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The Meijer Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Meijer 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.

$1.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$49MHealth$21MEducation$10MArts & Culture$10MHuman Services$7.0MRecreation & Sports$3.7MHousing & Shelter$3.7MPhilanthropy$2.8MOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $175k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $1.2M
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$50,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS$250,000
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN$140,000
OUR HOPE ASSOCIATION$125,000
WEST MICHIGAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY INC$117,000
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY$100,000
BLANDFORD NATURE CENTER$100,000
GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM$75,000
NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION INC$66,667
LITERACY CENTER OF WEST MICHIGAN$66,667
UMRC-PORTER HILLS FOUNDATION$64,264
ICCF COMMUNITY HOMES$55,000
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA - MICHIGAN CROSSROADS COUNCIL$50,000
GRAND RAPIDS CIVIC THEATRE INC$50,000
PETOSKEY-HARBOR SPRINGS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$50,000
WEST MICHIGAN CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY$50,000
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 (FY17–23, $7.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 14% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PAWS WITH A CAUSE: $200k → 10%GRAND RAPIDS NEHEMIAH PROJECT: $350k → 11%Blessings In A Backpack Inc: $325k → 15%PAWS WITH A CAUSE: $100k → 10%EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $200k → 21%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $100k → 15%EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $110k → 21%Blessings In A Backpack Inc: $50k → 15%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $60k → 14%CRITTER BARN: $233k → 8%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $50k → 14%CRITTER BARN: $233k → 8%ALPHA GRAND RAPIDS: $10k → 11%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $50k → 14%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN INC: $50k → 14%CRITTER BARN: $233k → 8%ALPHA GRAND RAPIDS: $10k → 11%STREAMS OF HOPE: $125k → 11%STREAMS OF HOPE: $125k → 11%CASCADE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $8k → 11%VILLAGE LEARNING CENTER INC: $50k → 11%BAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 11%Baxter Community Center: $50k → 11%NORTH KENT CONNECT: $375k → 11%NORTH KENT CONNECT: $325k → 11%YMCA OF GREATER GRAND RAPIDS: $3.0M → 11%Wedgwood Christian Services: $20k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $325k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $175k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $125k → 11%Grand Rapids Urban League: $50k → 11%ARTISTS CREATING TOGETHER INC: $50k → 11%ARTISTS CREATING TOGETHER INC: $50k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
NH
WA
IL
MI
NY
OH
PA
CA
KY
VA
NC
DC
GA
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$101M · 110 repeat orgs$14M to everyone else

110 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2024, 86 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

110
95

Total granted

$101M
$14M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+34%

Still filing today

81%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $92k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • MF
    MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2023 · $2.0M · revenue ×21
  • MP
    Michigan Physical Fitness Health and Sports Foundation
    3× · 2020–2022 · $1.5M · revenue +11%
  • GR
    GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • TY
    The Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Grand Rapids (3019)graduated
    one grant, 2023 · $3.0M · revenue +34%
  • AC
    Aquinas College
    one grant, 2017 · $1.2M · revenue -14%
  • GR
    GERALD R FORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY
    one grant, 2020 · $750k
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
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
2
Mid Michigan Community Action Agency Inc

Mid michigan community action guides local residents on the path to self-sufficiency through empowerment, education and community enrichment.

—
3
Michigan Legacy Art Park

Inspire awareness, appreciation and passion for michigan's history and stories, culture and environment through the arts.

Arts & Culture
4
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

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

—
5
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
6
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.…

—
7
Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy

The mission of gtrlc is to protect significant natural, scenic and farm lands and advance land stewardship now and for future generations.

Environment
8
Detroit Historical Society

The Detroit Historical Society tells Detroit's stories and why they matter through its exhibits, programs, outreach, and the preservation and dissemination of its artifacts and collections.

Arts & Culture
9
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
10
Great Lakes Community Action Partnership

The mission of great lakes community action partnership is to create partnerships and opportunites to help individuals, families and communities thrive.

Human Services
11
The Center for Michigan

For all state residents, diverse civic stakeholders and philanthropy, the center for michigan (the center) and its nonprofit newsrooms - bridge michigan and bridgedetroit - make michigan better through high-quality, nonpartisan journalism…

Public Benefit
12
The Right Place Inc

The right place is the economic development organization that drives current and long-term economic prosperity in west michigan.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Michigan Humanities Council; the most unlike its peers is The Willard G Pierce and Jessie M Pierce Foundation. 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

156 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 156 of the 216 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
40
Early backer (in before they grew)
154/156
Grantees still filing
102/156
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WEST MICHIGAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY INC DBA FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS: $46,420,848 · EnvironmentWEST MICHIGAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY INC DBA …+1 more: $50,000 · EnvironmentMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $9,100,000 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITYREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $1,726,000 · OtherTHE HENRY FORD: $1,500,000 · Other+107 more: $23,653,180 · Other+107 moreCOREWELL HEALTH FOUNDATION WEST MICHIGAN: $3,320,666 · HealthCOREWELL …MARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,000,001 · HealthMARY FREE…Michigan Physical Fitness Health and Sports Foundation: $1,500,000 · HealthMichigan …MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MICHIGAN: $800,000 · HealthMAKE-A-WI…VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $797,500 · HealthVAN ANDEL…Cherry Street Services Inc: $400,000 · Health+11 more: $920,931 · Health+11 moreAquinas College: $1,200,000 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $1,025,000 · EducationCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $844,500 · EducationOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $728,728 · EducationBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER: $658,333 · EducationWEST MICHIGAN CENTER FOR ARTS & TECHNOLOGY: $650,000 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $510,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $500,000 · EducationEAST GRAND RAPIDS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $425,000 · EducationNORTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $300,000 · Education+17 more: $1,637,677 · EducationThe Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Grand Rapids (3019): $3,000,000 · Human ServicesROCKFORD COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER: $700,000 · Human ServicesCRITTER BARN: $699,999 · Human ServicesDEGAGE MINISTRIES: $625,000 · Human ServicesBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $575,000 · Human ServicesGRAND RAPIDS NEHEMIAH PROJECT: $350,000 · Human ServicesTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $310,000 · Human ServicesPaws With A Cause: $300,000 · Human ServicesStreams of Hope: $250,000 · Human Services+7 more: $550,000 · Human ServicesGRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM: $1,360,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $1,109,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM: $1,055,000 · Arts & CultureHistorical Society of Michigan: $900,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND RAPIDS CIVIC THEATRE INC: $800,000 · Arts & CultureGreat Lakes Center for the Arts: $220,000 · Arts & Culture+10 more: $980,000 · Arts & CultureFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $1,450,000 · PhilanthropyHEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $800,000 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS OF THE FRED MEIJER RIVER VALLEY RAIL-TRAILS: $320,000 · PhilanthropyMUSKEGON MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $260,000 · PhilanthropyDISABILITY ADVOCATES OF KENT COUNTY: $200,000 · Philanthropy+7 more: $302,000 · Philanthropy
Environment$46,470,848Other$35,979,180Health$9,739,098Education$8,479,238Human Services$7,359,999Arts & Culture$6,424,000Philanthropy$3,332,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetWEST MICHIGAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY INC DBA FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS: $46,420,848 over 5y, 93% of budgetThe Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Grand Rapids (3019): $3,000,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetMARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,000,001 over 5y, 17% of budgetMichigan Physical Fitness Health and Sports Foundation: $1,500,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $1,450,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM: $1,360,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetAquinas College: $1,200,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $1,109,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetTHE AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM: $1,055,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,050,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $1,025,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetHistorical Society of Michigan: $900,000 over 4y, 26% of budgetWEST MICHIGAN TRAILS & GREENWAYS COALITION: $886,000 over 4y, 38% of budgetCALVIN UNIVERSITY: $844,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MICHIGAN INC: $825,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CIVIC THEATRE INC: $800,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF KENT COUNTY INC: $800,000 over 4y, 6.2% of budgetHEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $800,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MICHIGAN: $800,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetVAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $797,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $728,728 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetICCF COMMUNITY HOMES: $715,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetROCKFORD COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER: $700,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetOTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $700,000 over 5y, 18% of budgetCRITTER BARN: $699,999 over 3y, 16% of budgetBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER: $658,333 over 4y, 6.8% of budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES: $650,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetWEST MICHIGAN CENTER FOR ARTS & TECHNOLOGY: $650,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetFERRIS FOUNDATION: $630,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetDEGAGE MINISTRIES: $625,000 over 3y, 7.7% of budgetDETROIT HORSE POWER: $600,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetJOHN BALL ZOO: $600,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $575,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER LANSING FOOD BANK: $500,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetKIDS' FOOD BASKET INC: $500,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF GRAND RAPIDS: $433,334 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetEAST GRAND RAPIDS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $425,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetCherry Street Services Inc: $400,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS NEHEMIAH PROJECT: $350,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetTHE EMPOWERMENT PLAN: $310,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetMONTCALM COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetNORTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 3y, 5.2% of budgetPaws With A Cause: $300,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetMUSKEGON MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $260,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetCORNER HEALTH CENTER: $250,907 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetKENT COUNTY YOUTH AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION: $250,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetStreams of Hope: $250,000 over 2y, 7.3% 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…Frey FoundationDouglas & Maria Devos…Peter C & Emajean Coo…The Wege FoundationCdv5 FoundationDick and Betsy Devos …The Meijer FoundationHeart of West Michiga…Steelcase FoundationConsumers Energy Foun…The Sebastian Foundat…
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI148.7× affinity82 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Frey Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · The Wege Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation · Dick and Betsy Devos Family Foundation · The Meijer Foundation · Heart of West Michigan United Way · Steelcase Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · The Sebastian 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 Meijer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Meijer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
48report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Meijer Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Meijer 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 216 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.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2024, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Meijer’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