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The Mercantile Bank Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Mercantile Bank 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.

$311k
Granted FY2025still arriving
139
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.

Housing & Shelter$266kHealth$138kHuman Services$136kPhilanthropy$82kEducation$78kArts & Culture$57kCommunity Improvement$56kCivil Rights$48kOther$0
02FY2025 · 139 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k134 grants · $222k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $89k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$8.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES$25,000
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$23,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF KENT COUNTY$20,500
CHERRY HEALTH FOUNDATION$10,000
BBB EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$10,000
MOUNT PLEASANT AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$8,300
HISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN$8,000
GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION$5,000
NMC FOUNDATION$5,000
JUNIOR LEAGUE OF GRAND RAPIDS$5,000
COMMUNITY HOMEWORKS$5,000
BLANDFORD NATURE CENTER$5,000
KALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES$5,000
GRAND RAPIDS SYMPHONY$5,000
WEST MICHIGAN ASIAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION$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:

Its human-services grants (FY22–25, $161k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%American Red Cross: $1k → 14%SAMARITAS: $5k → 10%SAFECENTER: $3k → 12%GREAT LAKES BAY FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%TELAMON CORPORATION: $3k → 8%WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE GRAND TRAVERSE AREA: $250 → 7%NORTHWEST MICHIGAN COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY INC: $5k → 10%SAMARITAS: $5k → 10%VETERANS SERVING VETERANS INC: $750 → 13%LUCIANA'S LEGACY: $500 → 10%MID MICHIGAN BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $500 → 17%FATHER FRED FOUNDATION: $250 → 10%ECUMENICAL SENIOR CENTER: $4k → 12%CADILLAC AREA OASIS FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $500 → 13%TURNING POINT INC: $3k → 10%SEEDS OF PROMISE: $4k → 11%PROJECT GREEN: $4k → 11%UNIVERSITY REHABILITATION ALLIANCE INC: $6k → 16%CLOTHING INC: $600 → 19%TREETOPS COLLECTIVE: $3k → 11%Opportunity Resource Fund: $10k → 16%CARE STORE: $500 → 19%EIGHT CAP INC: $700 → 12%CLOTHING INC: $500 → 19%TREETOPS COLLECTIVE: $500 → 11%SOUTH END COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES: $500 → 11%CONFIDENT SOLE: $500 → 12%HOSPICE OF MICHIGAN: $3k → 11%FLAT RIVER OUTREACH MINISTRIES INC: $3k → 11%TURNING POINT INC: $5k → 11%BAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 11%BAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $100 → 11%ARBOR CIRCLE CORPORATION: $500 → 11%ROCKFORD COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER: $4k → 11%UNITED CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY INCORPORATED: $3k → 11%WEDGWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $2k → 11%WEDGWOOD CHRISTIAN SERVICES: $2k → 11%BEAUTIFUL YOU BY PROFILE: $3k → 11%Urban League of West Michigan: $40k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN INC: $13k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN: $8k → 11%OPPORTUNITY RESOURCE FUND: $8k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN: $5k → 11%ARTISTS CREATING TOGETHER: $500 → 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

MN
MI
OH
NE
VA
MD
NC
DC
TX
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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$581k · 68 repeat orgs$483k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +9% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

68 repeat relationships: 58 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 79 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

68
127

Total granted

$581k
$372k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
+4%

Still filing today

85%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $111k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterHealthArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • MT
    MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES
    3× · 2023–2025 · $125k · revenue +8%
  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    3× · 2023–2025 · $27k · revenue +16%
  • HC
    HISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $26k · revenue +42%

Funded once

  • GR
    GRAND RAPIDS URBAN LEAGUEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $40k · revenue +267%
  • WM
    WEST MICHIGAN SPORTS COMMISSION
    one grant, 2023 · $30k · revenue -15%
  • GV
    GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2023 · $18k
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
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.

—
2
Housing Services of Mid Michigan

To assist people with low or moderate income to obtain safe and affordable housing

Housing & Shelter
3
Michigan Assoc of Community Mental Health Boards

Assisting the community mental health boards of michigan in developing methods for mental health planning, care and treatment.

—
4
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
5
Area Agency On Aging of Western Michigan Inc

Through internal expertise, external partnerships, and advocacy, the area agency on aging of western michigan provides older adults, adults with disabilities, and their caregivers equitable access to services that promote independence and…

Human Services
6
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

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

—
7
Midmichigan Health Services

To provide high quality community-oriented, patient-centered health services for all.

Health
8
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.…

—
9
Michigan Community Resources

We advance the missions of michigan nonprofit organizations that serve low income individuals and communities through pro bono and low cost legal and other professional services, organizational development, and trusted guidance.

Crime & Legal
10
The Right Place Inc

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

—
11
Michigan Christian Home

The michigan christian home dba beacon hill at eastgate, a not-for-profit corporation, provides housing and health services in a christian environment for older adults, thus enabling them to meet their ongoing physical, social and…

—
12
Habitat for Humanity of Lapeer - Tuscola

To eliminate sub-standard housing and homelessness from lapeer county.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northwest Michigan Community Action; the most unlike its peers is Ogemaw Orioles. 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

218 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. 218 of the 279 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)
39
Early backer (in before they grew)
217/218
Grantees still filing
117/218
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES: $125,000 · OtherMEL TROTTER MINISTRIESHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF KENT COUNTY INC: $49,500 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF KENT COUNTY INC+112 more: $362,370 · Other+112 moreGRAND RAPIDS URBAN LEAGUE: $40,000 · Human ServicesGRAND RAPIDS URBA…HISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN INC: $25,500 · Human ServicesHISPANIC CENTER O…Opportunity Resource Fund: $17,500 · Human ServicesOpportunity Resou…SAMARITAS: $10,000 · Human ServicesSAMARITASTURNING POINT INC: $7,500 · Human ServicesUNIVERSITY REHABILITATION ALLIANCE INC: $6,000 · Human Services+21 more: $53,850 · Human Services+21 moreCOMMUNITY HOMEWORKS INC: $8,500 · Housing & ShelterCOMMUNITY…ICCF COMMUNITY HOMES: $8,500 · Housing & ShelterICCF COMM…GENESIS NON-PROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION: $7,500 · Housing & ShelterGENESIS N…LINC UP NONPROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION: $6,000 · Housing & ShelterLINC UP N…HOME REPAIR SERVICES OF KENT COUNTY INC: $6,000 · Housing & ShelterHOME REPA…KALAMAZOO VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $6,000 · Housing & ShelterKALAMAZOO…Habitat for Humanity of Michigan Inc: $6,000 · Housing & ShelterHabitat f…Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Serv: $6,000 · Housing & ShelterKalamazoo…LYDIAS GATE: $5,500 · Housing & ShelterLYDIAS GA…FAIR HOUSING CENTER OF W MICHIGAN: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterFAIR HOUS…CAPITAL AREA HOUSING PARTNERSHIP: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterCAPITAL A…NEW HOPE SHELTER: $3,000 · Housing & ShelterSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC: $3,000 · Housing & ShelterDAVID'S HOUSE MINISTRIES: $3,000 · Housing & Shelter+4 more: $6,000 · Housing & Shelter+4 moreBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER: $15,500 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $11,500 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $10,000 · EducationWINNING FUTURES: $7,500 · EducationSAGINAW FUTURE INC: $7,500 · EducationGRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $5,500 · EducationFIRST STEPS KENT: $5,000 · EducationGERALD R FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,000 · Education+7 more: $8,500 · EducationAmerican Heart Association Inc: $27,000 · HealthSTARLIGHT MINISTRIES INC: $7,000 · HealthWest Michigan Asian American Association Inc: $6,500 · HealthALANO CLUB OF KENT COUNTY: $5,500 · HealthAFRICAN-AMERICAN HEALTH INSTITUTE: $5,500 · HealthSPARROW FOUNDATION: $5,000 · HealthGRYPHON PLACE: $4,500 · HealthI Understand Love Heals: $3,500 · HealthBronson Health Foundation: $3,000 · HealthMENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION OF WEST MICHIGAN: $3,000 · Health+4 more: $6,500 · HealthHEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $54,500 · PhilanthropyMt Pleasant Area Community Fnd: $8,300 · PhilanthropyDISABILITY ADVOCATES OF KENT COUNTY: $4,700 · Philanthropy+4 more: $5,500 · PhilanthropyWEST MICHIGAN SPORTS COMMISSION: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsLowell Little League: $2,000 · Recreation & SportsIONIA FREE FAIR ASSOCIATION: $2,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $1,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$536,870Human Services$160,350Housing & Shelter$85,000Education$79,000Health$77,000Philanthropy$73,000Recreation & Sports$35,000

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%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES: $125,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetHEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: $54,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF KENT COUNTY INC: $49,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS URBAN LEAGUE: $40,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetWEST MICHIGAN SPORTS COMMISSION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $27,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHISPANIC CENTER OF WESTERN MICHIGAN INC: $25,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetOpportunity Resource Fund: $17,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER: $15,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $12,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $11,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetANGELS OF ACTION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY HOMEWORKS INC: $8,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetICCF COMMUNITY HOMES: $8,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGENESIS NON-PROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWINNING FUTURES: $7,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAGINAW FUTURE INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSTART GARDEN INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTURNING POINT INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF MICHIGAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSTARLIGHT MINISTRIES INC: $7,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES INC: $6,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWest Michigan Asian American Association Inc: $6,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetLINC UP NONPROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION: $6,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHOME REPAIR SERVICES OF KENT COUNTY INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKALAMAZOO VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHabitat for Humanity of Michigan Inc: $6,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Serv: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY REHABILITATION ALLIANCE INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY HOUSING NETWORK INC: $5,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALANO CLUB OF KENT COUNTY: $5,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetLYDIAS GATE: $5,500 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB GRAND RAPIDS: $5,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAFRICAN-AMERICAN HEALTH INSTITUTE: $5,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $5,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFIRST STEPS KENT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFAIR HOUSING CENTER OF W MICHIGAN: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSPARROW FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWEST MICHIGAN COMMUNITY ACTION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFULTON STREET FARMERS MARKET INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCAPITAL AREA HOUSING PARTNERSHIP: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHISPANIC AMERICAN COUNCIL 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.

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…Consumers Energy Foun…Frey FoundationHeart of West Michiga…The Wege FoundationCdv5 FoundationDouglas & Maria Devos…The Meijer FoundationPeter C & Emajean Coo…Steelcase FoundationFeeding America West …Dick and Betsy Devos …
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI124.1× affinity76 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grand Rapids Community Foundation · Consumers Energy Foundation · Frey Foundation · Heart of West Michigan United Way · The Wege Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · The Meijer Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · Steelcase Foundation · Feeding America West Michigan · Dick and Betsy Devos Family 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 Mercantile Bank Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Mercantile Bank 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 →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    70report 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 Mercantile Bank Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Mercantile Bank 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 279 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 Mercantile Bank’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