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Plinth

· Private foundation

Simon and Mary Vanderkooy 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.

$215k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What you fund
0195% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Philanthropy$295kHuman Services$246kReligion$187kHealth$142kInternational$140kEducation$70kFood & Nutrition$44kHousing & Shelter$32kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $205k
$13,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Grand Rapids Community Fnd$30,000
Luke Society$20,000
Conductive Learning Center$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
World Renew$20,000
Salvation Army$13,000
Guiding Light Mission$13,000
Tunnel to Tower Foundation$13,000
In the Image$13,000
Mel Trotter Mission$13,000
Feeding America$10,000
Institute of Contextual Health$10,000
Daffodil Ministries$10,000
Life Water International$7,500
Individual grant recipient$2,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY21–22, $30k) 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 your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Alpha Grand Rapids: $15k → 11%Alpha Grand Rapids: $15k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$868k · 17 repeat orgs$80k to everyone else

17 repeat relationships — 12 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
8

Total granted

$868k
$70k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+41%

Still filing today

71%
13%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHousing & ShelterHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentHealthEnvironmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • WR
    World Renew
    6× · 2020–2025 · $110k · revenue +46%
  • TL
    THE LUKE SOCIETY INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $110k · revenue +14%
  • STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION
    4× · 2022–2025 · $45k · revenue +83%

Funded once

  • AM
    Alpha Ministries
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
  • GR
    Grand Rapids Community College FND
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • GC
    GR Community College Fnd
    one grant, 2020 · $10k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
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
2
Next Worldwide Inc

With a desire to see the Gospel proclaimed in all nations, we exist to make and multiply disciples of the next generation through the vehicles of church-planting missions and missional leadership training.

3
Servenow

Sharing Christ's Passion for the world by serving the most vulnerable through national churches and leaders.

Human Services
4
Life House Inc

Life house works to reconnect homeless and street youth to their dreams with a vision that no youth will be left homeless, alone, uncared for, or fending for themselves on the streets. our comprehensive service model aims to engage and…

Youth Development
5
Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County

Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County D/B/A Catholic Charities Washtenaw County provides diverse, holistic social services including adoption and pregnancy counseling, food and basic needs assistance, domestic and child abuse…

6
Christian Living Communities

Christian living communities enriches the quality and dignity of life for older adults through services and care that reflect christian love, respect, and compassion toward each individual.

Housing & Shelter
7
Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Metro Atlanta Inc

Habitat for humanity of northwest metro atlanta, inc. is an affiliate of the americus-based habitat for humanity international. habitat for humanity of northwest metro atlanta, inc. is an ecumenical, christian housing ministry dedicated to…

8
Life Network

Life Network provides support and mentoring to women and men facing unexpected pregnancies; offers parenting support, material resources, and referrals; and promotes sexual risk avoidance through education to foster a culture that values…

Health
9
Water for Good

Water for good's mission is to transform lives through sustainable access to safe water as well as improved sanitation and hygiene in the places that need it most.

International
10
Miracle Hill Ministries Inc

Miracle hill ministries is committed to life transformation for children and adults experiencing homelessness. more information and program outcomes may be found at www.miraclehill.org.

Human Services
11
Alongside Inc

Restore hope, purpose, passion and relationships among Christian leaders who are making an impact around the world.

Religion
12
Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington

Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington provides the "Next Step" program as well as other employment and social services. The Next Step Program is a self-sufficiency program which allows participants to set life improvement goals for…

Human Services

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Guiding Light Mission Inc and the most unlike its peers is Alpha Grand Rapids. 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

15 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 15 of the 28 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
8/15
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

World Renew — $110,000 · OtherWorld RenewTHE LUKE SOCIETY INC — $110,000 · OtherTHE LUKE SOCIETY INCMATTHEW 2540 HEARTSIDE INC — $77,000 · OtherMATTHEW 2540 HEARTSIDE INCSALVATION ARMY — $67,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYMel Trotter Mission — $62,000 · OtherMel Trotter MissionGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC — $62,000 · OtherGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INCIndividual grant recipient — $57,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFEEDING AMERICA WEST MICHIGAN — $44,000 · OtherFEEDING AMERICA WEST MICHIGAN+11 more — $114,500 · Other+11 moreGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $290,000 · PhilanthropyGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOU…Conductive Learning Center of North America — $110,000 · EducationConductive Lea…STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION — $45,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER…Alpha Grand Rapids — $30,000 · Human ServicesDaffodil Ministries — $20,000 · Housing & ShelterSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC — $10,000 · Housing & ShelterNEW CITY NEIGHBORS — $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIFEWATER INC — $7,500 · EnvironmentEMMANUEL HOSPICE — $1,500 · Health
Other$703,500Philanthropy$290,000Education$155,000Human Services$30,000Housing & Shelter$30,000Youth Development$20,000Environment$7,500Health$1,500

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $290,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetConductive Learning Center of North America — $110,000 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetWorld Renew — $110,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LUKE SOCIETY INC — $110,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetMATTHEW 2540 HEARTSIDE INC — $77,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC — $62,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION — $45,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING AMERICA WEST MICHIGAN — $44,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAlpha Grand Rapids — $30,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetDaffodil Ministries — $20,000 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetNEW CITY NEIGHBORS — $20,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC — $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEMMANUEL HOSPICE — $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds Conductive Learning Center of North America
  • Who funds World Renew
  • Who funds THE LUKE SOCIETY INC
  • Who funds MATTHEW 2540 HEARTSIDE INC
  • Who funds GUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION
  • Who funds FEEDING AMERICA WEST MICHIGAN
  • Who funds Alpha Grand Rapids
  • Who funds Daffodil Ministries
  • Who funds NEW CITY NEIGHBORS
  • Who funds SAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC
  • Who funds MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES
  • Who funds LIFEWATER INC
  • Who funds EMMANUEL HOSPICE

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI21.7× affinity8 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 · The Meijer Foundation · Heart of West Michigan United Way · Christian Community Foundation Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Jct Foundation · Marion & Marlene Betten Foundation · Weller Family Foundation · The Sebastian Foundation · Buist Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Simon and Mary Vanderkooy Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%your 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
    4report 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, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 28 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph