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Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Community foundation

Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation

Inspire individuals and organizations to invest in their community to improve the quality of life.

$1.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
51
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$128k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$896kHealth$852kArts & Culture$702kEducation$701kHuman Services$581kFood & Nutrition$573kCommunity Improvement$385kYouth Development$266kOther$0
02FY2024 · 51 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 51 grants below total $1,108,999, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,653,430 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $544,431 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k23 grants · $161k
  • $10k–50k24 grants · $620k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $328k
$11,780
Median grant
2
States reached
$34M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WABANA TOWNSHIP$128,446
SECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD$84,408
ITASCA COMMUNITY TELEVISION INC$60,044
ELDERCIRCLE$55,153
FIRST CALL FOR HELP 211$43,777
GREAT TAILS ANIMAL RESCUE$42,430
INDEPENDEND SCHOOL DISTRICT 318$42,419
ITASCA AREA CANCER CRISIS ENDOWMENT$40,400
GRAND ITASCA FOUNDATION$37,942
DISTRICT 318 ENDOWMENT FUND$36,996
GRAND RAPIDS AREA LIBRARY FOUND$36,326
ITASCA ORCHESTRA AND STRINGS$35,143
ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA$29,032
CITY OF DEER RIVER$27,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GRAND RAPIDS$26,558
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 (FY17–24, $587k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $5k → 14%American Red Cross: $7k → 11%FORWARD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $8k → 11%Forward Health Foundation: $8k → 11%Deer River Healthcare Volunteers: $8k → 11%FORWARD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $7k → 11%Forward Health Foundation: $6k → 11%ElderCircle: $86k → 11%ELDERCIRCLE: $55k → 11%NORTH HOMES CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES: $46k → 11%ElderCircle: $36k → 11%ELDERCIRCLE: $34k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $29k → 11%GET FIT ITASCA - ITASCA COUNTY YMCA: $26k → 11%Itasca Hospice Foundation: $25k → 11%Itasca Hospice Foundation: $24k → 11%Itasca Hospice Foundation: $23k → 11%ElderCircle: $19k → 11%Itasca County Family YMCA: $18k → 11%ELDERCIRCLE INC: $18k → 11%GET FIT ITASCA - ITASCA COUNTY YMCA: $15k → 11%Itasca County Family YMCA: $12k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $11k → 11%ITASCA LIFE OPTIONS: $10k → 11%GRACE House of Itasca County: $10k → 11%GRACE HOUSE OF ITASCA COUNTY: $8k → 11%Advocates For Family Peace: $7k → 11%NEW BEGINNINGS PREGANANCY CARE: $7k → 11%NORTH HOMES INC: $7k → 11%ElderCircle: $7k → 11%Itasca County Family YMCA: $6k → 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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.0M · 55 repeat orgs$657k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.

55 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
36

Total granted

$5.0M
$465k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+34%

Still filing today

64%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $193k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentHealthRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther
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

  • SH
    SECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANK
    8× · 2017–2024 · $411k · revenue +70%
  • E
    ELDERCIRCLE
    7× · 2017–2024 · $254k · revenue +15%
  • FC
    FIRST CALL FOR HELP OF ITASCA COUNTY
    4× · 2021–2024 · $234k · revenue +122%

Funded once

  • IC
    Itasca Community College Foundation
    one grant, 2019 · $89k · revenue -12%
  • GR
    GRAND RAPIDS BAND BOOSTERS ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +97%
  • IC
    ITASCA COUNTY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
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
North Dakota Natural Resources Trust
—
2
Tailwinds Bemidji
—
3
Duluth Cross Country Ski Club

Promote health through skiing

Recreation & Sports
4
Arc Northland

To promote and protect the rights of people with disabilities and their families while supporting inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetime.

—
5
Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors Foundation Inc
—
6
Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging Inc

MNRAAA helps older adults thrive in Southwest MN by enabling older adults to maintain the lifestyle of their choice. MNRAAA strives to ensure that services are available for older adults and caregivers, by providing information and…

Human Services
7
Pathblazers Snowmobile Club Inc

To provide grooming of trails and to promote safe snowmobiling

—
8
Sioux Falls Environmental Access Inc
—
9
Bemidji Rotary Club

To provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world

—
10
Mystic Riders Snowmobile Club Inc

Maintain over 150 miles of public use snowmobile trails in central mn. trails go through public and private land.

Unclassified
11
Glacial Lakes Conservancy Inc

Glacial Lakes Conservancy, as a land trust, is a nonprofit organization that, as part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisitions.

Environment
12
North Dakota News Cooperative
Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Itasca County Family Ymca Inc; the most unlike its peers is Great Minds Learning Center. 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

55 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. 55 of the 102 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/55
Grantees still filing
35/55
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ISD #318: $759,348 · OtherISD #318SECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANK: $411,210 · OtherSECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANKDISTRICT 318 ENDOWMENT FUND: $159,459 · OtherKOOTASCA COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $156,363 · OtherNorthland Counseling Center Inc: $137,650 · OtherBIGFORK VALLEY HOSPITAL: $132,107 · OtherWABANA TOWNSHIP: $128,446 · OtherFOND DU LAC TRIBAL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $125,601 · Other+69 more: $1,741,330 · Other+69 moreELDERCIRCLE: $254,062 · Human ServicesELDERCIRCLEITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC: $117,260 · Human ServicesITASCA COUN…Itasca Hospice Foundation: $72,313 · Human ServicesItasca Hosp…NORTH HOMES INC: $53,131 · Human ServicesNORTH HOMES…FORWARD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $36,047 · Human ServicesFORWARD HEA…+5 more: $53,927 · Human Services+5 moreFIRST CALL FOR HELP OF ITASCA COUNTY: $234,377 · HealthGrand Itasca Foundation: $176,098 · HealthPROJECT CARE FREE CLINIC: $22,000 · HealthGrand Itasca Clinic and Hospital: $16,769 · HealthGRAND RAPIDS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $303,030 · Community ImprovementITASCA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPOR: $125,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $10,000 · Community ImprovementREIF ARTS COUNCIL: $205,693 · Arts & CultureITASCA COMMUNITY TELEVISION INC: $110,044 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $7,300 · Arts & CultureGREAT TAILS ANIMAL RESCUE: $201,545 · AnimalsBOYS' CLUB OF DULUTH: $78,522 · Youth DevelopmentITASCA YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $64,136 · Youth DevelopmentITASCA DRIFTSKIPPERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB INC: $30,500 · Youth DevelopmentNORTHERN LIGHTS NORDIC SKI CLUB INCORPORATED: $24,900 · Youth Development
Other$3,751,514Human Services$586,740Health$449,244Community Improvement$438,030Arts & Culture$323,037Animals$201,545Youth Development$198,058

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANK: $411,210 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $303,030 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetELDERCIRCLE: $254,062 over 7y, 9.9% of budgetFIRST CALL FOR HELP OF ITASCA COUNTY: $234,377 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetREIF ARTS COUNCIL: $205,693 over 6y, 5.3% of budgetGREAT TAILS ANIMAL RESCUE: $201,545 over 6y, 26% of budgetGrand Itasca Foundation: $176,098 over 7y, 14% of budgetKOOTASCA COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $156,363 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetNorthland Counseling Center Inc: $137,650 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHERN COMMUNITY RADIO INC: $125,034 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetITASCA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPOR: $125,000 over 3y, 7.8% of budgetCommunity Cafe Inc: $123,750 over 5y, 31% of budgetITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC: $117,260 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetITASCA COMMUNITY TELEVISION INC: $110,044 over 2y, 13% of budgetITASCA ORCHESTRA & STRINGS PROGRAM: $90,340 over 5y, 13% of budgetItasca Community College Foundation: $89,274 over 1y, 11% of budgetBOYS' CLUB OF DULUTH: $78,522 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetItasca Hospice Foundation: $72,313 over 3y, 67% of budgetITASCA YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $64,136 over 6y, 13% of budgetNORTH HOMES INC: $53,131 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS AREA LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $47,761 over 2y, 98% of budgetItasca County Habitat for Humanity: $42,100 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetItasca County Historical Society: $40,256 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetFORWARD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $36,047 over 4y, 5.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKES: $35,273 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetITASCA DRIFTSKIPPERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB INC: $30,500 over 2y, 12% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS BAND BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION: $30,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetDEER LAKE ASSOCIATION OF ITASCA COUNTY: $27,300 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetNORTHERN LIGHTS NORDIC SKI CLUB INCORPORATED: $24,900 over 3y, 14% of budgetPROJECT CARE FREE CLINIC: $22,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetGREAT MINDS LEARNING CENTER: $21,066 over 2y, 9.9% of budgetWILDERNESS WHEELERS: $20,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetSWAMPSIDERS SNOWMOBILE AND ATV CLUB: $18,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetGRACE HOUSE OF ITASCA COUNTY: $17,750 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMARCELL SNOWDRIFTERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB: $17,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetGrand Itasca Clinic and Hospital: $16,769 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMACROSTIE ART CENTER: $16,587 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $14,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $12,340 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMART NORTH: $12,210 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS FARMERS MARKET: $11,850 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetMINNESOTA DEER HUNTERS ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLEGAL AID SERVICE OF NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTRIFORM CAMPHILL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetLAWRON TRAIL RIDERS: $10,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetItasca Life Options: $9,837 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetDeer River Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association: $9,500 over 1y, 16% of budgetCOLLEGE OF ST SCHOLASTICA INC: $8,500 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds GRAND RAPIDS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ELDERCIRCLE ↗
  • Who funds FIRST CALL FOR HELP OF ITASCA COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds REIF ARTS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds GREAT TAILS ANIMAL RESCUE ↗
  • Who funds Grand Itasca Foundation ↗
  • Who funds KOOTASCA COMMUNITY ACTION INC ↗
  • Who funds Northland Counseling Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN COMMUNITY RADIO INC ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPOR ↗
  • Who funds Community Cafe Inc ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA COMMUNITY TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA ORCHESTRA & STRINGS PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds Itasca Community College Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BOYS' CLUB OF DULUTH ↗
  • Who funds Itasca Hospice Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA YOUTH FOR CHRIST ↗
  • Who funds NORTH HOMES INC ↗
  • Who funds GRAND RAPIDS AREA LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Itasca County Habitat for Humanity ↗
  • Who funds Itasca County Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds FORWARD HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKES ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA DRIFTSKIPPERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds GRAND RAPIDS BAND BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION ↗

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.

C K Blandin FoundationMinnesota Power Found…Northland FoundationUnited Way of 1000 La…Second Harvest Northl…Second Harvest North …Duluth-Superior Area …Otto Bremer TrustSaint Paul & Minnesot…Smdc Medical CenterUnited Way of Ne Minn…Propel Nonprofits
C K Blandin FoundationMN79.5× affinity37 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: C K Blandin Foundation · Minnesota Power Foundation · Northland Foundation · United Way of 1000 Lakes · Second Harvest Northland · Second Harvest North Central Food Bank · Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Smdc Medical Center · United Way of Ne Minnesota · Propel Nonprofits

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 Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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.

    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 102 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Grand Rapids Area’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