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Rainbow Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Rainbow Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.1M
Granted FY2020
6
Grants FY2020
1
States reached
$801k
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 2020.

Education$1.1MReligion$129kHuman Services$45kScience & Tech$10kRecreation & Sports$8k
02FY2020 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $274k
  • $250k+1 grant · $801k
$90,037
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CALVIN COLLEGE$801,032
CAMP ROGER$101,082
KALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS$90,037
GRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS$83,056
SAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES$25,021
WELLSPRING LUTHERAN SERVICES$25,000
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 (FY19–20, $28k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%WELLSPRING LUTHERAN SERVICES: $25k → 11%WELLSPRING LUTHERAN SERVICES: $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.
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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 5 repeat orgs$290k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2020, 2 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
4

Total granted

$1.0M
$16k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+83%

Still filing today

80%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $274k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
EducationRecreation & SportsHousing & ShelterHealthHuman 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

  • CU
    CALVIN UNIVERSITY
    4× · 2017–2020 · $916k · revenue +6%
  • LC
    LUTHERAN CHILD & FAMILY SERVICE OF MICHIGAN INC
    2× · 2019–2020 · $28k · revenue +47%
  • KC
    KALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
    2× · 2017–2018 · $23k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • OU
    Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind Incgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +83%
  • SL
    SPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue -32%
  • GH
    Grand Haven Christian Schoolgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +502%
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
Grandville Calvin Christian Schools

Equipping students to serve and glorify God. GCCS offers a Christ-centered education that is grounded in faith, connected through relationships, committed to excellence and prepared for service.

Education
2
Great Lakes Bible College

Great lakes christian college, an institution of higher education affiliated with christian churches/churches of christ, seeks to glorify god by preparing students to be servant-leaders in the church and world.

Education
3
Calvin Christian School of Minneapolis

Avail provides quality K-12 education, which integrates a Christian worldview in supporting parents and partnering with churches to nurture students as disciples of Christ

—
4
Catholic Biblical School of Michigan Ltd

The school provides scripture classes from a Roman Catholic prospective.

—
5
Lakeview Christian Academy Inc

To partner with christian parents to "train young champions for christ - spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically."

—
6
Lakeland Christian Academy Association Inc

The organization exists to provide a biblically centered educational environment so that its students may be equipped to become christ honoring members of their families, churches, and communities.

Education
7
Calvary Christian Schools

Provide an exemplary christ-centered education equipping students with truths, knowledge, skills and values that advance the pursuit of god's purpose for their lives.

Education
8
Christian Heritage School of Longview

To provide excellence in classical christ-centered education, working together with the students' homes, in order to develop within each student the ability to reason biblically while encouraging a desire to savor god and to serve both god…

Education
9
Columbia Christian Schools

Columbia christian schools seeks to provide a christ-centered education focused on excellence in faith, character and academics to students in preschool through 12th grade.

—
10
Calvary Baptist School of Lansdale

Calvary baptist school exists to educate students with a biblical worldview and support families as they train up their children in truth, all to the glory of god.

Education
11
Colorado Christian Academy

Colorado christian academy provides an innovative christ-centered education that prioritizes academic achievements and individual development of the whole child. in relationship with parents, we will build healthy foundations that result…

Education
12
Christian School Association of Ann Arbor

The Christian School Association of Ann Arbor, dba Ann Arbor Christian School, provides Preschool through 10th grade education with a Christian focus to approximately 264 students.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Grand Rapids Christian Schools; the most unlike its peers is Specialized Language Development Center 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

9 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. 9 of the 12 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
7/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CALVIN UNIVERSITY: $915,757 · EducationCALVIN UNIVERSITYGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $83,056 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS+2 more: $26,275 · EducationKALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $90,037 · OtherKALAMAZOO…BIOLOGOS: $17,000 · OtherBIOLOGOS+1 more: $2,500 · OtherCAMP ROGER: $101,082 · Recreation & SportsCAMP ROGE…Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind Inc: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC: $45,021 · Housing & ShelterLUTHERAN CHILD & FAMILY SERVICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $28,000 · Human ServicesSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $5,000 · Health
Education$1,025,088Other$109,537Recreation & Sports$106,082Housing & Shelter$45,021Human Services$28,000Health$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $915,757 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP ROGER: $101,082 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $83,056 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC: $45,021 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetLUTHERAN CHILD & FAMILY SERVICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $28,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetKALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION: $23,275 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGrand Haven Christian School: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

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…The Samuel L Westerma…Barnabas FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …Natl Christian Charit…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI17.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Rapids Community Foundation · The Samuel L Westerman Foundation · Barnabas Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Rainbow Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Rainbow Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%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
    3report 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 12 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Rainbow’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