Hitchens Family Foundation
The Hitchens Family Foundation is a private foundation based in Traverse City, Michigan. Its 2024 filing-year data lists grants to charitable organizations, primarily in Michigan. However, the foundation’s 2023 filing is marked as its final return and states that the foundation ceased to exist after that fiscal year, so it appears to have wound down; the available 2024 grant data is reported below.
Hitchens Family Foundation at a glance
In short: Hitchens Family Foundation gave $341K across 19 grants in 2024 (avg $18K), mostly in Michigan. 37% of 2024 grantees were new. Source: 2024 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2024)
- $341,055
- +933.5% vs 2023
- Grants made (2024)
- 19
- -5.0% vs 2023
- Average grant
- $17,950
- +987.9% vs 2023
- Median grant
- $5,264
- New grantees (estimate)
- 37% first-time grantees (7 of 19, 2024; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Michigan (97% of itemized 2024 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2024 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2024; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Hitchens Family Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation states that it does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations.
- Contact
Mailing address: 420 E Mckinley Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686
Phone: (231) 947-5000
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Hitchens Family Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2024
The largest 2024 recipient was Munson Healthcare Foundations ($95K). Together the top 10 received $305K.
Grant Size Distribution
103 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 102 grants of 103 (99%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2024, 97% of grant dollars went to recipients in Michigan and 3% to recipients in Texas. The listed grants include organizations in Traverse City and other Michigan communities, as well as Santiago Panama Mission Adventure in Lubbock, Texas.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2024 grant dollars across all 19 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Hitchens Family Foundation open to new grantees?
37%
first-time grantees, 2024
In 2024, 7 of 19 grantees (37%) were first-time recipients. With only 19 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 5 points. First grants averaged $13K; repeat grants $21K. How we count
Medians: $5K first-time, $10K repeat.
- 63% of 2024 grantees were also funded in 2023. Method
- Giving grew 1871% from 2021 to 2024. Method
- In 2024 it paid out well above its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2024). 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 2024, annual grant giving ranged from $17K (2021) to $341K (2024). In 2024 it made 19 grants totaling $341K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Munson Healthcare Foundations Traverse City, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $95,000 |
| Leland Public Schools Leland, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $40,000 |
| St Joseph Church Traverse City, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $40,000 |
| Traverse Health Clinic Traverse City, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $35,000 |
| Habitat for Humanity Traverse City, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $25,000 |
| Pine Rest Foundation Grand Rapids, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $25,000 |
| Child and Family Services of NW Michigan Traverse City, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $20,000 |
| Archangel Gabriel Greek Orthodox Church Williamsburg, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $10,000 |
| Santiago Panama Mission Adventure Lubbock, TX | General Charitable Purposes | $10,000 |
| Christ the King Church Williamsburg, MI | General Charitable Purposes | $5,264 |
Ready to take the next step with Hitchens Family Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | — | $10,757 | $350,182 | $341,055 | 19 | $342,743 | $4,194 | $8,551 |
| 2023 | $339,425 | $57,685 | $37,444 | $33,000 | 20 | $33,738 | $55,144 | $16,810 |
| 2022 | $319,711 | $-11,132 | $23,704 | $18,000 | 20 | $18,000 | — | $16,336 |
| 2021 | $354,547 | $7,614 | $22,968 | $17,300 | 23 | — | $3,427 | $17,654 |
| 2020 | $369,901 | $3,632 | $23,551 | $18,250 | 21 | — | $1,653 | $17,372 |
| 2019 | $389,820 | $3,209 | $26,643 | $22,000 | 21 | — | $4,527 | $18,685 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Hitchens Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $9K for 2024 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2024 grants went to organizations including a health-care foundation, schools, churches, a housing organization, and family services. Munson Healthcare Foundations describes its mission as inspiring charitable support to enhance health care for people in Northern Michigan. Pine Rest Foundation says it financially supports Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, whose mission is to provide behavioral health care with professional excellence, Christian integrity, and compassion.
Grantmaking
The 2024 filing-year data lists 19 grants totaling $341,055. Grant amounts ranged from $1,500 to $95,000, with a median of $5,264. The largest listed grants were $95,000 to Munson Healthcare Foundations, $40,000 each to Leland Public Schools and St Joseph Church, $35,000 to Traverse Health Clinic, and $25,000 each to Habitat for Humanity and Pine Rest Foundation. Each listed grant purpose was “general charitable purposes.”
The 2023 filing-year data lists 20 grants totaling $33,000; 2022 lists 20 grants totaling $18,000. The 2023 filing is marked as final and says the foundation ceased to exist after that fiscal year.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2024 filing lists Thomas E Hitchens as president, Julie M Hitchens as treasurer, and Eileen Larsen as secretary.
Hitchens Family Foundation is led by Thomas E. Hitchens, President on every filing since 2019; none of the 3 officers listed in 2024 report compensation.
Officers on the 2024 filing
Thomas E. Hitchens
President
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Julie M. Hitchens
Treasurer
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Eileen Larsen
Secretary
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (1)
- Former: J. Daniel Hitchens (2019–2021) — Secretary
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2024. "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 Hitchens Family Foundation
How much does Hitchens Family Foundation give each year?
Hitchens Family Foundation gave $341K across 19 grants in 2024, according to its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2023 it gave $33K across 20 grants.
What is Hitchens Family Foundation's typical grant size?
Hitchens Family Foundation's median grant in 2024 was $5,264, and its average grant was $17,950, across 19 grants on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Hitchens Family Foundation that year got $13K on average.
Where does Hitchens Family Foundation give grants?
Hitchens Family Foundation gives mostly in Michigan: 97% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Traverse City, MI (7 grants), Leland, MI (2 grants), Williamsburg, MI (2 grants) and Cederville, MI (2 grants).
Does Hitchens Family Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 100% of Hitchens Family Foundation's 2024 grants with a stated purpose (19 of 19) were for general or operating support, per its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are Hitchens Family Foundation's largest grantees?
Hitchens Family Foundation's largest 2024 grantees include Munson Healthcare Foundations ($95,000), Leland Public Schools ($40,000) and St Joseph Church ($40,000), according to its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 51% of its itemized 2024 grant dollars.
What does Hitchens Family Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2024 grants went to organizations including a health-care foundation, schools, churches, a housing organization, and family services. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Hitchens Family Foundation?
The foundation states that it does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
How much is Hitchens Family Foundation required to give away each year?
Private foundations must generally distribute about 5% of their assets annually. For 2024, Hitchens Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $9K on its IRS Form 990-PF — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
What is Hitchens Family Foundation's EIN?
Hitchens Family Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 38-3577617. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2024.
Does Hitchens Family Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS January 27, 2020)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS February 25, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 7, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS March 23, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 5, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS February 4, 2025)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Hitchens Family Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Hitchens Family Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/hitchens-family-foundation-morg_c9eda2cbfec0475bb6dcb44aa019c7bd
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_383577617_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Hitchens Family Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/hitchens-family-foundation-morg_c9eda2cbfec0475bb6dcb44aa019c7bd},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16. 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 Hitchens Family Foundation'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.
Hitchens Family Foundation down — hundreds of funders to go?