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The Bellis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bellis 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.

$33M
Granted FY2024still arriving
20
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$8.2M
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 2024.

Philanthropy$32MHealth$505kReligion$147kAnimals$100kRecreation & Sports$98kEducation$60kHuman Services$44kArts & Culture$32kOther$0
02FY2024 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k9 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $89k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+4 grants · $32M
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$597k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND A$8,159,937
LAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND C$8,101,627
LAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND D$8,097,597
LAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND B$8,007,566
UNITED MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE FOUND$50,000
Individual grant recipient$27,000
THE ZEKELMAN HOLOCAUST CENTER$17,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
BLUE GRASS CENTER FOR AUSTIM$10,000
KEVIN'S SONG$10,000
LIVING AND LEARNING ENRICHMENT CTR$5,000
BEYOND BASICS$5,000
KEEPER KITTIES RESCUE$5,000
SOUTHWEST DETROIT BUSINESS ASSOCIAT$3,500
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 (FY18–24, $125k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 1% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOMELESS ACTION NEWTORK OF DETROIT: $1k → 21%EASTERSEALS MICHIGAN: $65k → 8%EASTERSEALS MICHIGAN: $40k → 8%EASTERSEALS MICHIGAN: $5k → 8%EASTERSEALS MICHIGAN: $4k → 8%EASTERSEALS MICHIGAN: $3k → 8%EASTERSEALS MICHIGAN: $2k → 8%LIVING AND LEARNING ENRICHMENT CTR: $5k → 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

WI
MI
NY
IN
OH
PA
CO
KY
MD
TN
GA
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.

2%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$692k · 20 repeat orgs$33M to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
24

Total granted

$692k
$197k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+21%

Still filing today

65%
21%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $32M 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
HealthHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsAnimalsReligionOther
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

  • EM
    EASTERSEALS MORC HEALTH CARE INC
    6× · 2018–2023 · $119k · revenue +160%
  • CM
    Colorado Mountain Bike Association
    3× · 2021–2023 · $98k · revenue +90%
  • RM
    ROCKY MOUNTAIN FELINE RESCUE INC
    2× · 2021–2023 · $58k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $85k · revenue +29%
  • FH
    FARBER HEBREW SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $15k
  • DE
    DETROIT EDUCATION SOCIETY
    one grant, 2019 · $15k
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
About Face Detroit
—
2
The Michigan Glass Project
Public Benefit
3
Business Leaders for Michigan

Business leaders for michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization driven by ceos from the state's leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.…

—
4
Business Leaders for Michigan Foundation

Business leaders for michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization driven by ceos from the state's leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.…

Community Improvement
5
Detroit Donates Inc
Housing & Shelter
6
Michigan Enviromental Council

Informing and educating the public and decision makers about environmental issues.

Environment
7
Endeavor Detroit

Endeavor Detroit is leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement in Michigan and the wider Great Lakes region, catalyzing long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and supporting the best high-impact entrepreneurs in the…

Community Improvement
8
Detroit Regional Chamber

The chamber is the voice for business and works to power the economy for southeast michigan through public policy, advocacy and leading regional economic development and talent initiatives.

—
9
Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

Dedicated to the empowerment of all the state's survivors of domestic and sexual violence. our mission is to develop and promote efforts aimed at the elimination of all domestic and sexual violence in michigan.

—
10
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

To promote conditions favorable to job creation and business success in michigan.

—
11
Detroit Food Policy Council

The organization was founded by a group of concerned citizens, working in cooperation with the detroit city council, to shape food policy and to work for a more localized, more just, and environmentally friendly food system. the…

Food & Nutrition
12
Say Detroit

Providing pathways to success for detroiters in need.

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Veterans Support Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Colorado Mountain Bike Association. 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

29 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. 29 of the 63 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/29
Grantees still filing
17/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND A: $8,159,937 · OtherLAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND ALAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND C: $8,101,627 · OtherLAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND CLAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND D: $8,097,597 · OtherLAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND DLAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND B: $8,007,566 · OtherLAWRENCE BELLIS GIFT FUND B+40 more: $346,530 · OtherST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $85,000 · HealthUNITED MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $65,000 · HealthWAYNE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $32,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $14,000 · HealthKEVINS SONG A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY EDUCATION ON DEPRESSION & SUICIDE: $10,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthEASTERSEALS MORC HEALTH CARE INC: $118,500 · Human ServicesTURNING POINT INC: $14,500 · Human ServicesLIVING & LEARNING ENRICHMENT CENTER: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesColorado Mountain Bike Association: $97,500 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $2,000 · Recreation & SportsROCKY MOUNTAIN FELINE RESCUE INC: $57,500 · Animals+1 more: $500 · AnimalsINTERREGNUM FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · ReligionWHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE: $20,000 · ReligionMERCY EDUCATION PROJECT: $25,000 · EducationBEYOND BASICS: $5,000 · Education
Other$32,713,257Health$281,000Human Services$139,000Recreation & Sports$99,500Animals$58,000Religion$55,000Education$30,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetEASTERSEALS MORC HEALTH CARE INC: $118,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetColorado Mountain Bike Association: $97,500 over 3y, 6.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $85,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $65,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN FELINE RESCUE INC: $57,500 over 2y, 6.5% of budgetINTERREGNUM FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 3y, 21% of budgetWAYNE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $32,000 over 4y, 18% of budgetMERCY EDUCATION PROJECT: $25,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetWHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE: $20,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetHOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER INC: $17,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTURNING POINT INC: $14,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $14,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE US CHARITABLE GIFT TRUST: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKEVINS SONG A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY EDUCATION ON DEPRESSION & SUICIDE: $10,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetALS OF MICHIGAN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLIVING & LEARNING ENRICHMENT CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBEYOND BASICS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAVEN FOUNDATION: $3,700 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSouthWest Detroit Business Association: $3,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGRACE CENTERS OF HOPE: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW DETROIT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBUTTERFLY COLLECTIVE: $2,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetHomeless Action Network of Detroit: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDOG AIDE: $500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetVETERANS SUPPORT FOUNDATION: $100 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 EASTERSEALS MORC HEALTH CARE INC ↗
  • Who funds Colorado Mountain Bike Association ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN FELINE RESCUE INC ↗
  • Who funds INTERREGNUM FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds WAYNE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MERCY EDUCATION PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE ↗
  • Who funds HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds TURNING POINT INC ↗
  • Who funds BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds THE US CHARITABLE GIFT TRUST ↗
  • Who funds KEVINS SONG A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY EDUCATION ON DEPRESSION & SUICIDE ↗
  • Who funds ALS OF MICHIGAN INC ↗
  • Who funds LIVING & LEARNING ENRICHMENT CENTER ↗
  • Who funds BEYOND BASICS ↗

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.

Community Foundation …DTE Energy FoundationRaymond James Charita…The Ralph C Wilson Jr…Ford PhilanthropyHenry Ford Southeast …United Way for Southe…The Kresge FoundationBaird Foundation IncJpmorgan Chase Founda…Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…
Community Foundation for Southeast MichiganMI24.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · DTE Energy Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · The Ralph C Wilson Jr Foundation · Ford Philanthropy · Henry Ford Southeast Michigan Community Health · United Way for Southeastern Michigan · The Kresge Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

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 The Bellis Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bellis Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get 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 · 0–75%
    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 63 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 Bellis’ 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