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Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation at a glance

· 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 FY2024still arriving
30
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% 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
02FY2024 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k22 grants · $49k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $161k
$2,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE$40,000
OTTAWA REFORMED CHURCH$31,000
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE$25,000
WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY$25,000
MISSION INDIA$10,000
MULTIPLICATION NETWORK$10,000
FOCUS ON THE FAMILY$10,000
AMERICAN VALUES$10,000
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER$9,780
Individual grant recipient$8,500
ZEELAND CHRISTIAN$5,500
BORCULO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$4,500
BLVD CHURCH$2,000
HOSPICE OF HOLLAND$2,000
UPWARD BOUND$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 (FY17–24, $61k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, 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%OUT SIDE IN INC: $3k → 8%OUT SIDE IN INC: $2k → 8%OUT SIDE IN INC: $2k → 8%OUT SIDE IN INC: $1k → 8%OUT SIDE IN INC: $750 → 8%MIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES: $11k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $3k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $3k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $3k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $3k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $3k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $2k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $2k → 10%HOSPICE OF HOLLAND: $2k → 10%MIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES: $2k → 10%CENTER FOR WOMEN IN TRANSITION: $2k → 8%CENTER FOR WOMEN IN TRANSITION: $2k → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $2k → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $2k → 8%CENTER FOR WOMEN IN TRANSITION: $2k → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $1k → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $1k → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $500 → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $500 → 8%3SIXTY: $600 → 10%NESTLINGS DIAPER BANK: $500 → 8%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $500 → 8%MIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES: $300 → 10%NESTLINGS DIAPER BANK: $500 → 8%MIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES: $250 → 10%MIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES: $250 → 10%BENJAMIN'S HOPE: $500 → 8%NESTLINGS DIAPER BANK: $250 → 8%NESTLINGS DIAPER BANK: $250 → 8%FAMILY HOPE FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%CRITTER BARN: $1k → 8%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

IL
MI
NY
IA
PA
NJ
CO
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 48 repeat orgs$82k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

48 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2024, 23 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
14

Total granted

$1.3M
$77k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+13%

Still filing today

42%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k 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 ServicesEducationReligionHealthFood & NutritionPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BC
    BORCULO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
    8× · 2017–2024 · $157k · revenue +220%
  • NC
    NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $92k · revenue +26%
  • SF
    Society for Christian Instruction Zeeland
    8× · 2017–2024 · $75k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF AMERICAN MISSION HOSPITAL INC
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue -92%
  • GS
    GENERAL SYNOD COUNCIL OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA
    one grant, 2018 · $16k
  • MH
    MERCY HEALTH PARTNERS
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +11%
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
Beacon of Hope

Beacon of hope's mission is to be god's hand offering christ-centered, inclusive, accessible and professional mental health counseling.

Religion
2
Arborbrook Christian Academy

Arborbrook Christian Academy partners with parents to equip, empower, and encourage students to cultivate godly character, pursue life-long learning, and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Education
3
Heritage Christian School

At heritage christian school, we exist to serve christ by partnering with parents to provide biblically faithful, academically excellent education.

—
4
Summit Classical Christian School

Summit Classical Christian School is a PreK-12 school that exists to cultivate generations of joyful disciples of Christ by partnering with faithful Christian families to educate their children from a Biblical worldview using classical…

Education
5
Trinity Oaks Christian Academy

Trinity oaks christian academny partners with the christian home and church in the training of children maximizing their potential to lead christian lives according to biblical standards.

Education
6
Hope Family Ministries Inc

To provide biblical based counseling

Religion
7
Harvest Connection

Bring connection to churches for ministry and education in local and global mission

Religion
8
Thrive Ministries Inc

Faith-based education and care of children

Education
9
Horizon Christian School

Private, christian education: pre-kindergarten - 12th grade. our mission is to build a solid foundation for life by providing students with an excellent education that integrates academic achievement, biblical truth, and christ-like…

Education
10
Heritage Christian Schools Inc

The mission of heritage christian school is to glorify god through the discipleship of students and the pursuit of excellence in education with the bible as the foundation and jesus christ as our focus.

Education
11
Landmark Christian School

Landmark christian school partners with christian families by equipping college-bound students to embrace a christ-centered worldview, grow as servant leaders, and steward god's unique purpose for their lives.

—
12
Safe Haven Counseling Associates in

Biblical counseling

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids' Food Basket Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mikas Lunch Inc. 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

32 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. 32 of the 67 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)
32/32
Grantees still filing
24/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MISSION INDIA: $173,500 · OtherMISSION INDIABORCULO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $157,191 · OtherBORCULO CHRISTIAN SCHOOLOTTAWA REFORMED CHURCH: $156,675 · OtherOTTAWA REFORMED CHURCHIndividual grant recipient: $70,600 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA: $70,000 · OtherTHE WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICAFOCUS ON THE FAMILY: $56,000 · OtherFOCUS ON THE FAMILYAMERICAN VALUES: $55,000 · OtherAMERICAN VALUESMUSEUM OF THE BIBLE: $50,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $46,992 · Other+34 more: $164,492 · Other+34 moreNORTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $92,000 · EducationNORTHWESTERN CO…Society for Christian Instruction Zeeland: $74,677 · EducationSociety for Chr…Kids Hope USA: $9,000 · EducationHOPE COLLEGE: $7,300 · Education+1 more: $2,500 · EducationFRIENDS OF AMERICAN MISSION HOSPITAL INC: $50,000 · HealthLAKESHORE PREGNANCY CENTER INC: $12,750 · HealthHOSPICE OF HOLLAND INC: $20,750 · Human ServicesMIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES: $13,300 · Human ServicesOUT SIDE IN INC: $8,550 · Human ServicesBENJAMIN'S HOPE: $8,000 · Human ServicesRESILIENCE ADVOCATES FOR ENDING VIOLENCE: $5,895 · Human Services+4 more: $4,100 · Human ServicesMULTIPLICATION NETWORK MINISTRIES: $26,000 · ReligionSPORTSPERSONS MINISTRIES INTL: $2,500 · ReligionBARNABAS MINISTRIES: $1,000 · Religion+1 more: $250 · ReligionSHIELDS OF HOPE: $8,250 · PhilanthropySTEPHEN'S CHILDREN FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 · PhilanthropyKIDS' FOOD BASKET INC: $3,000 · Food & NutritionMIKAS LUNCH INC: $300 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,000,450Education$185,477Health$62,750Human Services$60,595Religion$29,750Philanthropy$9,750Food & Nutrition$3,300

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 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
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 BORCULO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Society for Christian Instruction Zeeland ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF AMERICAN MISSION HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE ↗
  • Who funds MULTIPLICATION NETWORK MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF HOLLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds CRAN-HILL MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds MIDTOWN COUNSELING SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds LAKESHORE PREGNANCY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Kids Hope USA ↗
  • Who funds OUT SIDE IN INC ↗
  • Who funds SHIELDS OF HOPE ↗
  • Who funds BENJAMIN'S HOPE ↗
  • Who funds HOPE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds RESILIENCE ADVOCATES FOR ENDING VIOLENCE ↗

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 Foundat…Marvin G & Jerene L D…De Witt Families Cond…Grand Haven Area Comm…Edgar and Elsa Prince…Douglas & Sandra Deko…Barnabas FoundationHoward Miller Foundat…Onequest FoundationJim and Ginger Jurrie…Peter C & Emajean Coo…John and Judy Spoelho…
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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Merle & Sheri Dewitt Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merle & Sheri Dewitt 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 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.

    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

    Play a game based on Merle & Sheri Dewitt’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