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Michigan · Private foundation

Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$210k
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
30
Grants FY2024
28
Organizations funded FY2023
7%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2024
$2,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$40,000
Organizations funded a year
28 to 41
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
6
Total assets, FY2024
$1.1M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 7% of the organizations Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 0% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $750 went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23
ReligionPhilanthropyHealthEducationFood & NutritionOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving30$210k17%
FY202328$150k7%
FY202232$162k19%
FY202130$164k10%
FY202031$208k10%
FY201931$155k3%
FY201839$157k15%
FY201741$146kn/a
91% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$595kEducation$272kHealth$132kHuman Services$88kPublic Benefit$55kCrime & Legal$47kYouth Development$22kArts & Culture$17kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
MI
NY
IA
PA
NJ
CO
DC
GA
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Mission India$173,5007n/a
Borculo Christian School$157,19185%
Ottawa Reformed Church$156,6758n/a
Northwestern College$92,00080%
Society for Christian Instruction Zeeland$74,67780%
The Western Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in America$70,0003n/a
Focus on the Family$56,0008n/a
Friends of American Mission Hospital Inc$50,000120%
Museum of the Bible$50,00020%
Multiplication Network Ministries$26,00050%
Show all 43 grantees
All grantees of Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Mission India$173,5007n/a
Borculo Christian School$157,19185%
Ottawa Reformed Church$156,6758n/a
Northwestern College$92,00080%
Society for Christian Instruction Zeeland$74,67780%
The Western Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in America$70,0003n/a
Focus on the Family$56,0008n/a
Friends of American Mission Hospital Inc$50,000120%
Museum of the Bible$50,00020%
Multiplication Network Ministries$26,00050%
Hospice of Holland Inc$20,75080%
Cran-Hill Ministries$17,70070%
General Synod Council of the Reformed Church in America$16,0001n/a
Midtown Counseling Services$13,30050%
Lakeshore Pregnancy Center Inc$12,75080%
Operation Mobilization$10,5006n/a
Kids Hope USA$9,00080%
Out Side in Inc$8,55051%
Shields of Hope$8,25064%
Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc$8,0002n/a
Benjamin's Hope$8,00080%
Words of Hope Inc$8,0002n/a
Hope College$7,30080%
Resilience Advocates for Ending Violence$5,89530%
Send International Inc$4,0004n/a
Odc Network$3,00030%
Kids' Food Basket Inc$3,00020%
Mercy Health Partners$2,50010%
Sportspersons Ministries Intl$2,50022%
McBain Rural Agricultural School Foundation$2,50011%
Stephen's Children Foundation Inc$1,50020%
Nestlings$1,50040%
Lakeshore Rescue Missions$1,5002n/a
Grand Valley State University$1,4005n/a
Critter Barn$1,00010%
Barnabas Ministries$1,00010%
The Family Hope Foundation Inc$1,00011%
3sixty$60010%
Young Life$50010%
Holland Area Arts Council$49010%
Mikas Lunch Inc$30010%
Belay Youth Ministry$25010%
Pure Hope Foundation$15010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 24 recipients with no EIN on record ($263k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBorculo Christian School: $157,191 over 8y, 4.6% of budgetNorthwestern College: $92,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSociety for Christian Instruction Zeeland: $74,677 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetFriends of American Mission Hospital Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetMuseum of the Bible: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMultiplication Network Ministries: $26,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHospice of Holland Inc: $20,750 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCran-Hill Ministries: $17,700 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetMidtown Counseling Services: $13,300 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLakeshore Pregnancy Center Inc: $12,750 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetKids Hope USA: $9,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetOut Side in Inc: $8,550 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetShields of Hope: $8,250 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetBenjamin's Hope: $8,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHope College: $7,300 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetResilience Advocates for Ending Violence: $5,895 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOdc Network: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKids' Food Basket Inc: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Health Partners: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSportspersons Ministries Intl: $2,500 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetMcBain Rural Agricultural School Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetStephen's Children Foundation Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNestlings: $1,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCritter Barn: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBarnabas Ministries: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Family Hope Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budget3sixty: $600 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYoung Life: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHolland Area Arts Council: $490 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMikas Lunch Inc: $300 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBelay Youth Ministry: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPure Hope Foundation: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 32.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area IncMI44.3× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area Inc · Marvin G & Jerene L Dewitt Family Foundation · De Witt Families Conduit Foundation · Grand Haven Area Community Foundation Inc · Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation · Douglas & Sandra Dekock Family Foun · Barnabas Foundation · Howard Miller Foundation · Onequest Foundation · Jim and Ginger Jurries Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · John and Judy Spoelhof 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.

Compare Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Merle & Sheri Dewitt 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.

About Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation

How much does Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation give?
Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation reported 30 grants totaling $210,080 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 28 and 41 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Religion (44%), Education (20%), Health (10%).
Who are Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Mission India ($174k), Borculo Christian School ($157k), Ottawa Reformed Church ($157k).
Does Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 7% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area Inc, Marvin G & Jerene L Dewitt Family Foundation, De Witt Families Conduit Foundation.
Where is Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation based?
Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation is based in MI.

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 67 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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