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Marion & Marlene Betten Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Marion & Marlene Betten 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.

$424k
Granted FY2025still arriving
69
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$86k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$1.1MEducation$332kInternational$195kHuman Services$145kHealth$119kHousing & Shelter$117kCommunity Improvement$82kArts & Culture$59kOther$0
02FY2025 · 69 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k63 grants · $213k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $70k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $141k
$3,600
Median grant
14
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CASCADE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH$85,500
CHRISTIAN REFORMED CONFERENCE GROUNDS$55,000
CHILDREN'S HOPE CHEST$33,000
CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH NORTH AMERICA$15,000
Individual grant recipient$12,000
FEEDING AMERICA$10,000
WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES$7,900
ADA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS$7,800
GRANDVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$7,500
INNER CITY CHRISTIAN FEDERATION$7,500
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION$6,500
COMMUNITY CRC$6,500
DAFFODIL MINISTRIES$6,500
PINE REST CHRISTIAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES$6,500
STREAMS$6,000
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 (FY17–25, $85k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $2k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $2k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $2k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $2k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $2k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $2k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $1k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $1k → 11%VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $500 → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $8k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $8k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $7k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $7k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $7k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $7k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $5k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $5k → 11%WEDGEWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $4k → 11%CASCADE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4k → 11%APPALACHIA REACH OUT: $500 → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $4k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $4k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $3k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $3k → 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

ID
IL
MI
SD
IN
OH
PA
CA
CO
VA
NM
TN
NC
SC
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 88 repeat orgs$25k to everyone else

88 repeat relationships: 66 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

88
20

Total granted

$2.4M
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+57%

Still filing today

42%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
EducationReligionInternationalHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterHealthOther
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

  • CH
    Children's HopeChest
    6× · 2017–2025 · $126k · revenue +4%
  • WC
    WEDGWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES
    9× · 2017–2025 · $54k · revenue +52%
  • IC
    ICCF COMMUNITY HOMES
    9× · 2017–2025 · $49k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • SC
    SOUTH CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOLgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $3k · revenue +57%
  • GP
    GOSPEL PARTNER MEDIA WRETCHED RADIO
    one grant, 2020 · $3k
  • CD
    CORAM DEO
    one grant, 2023 · $2k
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
Evangel University

Evangel is a comprehensive christian university that is committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to become spirit empowered servants of god who will impact the church and society globally.

Education
2
Christian Healthcare Ministries Inc

To glorify god, show christian love, and experience god's presence as christians share each other's medical bills.

Religion
3
Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a global community inspired by evangelical conviction to advance the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to elevate the storytellers and sages of the global church.

Religion
4
Regent University

Regent University serves as a center of Christian thought and action to provide excellent education through a Biblical perspective and global context equipping Christian leaders to change the world.

—
5
Christian Mission for the United Nations Community

Christian Mission for the United Nations Community is a ministry aimed at leading the head of every nation and other top leaders to faith in Jesus Christ and helping them to walk in dependence upon God as they discharge the…

—
6
Jewish Voice Ministries Intl

To proclaim the gospel, grow the messianic jewish community and engage the church concerning israel and the jewish people. this is done through education, evangelism and being a movement leader, all with excellence in order to transform…

—
7
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
8
Global Scholars

Global scholars exists so that christian academics are adequately equipped to have a redemptive influence among their students, colleagues, universities and disciplines, at a reasonable cost.

—
9
Reformed University Inc

Provide education in theology, divinity, religious education, ministerial training, business and organizational leadership.

Education
10
Olivet University

Providing guality Christian education to the network generation

Education
11
Global Outreach International Inc

To get the good news to every nation this generation by showing and sharing god's love by providing opportunities and supporting christian missionaries in over fifty seven countries around the world.

International
12
Welch College

Welch college is a christian higher education institution that educates leaders to serve christ, his church, and his world through biblical thought and life

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is David's House Ministries; the most unlike its peers is Aerial Recovery. 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

50 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 50 of the 112 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/50
Grantees still filing
41/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CASCADE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH: $577,250 · OtherCASCADE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCHCHRISTIAN REFORMED CONFERENCE GROUNDS INC: $149,000 · OtherCHRISTIAN REFORMED CONFERENCE GROUNDS INCGRANDVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $63,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $59,000 · OtherCHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH NORTH AMERICA: $58,500 · Other+74 more: $774,850 · Other+74 moreGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $39,800 · EducationGRAND RAPI…Rehoboth Christian School Assoc: $39,700 · EducationRehoboth C…CALVIN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $34,700 · EducationCALVIN THE…CALVIN UNIVERSITY: $32,400 · EducationCALVIN UNI…ALL BELONG: $25,250 · EducationALL BELONGThe Potters House: $18,400 · EducationThe Potter…HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $10,600 · EducationKUYPER COLLEGE: $7,400 · Education+3 more: $6,400 · EducationChildren's HopeChest: $126,495 · InternationalChildren'…PARTNERS WORLDWIDE: $40,800 · InternationalPARTNERS …INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: $34,000 · InternationalINTERNATI…RAFIKI FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 · InternationalICCF COMMUNITY HOMES: $48,500 · Housing & ShelterDaffodil Ministries: $46,500 · Housing & ShelterSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC: $17,100 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $1,000 · Housing & ShelterWEDGWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $54,400 · Human ServicesDEGAGE MINISTRIES: $13,600 · Human ServicesVOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $12,550 · Human ServicesCascade Community Foundation: $3,500 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human ServicesUPPER PENINSULA BIBLE CAMP: $24,250 · ReligionBSF INTERNATIONAL LLC: $21,100 · ReligionSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $8,500 · ReligionGENEVA CAMP & RETREAT CENTER: $7,300 · ReligionLIGHTHOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $4,000 · ReligionPINE REST CHRISTIAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: $27,900 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $7,300 · HealthSPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $5,000 · HealthCherry Street Services Inc: $4,550 · Health
Other$1,682,100Education$214,650International$211,795Housing & Shelter$113,100Human Services$84,550Religion$65,150Health$44,750

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 budgetChildren's HopeChest: $126,495 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetWEDGWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $54,400 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetICCF COMMUNITY HOMES: $48,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetDaffodil Ministries: $46,500 over 3y, 20% of budgetPARTNERS WORLDWIDE: $40,800 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFEEDING AMERICA WEST MICHIGAN: $40,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $39,800 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetRehoboth Christian School Assoc: $39,700 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCALVIN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $34,700 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: $34,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $32,400 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC: $30,100 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPINE REST CHRISTIAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: $27,900 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetALL BELONG: $25,250 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetUPPER PENINSULA BIBLE CAMP: $24,250 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetPregnancy Resource Center: $23,100 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES: $21,600 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBSF INTERNATIONAL LLC: $21,100 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetThe Potters House: $18,400 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC: $17,100 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetDEGAGE MINISTRIES: $13,600 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCRIMINAL JUSTICE CHAPLAINCY: $13,300 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetVOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE: $12,550 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $10,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRAFIKI FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOUR RESCUE: $9,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKUYPER COLLEGE: $7,400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP ROGER: $7,300 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetGENEVA CAMP & RETREAT CENTER: $7,300 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $7,300 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetRIGHT TO LIFE OF MICHIGAN: $6,750 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCherry Street Services Inc: $4,550 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCHAPLAIN SERVICES INC: $4,300 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSpringHill Camps: $4,200 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCascade Community Foundation: $3,500 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetAERIAL RECOVERY: $3,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $2,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRACE ADVENTURES: $2,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetANCHORPOINT CHRISTIAN SCHOOL INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDAVID'S HOUSE MINISTRIES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LUKE SOCIETY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAppalachia Reach Out: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMICHIGAN FAMILY FORUM: $400 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Children's HopeChest ↗
  • Who funds WEDGWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds ICCF COMMUNITY HOMES ↗
  • Who funds Daffodil Ministries ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERS WORLDWIDE ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING AMERICA WEST MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds GRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds Rehoboth Christian School Assoc ↗
  • Who funds CALVIN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds CALVIN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds GUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds PINE REST CHRISTIAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds ALL BELONG ↗
  • Who funds UPPER PENINSULA BIBLE CAMP ↗
  • Who funds Pregnancy Resource Center ↗
  • Who funds MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds BSF INTERNATIONAL LLC ↗
  • Who funds The Potters House ↗
  • Who funds SAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC ↗

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.

Barnabas FoundationGrand Rapids Communit…Douglas & Maria Devos…Peter C & Emajean Coo…Dick and Betsy Devos …Christian Community F…Edgar and Elsa Prince…The Richard and Helen…Buist FoundationCdv5 FoundationWeller Family Foundat…The David and Carol V…
Barnabas FoundationIL51.1× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Barnabas Foundation · Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · Dick and Betsy Devos Family Foundation · Christian Community Foundation Inc · Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation · The Richard and Helen Devos Foundation · Buist Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation · Weller Family Foundation · The David and Carol Van Andel Family 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 Marion & Marlene Betten Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Marion & Marlene Betten Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%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
    1get no government money at all
    9report 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 112 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 Marion & Marlene Betten’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