
Where does Desk Drawer Fund give grants?
Desk Drawer Fund gives mostly in Michigan: 94% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The next largest state was Illinois (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were Lansing, MI (7 grants) and Traverse City, MI (3 grants).
Does Desk Drawer Fund give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 17 grants with a stated purpose on Desk Drawer Fund's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Youth Empowerment" (7 grants) and "Stable Housing" (6 grants).
Who are Desk Drawer Fund's largest grantees?
Desk Drawer Fund's largest 2025 grantees include Child and Family Charities ($100,000), Lighthouse MI ($100,000) and Traverse City Philharmonic ($100,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 46% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Desk Drawer Fund?
Desk Drawer Fund reported $2.5M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $765K.
What does Desk Drawer Fund fund?
The funder states its mission is “to partner with donors to empower transformational change to make a sustainable difference in our communities.” Its filing identifies five areas used as grant-selection criteria: the arts, stable housing, empowering youth, financial education, and entrepreneurship. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Desk Drawer Fund?
Desk Drawer Fund has no public application process in the sources Grantable reviewed. Check deskdrawerfund.org for current guidelines, or contact the foundation directly before submitting a request.
What is Desk Drawer Fund's EIN?
Desk Drawer Fund's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 83-3598690. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS July 15, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS September 15, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS November 3, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS August 26, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 15, 2025)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 14, 2026)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS June 29, 2020)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Desk Drawer Fund's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Desk Drawer Fund funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/desk-drawer-fund-morg_43b16a16459b4a03b0f30505e0d589ba
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_833598690_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Desk Drawer Fund funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/desk-drawer-fund-morg_43b16a16459b4a03b0f30505e0d589ba},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-11. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Desk Drawer Fund's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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