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Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$267k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$481kHealth$340kEmployment$210kHuman Services$135kPhilanthropy$80kRecreation & Sports$47kHousing & Shelter$46kFood & Nutrition$45kOther$0
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $121k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $125k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FIRST STEPS KENT$75,000
STOREHOUSE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCE$50,000
GRAND ACTION 20$25,000
KIDS FOOD BASKET$20,000
WELL HOUSE$20,000
CHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER$15,000
ALPHA GRAND RAPIDS$10,500
SAN JUAN DIEGO ACADEMY$10,000
CASA OF KENT COUNTY$10,000
WEST MICHIGAN YOUTH FOR CHRIST$10,000
EXALTA HEALTH$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
STAGEGR$4,000
COOPERSVILLE CHOIR BOOSTERS$2,500
GUIDING LIGHT$2,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY21–25, $116k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 91% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%SOUTH END COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES: $25k → 11%ALPHA GRAND RAPIDS: $11k → 11%ALPHA GRAND RAPIDS: $5k → 11%CRITTER BARN: $10k → 8%STOREHOUSE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCE: $50k → 11%THE OTHER WAY MINISTRIES: $5k → 11%OASIS OF HOPE CENTER: $5k → 11%OASIS OF HOPE CENTER: $3k → 11%THE OTHER WAY MINISTRIES: $2k → 11%THE PLAYGROUND: $500 → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 24 repeat orgs$231k to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
19

Total granted

$1.3M
$127k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+44%

Still filing today

79%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $104k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterFood & NutritionEducationAnimalsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • FS
    FIRST STEPS KENT
    4× · 2022–2025 · $269k · revenue +26%
  • WR
    Women's Resource Center
    2× · 2019–2022 · $210k · revenue +6%
  • LM
    LAKE MICHIGAN JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2017–2022 · $57k · revenue +327%

Funded once

  • SL
    SPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC
    one grant, 2021 · $41k · revenue -30%
  • SE
    SOUTH END COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue -23%
  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
    one grant, 2024 · $20k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Michigan Family Resources

Michigan Family Resources mission is to deliver holistic family-centered services to children that promote their well-being and development.

Education
2
Family Outreach Center

Leading the way in promoting healthy family living by reaching out to underserved populations and those who are in our community.

—
3
Hope House of Northwest Michigan

Hope house of northwest michigan is a non-profit christian maternity home that provides a safe loving residential environment for single expectant young women. through up to two years of residence the organization offers housing baby…

Human Services
4
Center for Family Health

The mission of the Center for Family Health is opening the door to health care for all.

Health
5
Brilliant Detroit

Helping families and neighborhoods succeed by providing a place and support to assure kids ages 0-5 are school ready and families are healthy and stable.

Youth Development
6
Hope Medical Clinic Inc

Hope is a not-for-profit interdenominational christian medical, dental, and social service organization. hope's goal is to provide compassionate and practical help, ministering to the whole person with dignity and respect. this includes…

—
7
Movement West Michigan

Uniting christian faith leaders to serve with humility and love for the flourishing of all in our community.

Religion
8
Grand Rapids Early Discovery Center

Our mission is to continuously expand the potential of children, the experiences of educators and the involvement of parents within the diverse community of grand rapids, mi

Human Services
9
Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery

The mission of greater minneapolis crisis nursery is to end the abuse and neglect of children and create strong and healthy families.

Human Services
10
Healing the Children Michigan-Ohio

Healing the children michigan/ohio is a not for profit humanitarian organization dedicated to securing gratis medical and surgical care for children in need.

—
11
Habitat for Humanity of Lapeer - Tuscola

To eliminate sub-standard housing and homelessness from lapeer county.

—
12
Grace House Ministries Inc

Counseling and benevolent assistance to new parents and their children.

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids' Food Basket Inc; the most unlike its peers is Ebenezer Dtc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

38 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 38 of the 49 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/38
Grantees still filing
24/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Women's Resource Center: $210,000 · OtherWomen's Resource CenterEarly Learning Neighborhood Collaborative: $151,000 · OtherEarly Learning Neighborhood CollaborativeHEART OF MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $75,000 · OtherHEART OF MICHIGAN UNITED WAYWEST MICHIGAN YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $29,667 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherGRAND ACTION FOUNDATION 20: $25,000 · Other+22 more: $138,537 · Other+22 moreCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER: $225,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTERSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $41,000 · HealthSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELO…Faith Hospice: $36,500 · HealthFaith HospiceHEALTH INTERVENTION SERVICES: $34,000 · HealthHEALTH INTERVENTION SERVICE…MARCH OF DIMES INC: $27,600 · HealthMARCH OF DIMES INCAmerican Heart Association Inc: $15,000 · HealthFIRST STEPS KENT: $269,000 · EducationFIRST STEPS KENT+1 more: $500 · EducationSTOREHOUSE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES: $50,000 · Human ServicesSOUTH END COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES: $25,000 · Human ServicesAlpha Grand Rapids: $15,500 · Human ServicesCRITTER BARN: $10,333 · Human ServicesOASIS OF HOPE CENTER: $7,500 · Human ServicesTHE OTHER WAY MINISTRIES: $6,667 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human ServicesLAKE MICHIGAN JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION: $57,000 · Recreation & SportsKIDS' FOOD BASKET INC: $37,000 · Food & NutritionFAMILY NETWORK: $5,600 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY FOOD CLUBS: $1,500 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $500 · Food & NutritionCASA of Kent County Inc: $30,000 · Civil Rights
Other$654,204Health$379,100Education$269,500Human Services$115,500Recreation & Sports$57,000Food & Nutrition$44,600Civil Rights$30,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFIRST STEPS KENT: $269,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER: $225,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetWomen's Resource Center: $210,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetEarly Learning Neighborhood Collaborative: $151,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLAKE MICHIGAN JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION: $57,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetSTOREHOUSE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $41,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetKIDS' FOOD BASKET INC: $37,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFaith Hospice: $36,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTH INTERVENTION SERVICES: $34,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetCASA of Kent County Inc: $30,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $27,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH END COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES: $25,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetGRAND ACTION FOUNDATION 20: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAYA YOUTH COLLECTIVE: $16,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetSENIOR NEIGHBORS INC: $15,766 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetAlpha Grand Rapids: $15,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCRITTER BARN: $10,333 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTAGEGR: $8,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetOASIS OF HOPE CENTER: $7,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE OTHER WAY MINISTRIES: $6,667 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF WEST MICHIGAN: $5,999 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY NETWORK: $5,600 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetPET TALES RESCUE: $3,268 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEbenezer DTC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOOD CLUBS: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDAVID'S HOUSE MINISTRIES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PLAYGROUNDGR: $500 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetHAND2HAND: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELE'S PLACE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW CITY KIDS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBEER CITY DOG BISCUITS: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEM GREENHOUSE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Grand Rapids Communit…Heart of West Michiga…Frey FoundationDouglas & Maria Devos…Peter C & Emajean Coo…The Wege FoundationThe Community Foundat…Consumers Energy Foun…Cdv5 FoundationThe Meijer FoundationThe Mercantile Bank F…The Meijer Foundation
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI55.6× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Heart of West Michigan United Way · Frey Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · The Wege Foundation · The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area Inc · Consumers Energy Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation · The Meijer Foundation · The Mercantile Bank Foundation · The Meijer Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 49 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Baker Family Foundation Fka Jeff & Cheryl Baker Family’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home