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The Lawrence and Sylvia Wong Foundation C/O James Vanderroest at a glance

· Private foundation

The Lawrence and Sylvia Wong Foundation C/O James Vanderroest

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$185k
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Environment$1.7MYouth Development$293kArts & Culture$258kEducation$166kReligion$96kFood & Nutrition$80kHealth$32kPhilanthropy$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k21 grants · $81k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $104k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT$18,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR$16,000
READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO$15,000
OPEN DOORS$12,000
CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (OPER)$12,000
GIRSL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN$11,000
FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN$10,000
KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY$10,000
CRESCENDO MUSIC ACADEMY$8,000
KALAMAZOO INSTITUTE OF ARTS$6,000
KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE$6,000
FOX MUSIC CENTER$6,000
KALAMAZOO NATURE CENTER$5,000
ST JOESEPH COUNTY UNITED WAY$5,000
MICHIGAN CROSSROADS COUNCIL$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%OPEN DOORS: $12k → 12%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $12k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR: $20k → 15%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (OPER): $12k → 10%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $12k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR: $20k → 15%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PROGRAM): $12k → 10%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $12k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR: $16k → 15%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PROGRAM): $12k → 10%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $10k → 14%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR: $16k → 15%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PROGRAM): $12k → 10%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $10k → 14%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR: $12k → 15%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PROGRAM): $12k → 10%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $10k → 14%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BENTON HARBOR: $12k → 15%CARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PROGRAM): $12k → 10%THE OPEN DOOR: $10k → 12%FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $10k → 14%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $10k → 14%THE OPEN DOOR: $10k → 12%FOOD BANK OF SOUTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $10k → 14%THE OPEN DOOR: $10k → 12%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $10k → 12%OPEN DOORS: $10k → 12%CRESCENDO MUSIC ACADEMY: $8k → 12%KALAMAZOO NATURE CENTER: $1.5M → 12%KALAMAZOO NATURE CENTER: $85k → 12%WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $18k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $15k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $15k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $15k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $15k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $15k → 12%GIRSL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $11k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $10k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $10k → 12%READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $10k → 12%GIRSL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $9k → 12%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.6M · 31 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +135% since the first grant, against +115% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
1

Total granted

$2.6M
$6k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+135%
+115%

Still filing today

45%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $18k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • KN
    Kalamazoo Nature Center
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +254%
  • RA
    READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO
    8× · 2018–2025 · $105k · revenue +135%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
    6× · 2020–2025 · $96k · revenue +237%

Funded once

  • WM
    WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $6k · revenue +115%
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
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
2
The Northern Michigan University Foundation

The nmu foundation will establish and foster relationships to generate resources that benefit the strategic goals of northern michigan university.

Education
3
Kalamazoo College

The mission of kalamazoo college is to prepare its graduates to better understand, live sucessfully within, and provide enlightened leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world. as a highly selective, nationally renowened…

Education
4
Leelanau Conservancy

To conserve the land, water and scenic character of leelanau county, and to provide educational programs to develop an understanding and appreciation of leelanau county's natural heritage.

Environment
5
Michigan Water Environment Association

Be and create stewards for the water environment of michigan. provide high quality education for michigan's water professionals. educate and inform policy makers and the general public. promote scientifically sound environmental practices…

Environment
6
Kalamazoo County Humane Society

The mission of the kalamazoo humane society is to nuture the wellbeing of animals and people in our communities.

Animals
7
Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy

To conserve natural land and open space - including forests, wetlands, meadows, agricultural lands, and places of scenic beauty - to provide habitat for wildlife and to enrich the lives of people.

Environment
8
Michigan Science Center

The mission of the michigan science center is to inspire curious minds of all ages to discover, explore and appreciate science, technology, engineering and math in a creative, dynamic learning environment.

Education
9
Legacy Land Conservancy

Safeguard southern michigan's land and water to support diverse, resilient, and thriving communities - forever

Environment
10
Lake Michigan Bird Observatory

Bird research and conservation in the western lake michigan region of the united states.

—
11
Six Rivers Land Conservancy Fka Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy

To conserve, sustain, and connect natural areas, land, and waters that make the places we live special

Environment
12
Keweenaw Land Trust Inc

Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT) is a community partner protecting land, water and quality of life through conservation, stewardship and nature connections serving the six western counties of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. KLT is a qualified…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southwest Michigan Land Conservency Inc; the most unlike its peers is University of Michigan. 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

18 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. 18 of the 37 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)
18/18
Grantees still filing
14/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Kalamazoo Nature Center: $1,630,000 · EnvironmentKalamazoo Nature Center+2 more: $21,500 · EnvironmentKALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY: $85,000 · OtherKALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARYSOUTH MICHIGAN FOOD BANK: $75,000 · OtherSOUTH MICHIGAN FOOD BANKCRESCENDO MUSIC ACADEMY: $72,000 · OtherCRESCENDO MUSIC ACADEMYCARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PROGRAM): $62,000 · OtherCARNEGIE CENTER FOR ARTS (PRO…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $54,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYTHE OPEN DOOR: $44,000 · OtherTHE OPEN DOORCARNEGIE CENTER COUNCIL FOR THE ART: $42,000 · OtherCARNEGIE CENTER COUNCIL FOR T…KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $36,000 · OtherMICHIGAN CROSSROADS COUNCIL: $30,000 · OtherSW MICHIGAN LAND CONSERVANCY: $24,000 · OtherWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $24,000 · Other+13 more: $155,500 · Other+13 moreBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $96,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $55,500 · Youth DevelopmentREAD AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $105,000 · EducationKALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · EducationWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $6,000 · EducationKalamazoo Institute of Arts: $46,000 · Arts & CultureCURIOUS KIDS MUSEUM: $5,000 · Arts & CultureST JOSEPH COUNTY UNITED WAY: $25,000 · PhilanthropySJOGREN'S FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 · HealthKALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC: $5,000 · Food & Nutrition
Environment$1,651,500Other$703,500Youth Development$151,500Education$126,000Arts & Culture$51,000Philanthropy$25,000Health$9,000Food & Nutrition$5,000

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 budgetKalamazoo Nature Center: $1,630,000 over 9y, 19% of budgetREAD AND WRITE KALAMAZOO: $105,000 over 8y, 4.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $96,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetSOUTH MICHIGAN FOOD BANK: $75,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN: $55,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $54,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetKalamazoo Institute of Arts: $46,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCARNEGIE CENTER COUNCIL FOR THE ART: $42,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetST JOSEPH COUNTY UNITED WAY: $25,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $23,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetKALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHWEST MICHIGAN LAND CONSERVENCY INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetFERNWOOD INC: $9,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetSJOGREN'S FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCURIOUS KIDS MUSEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetKALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC: $5,000 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.

  • Who funds Kalamazoo Nature Center ↗
  • Who funds READ AND WRITE KALAMAZOO ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH MICHIGAN FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS HEART OF MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds Kalamazoo Institute of Arts ↗
  • Who funds CARNEGIE CENTER COUNCIL FOR THE ART ↗
  • Who funds ST JOSEPH COUNTY UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds University of Michigan ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN LAND CONSERVENCY INC ↗
  • Who funds FERNWOOD INC ↗
  • Who funds SJOGREN'S FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CURIOUS KIDS MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC ↗

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.

Kalamazoo Community F…Harold and Grace Upjo…H P & Genevieve Conna…Marvin and Rosalie Ok…Irving S Gilmore Foun…The Pfizer Foundation…Preston S and Barbara…Dorothy U Dalton Foun…United Way of South C…John E Fetzer Institu…The Burdick-Thorne Fo…Suzanne Upjohn Delano…
Kalamazoo Community FoundationMI23.9× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kalamazoo Community Foundation · Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation · H P & Genevieve Connable Fund · Marvin and Rosalie Okun Foundation · Irving S Gilmore Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Preston S and Barbara J Parish Foundation · Dorothy U Dalton Foundation Inc · United Way of South Central Michigan · John E Fetzer Institute Inc · The Burdick-Thorne Foundation · Suzanne Upjohn Delano Parish 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 The Lawrence and Sylvia Wong Foundation C/O James Vanderroest funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Lawrence and Sylvia Wong Foundation C/O James Vanderroest. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 37 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lawrence and Sylvia Wong Foundation C/O James Vanderroest’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