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Jack and Lija Romence Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Jack and Lija Romence 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.

$257k
Granted FY2025still arriving
32
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$203kHealth$153kInternational$135kHuman Services$92kReligion$39kScience & Tech$38kArts & Culture$26kCrime & Legal$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 32 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k24 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $175k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$1,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CURE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS$50,000
HELEN DEVOS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$45,000
POTTERS HOUSE$40,000
VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE$20,000
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL$20,000
COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES$20,000
DA BLODGETT ST JOHNS HOME$20,000
GRAND VALLEY UNIVERSITY$10,000
UNITY SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY CHURCH$5,000
MAP INTERNATIONAL$4,000
PROJECT HOPE$4,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$2,000
FIRST HAND FOUNDATION$2,000
SALVATION ARMY$2,000
LATVIAN CLUB OF SAGINAW$1,500
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 (FY17–25, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 1% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL: $100 → 14%CHRISTIAN APPALACHIAN PROJECT: $100 → 26%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $11k → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $1k → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $500 → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $500 → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $500 → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $500 → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $500 → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $100 → 11%YMCA OF GREATER GRAND RAPIDS: $200 → 11%YMCA OF GREATER GRAND RAPIDS: $100 → 11%YMCA OF GREATER GRAND RAPIDS: $100 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
SD
IA
CA
CO
NE
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
TN
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$614k · 51 repeat orgs$101k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +38% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

51 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 27 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
38

Total granted

$614k
$29k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+24%

Still filing today

55%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $72k 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
InternationalEducationHealthEnvironmentPublic BenefitHuman ServicesOther
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

  • TP
    The Potters House
    5× · 2021–2025 · $90k · revenue +72%
  • CU
    CALVIN UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2017–2024 · $80k · revenue +6%
  • VA
    VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE
    8× · 2017–2025 · $38k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • DC
    DEVOS CHILDRENS HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • PN
    PROJECT NEW HOPE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +152%
  • CM
    CARIBBEAN MEDICAL AND HUMANITARIAN RELIEF CORPgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $1k · revenue +86%
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
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
2
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
3
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
4
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
5
Alight

Alight builds a meaningful life for and with the displaced. not simply addressing basic needs, but building a life filled with joy, dignity, connection, and purpose. we walk with them along their entire journey of displacement and deliver…

International
6
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
7
Corus International Inc

TO MANAGE AN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH, AND RELIEF FOCUSED FAMILY OF ORGANIZATIONS HELPING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES LIFT THEMSELVES OUT OF POVERTY, SUPPORT WELL-BEING OF INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES, AND PROVIDE…

Human Services
8
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
9
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
10
People Inc

People inc. provides health and human services that enrich lives and communities through innovation and supportive services. with a goal to help people achieve greater independence and quality of life, people inc. provides day,…

Human Services
11
Highmark Health

As the parent entity of a blended health organization, highmark health seeks to improve the health and well-being of the people and communities it serves by providing affordable, accessible and high-quality healthcare.

Health
12
Central Maine Healthcare Corporation

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustful environment through the expertise, committment, and compassion of our family of caregivers.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Catholic Medical Mission Board Inc; the most unlike its peers is Kent Medical Foundation. 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

54 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. 54 of the 100 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/54
Grantees still filing
44/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DA BLODGETT - ST JOHN'S: $67,500 · OtherDA BLODGETT - ST JOHN'SCURE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS: $50,000 · OtherCURE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITALSHELEN DEVOS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $45,150 · OtherHELEN DEVOS CHILDREN'S HOSPITALCURE INTERNATIONAL CHILDRES HOSPITA: $41,200 · OtherCURE INTERNATIONAL CHILDRES HOSPITASPECTRUM HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherSPECTRUM HEALTH CARE FOUNDATIONCASCADE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: $26,450 · OtherCASCADE CHRISTIAN CHURCHLATVIAN CLUB OF SAGINAW: $22,600 · OtherLATVIAN CLUB OF SAGINAWCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES: $20,000 · Other+55 more: $111,725 · Other+55 moreThe Potters House: $90,000 · EducationThe Potters HouseCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $80,000 · EducationCALVIN UNIVERSITY+7 more: $6,900 · EducationVAN ANDEL INSTITUTE: $38,300 · PhilanthropyORACLE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $8,020 · PhilanthropyGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $31,500 · HealthPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $5,250 · Health+5 more: $1,550 · HealthMAP International Inc: $13,100 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $6,700 · InternationalLUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC: $1,200 · InternationalCARIBBEAN MEDICAL AND HUMANITARIAN RELIEF CORP: $1,160 · International+5 more: $600 · InternationalHospice of Michigan Inc: $14,100 · Human Services+3 more: $600 · Human ServicesPROJECT NEW HOPE INC: $10,000 · Public Benefit+4 more: $600 · Public Benefit
Other$414,625Education$176,900Philanthropy$51,320Health$38,300International$22,760Human Services$14,700Public Benefit$10,600

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 budgetThe Potters House: $90,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $80,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDA BLODGETT - ST JOHN'S: $67,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetVAN ANDEL INSTITUTE: $38,300 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $31,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHospice of Michigan Inc: $14,100 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMAP International Inc: $13,100 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT NEW HOPE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetORACLE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $8,020 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $6,700 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES: $6,450 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSUSAN MAST ALS FOUNDATION: $6,360 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $5,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $5,250 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB GRAND RAPIDS: $2,800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC: $2,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALICE LLOYD COLLEGE: $2,100 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC: $2,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE COLLEGE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHELP Pregnancy Crisis Aid Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetKent Medical Foundation: $1,300 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetLUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC: $1,200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCARIBBEAN MEDICAL AND HUMANITARIAN RELIEF CORP: $1,160 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetEAST GRAND RAPIDS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALANO CLUB OF KENT COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $770 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWEST MICHIGAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY INC DBA FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREADING IS FUNDAMENTAL INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBEREA COLLEGE: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Grand Rapids (3019): $400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMACKINAC CENTER: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Corps: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUCKNER INTERNATIONAL: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC MEDICAL MISSION BOARD INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN APPALACHIAN PROJECT INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $100 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 The Potters House ↗
  • Who funds CALVIN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds DA BLODGETT - ST JOHN'S ↗
  • Who funds VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Hospice of Michigan Inc ↗
  • Who funds MAP International Inc ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT NEW HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds ORACLE HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds SUSAN MAST ALS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GILDA'S CLUB GRAND RAPIDS ↗
  • Who funds SAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds ALICE LLOYD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds GUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds HELP Pregnancy Crisis Aid Inc ↗
  • Who funds Kent Medical Foundation ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC ↗
  • Who funds CARIBBEAN MEDICAL AND HUMANITARIAN RELIEF CORP ↗

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…Peter C & Emajean Coo…Douglas & Maria Devos…Cdv5 FoundationThe Meijer FoundationDick and Betsy Devos …Heart of West Michiga…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Jct FoundationThe Mercantile Bank F…The David and Carol V…Steve & Amy Van Andel…
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI27.5× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation · The Meijer Foundation · Dick and Betsy Devos Family Foundation · Heart of West Michigan United Way · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Jct Foundation · The Mercantile Bank Foundation · The David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation · Steve & Amy Van Andel 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 Jack and Lija Romence Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Jack and Lija Romence Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 47%
  • Mercy Corps: 47% of income from government
  • Lutheran World Relief Inc: 47% of income from government
  • The National Federation of the Blind: 2% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 100 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 Jack and Lija Romence 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