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Plinth

· Private foundation

The Sebastian Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.1M
Granted FY2021
59
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
0198% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2018–2021.

Education$582kHuman Services$551kArts & Culture$546kHousing & Shelter$535kHealth$399kReligion$287kYouth Development$190kEmployment$170kOther$0
02FY2021 · 59 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k4 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k42 grants · $1.1M
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $970k
$30,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION$100,000
MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES$100,000
JOHN BALL ZOO$100,000
GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC MUSEUM$100,000
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER$75,000
DWELLING PLACE$75,000
MEALS ON WHEELS WEST MICHIGAN$75,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES$75,000
LITERACY CENTER OF WEST MICHIGAN$60,000
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY$60,000
BLANDFORD NATURE CENTER$50,000
NEXT STEP OF WEST MICHIGAN$50,000
CAMP BLODGETT$50,000
CHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER$45,000
REFUGEE EDUCATION CENTER$45,000
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 (FY18–21, $251k) 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%CAMP SUNSHINE: $6k → 10%BAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 14%CAMP SUNSHINE: $5k → 10%BAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 14%BAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER: $15k → 11%UNITED CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY: $25k → 11%ARBOR CIRCLE: $20k → 11%UNITED CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY: $20k → 11%UNITED CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY: $20k → 11%YWCA WEST CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $40k → 11%YWCA WEST CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $20k → 11%YWCA WEST CENTRAL MICHIGAN: $20k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $10k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $10k → 11%DEGAGE MINISTRIES: $10k → 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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$3.3M · 53 repeat orgs$799k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +54% since the first grant, against -3% for the ones you funded once.

53 repeat relationships — 40 still active in FY2021, 13 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
9

Total granted

$3.3M
$106k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
-3%

Still filing today

77%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $692k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’21
HealthEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterCivil RightsOther

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

  • GR
    GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC MUSEUM
    3× · 2018–2021 · $200k · revenue +136%
  • MT
    MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES
    3× · 2018–2021 · $120k · revenue +136%
  • LC
    Literacy Center of West Michigan
    3× · 2018–2021 · $100k · revenue +114%

Funded once

  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GRAND RAPIDS YOUTH COMMONWEALTH
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
  • BC
    BETHANY CHRISTIAN SERVICES
    one grant, 2018 · $20k
  • HF
    HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF KENT COUNTY INC
    one grant, 2019 · $15k · revenue -43%

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
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
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
3
Lakeshore Legal Aid

Standing with our neighbors, Lakeshore Legal Aid fights poverty and injustice through advocacy and by providing meaningful and dignified access to the legal system.

Crime & Legal
4
Great Lakes Center for the Arts

The Center's mission is to inspire, entertain, educate, and serve all in Northern Michigan year-round by presenting exceptional experiences across the full spectrum of the performing arts and offering impactful educational opportunities.

Arts & Culture
5
African Resource Center of West Michigan

The African Resource Center informs connects and equips African immigrants in West Michigan with people and resources to foster a flourishing community in which recent African immigrants can prosper emotionally economically and socially.

Human Services
6
Family Outreach Center

Leading the way in promoting healthy family living by reaching out to underserved populations and those who are in our community.

—
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
Midmichigan Health Services

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

Health
9
The Right Place Inc

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

—
10
Community Education Commission

CEC works with diverse stakeholders across Detroit to develop critical resources and system-level solutions that address common challenges faced by Detroit families in accessing quality education.

Education
11
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
12
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.

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Gilda's Club Grand Rapids and the most unlike its peers is Roosevelt Park Ministries Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 37 years old; the field is 15. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%0%<5yr13%2%5–10yr20%18%10–20yr17%25%20–35yr14%33%35–55yr13%22%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%0%<5yr13%1%5–10yr20%21%10–20yr17%21%20–35yr14%30%35–55yr13%27%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 11% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/62
the rest of the field
11%
380/3,583

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

56 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 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 56 of the 81 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/56
Grantees still filing
38/56
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MEL TROTTER MINISTRIES — $120,000 · OtherMEL TROTTER MINISTRIESMIND MEETS MUSIC INC — $110,000 · OtherDA BLODGETT - ST JOHN'S — $110,000 · OtherGRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY — $100,000 · OtherDWELLING PLACE — $100,000 · OtherSAN JUAN DIEGO ACADEMY — $82,000 · OtherFIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — $78,500 · OtherCHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER — $75,000 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELS WEST MICHIGAN — $75,000 · OtherThe Refugee Education Center — $75,000 · OtherNEXT STEP OF WEST MICHIGAN — $100,000 · OtherJOHN BALL ZOO — $100,000 · OtherJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES INC — $75,000 · Other+34 more — $1,012,000 · Other+34 moreGRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC MUSEUM — $200,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND RAPIDS…GRAND RAPIDS CHILDREN'S MUSEUM — $85,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND RAPIDS…GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM — $70,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND RAPIDS…Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities Inc — $50,000 · Arts & CultureGrandville A…Girls Choral Academy — $40,000 · Arts & CultureGirls Choral…Opera Grand Rapids — $20,500 · Arts & CultureLiteracy Center of West Michigan — $100,000 · EducationLiteracy …WEST MICHIGAN CENTER FOR ARTS & TECHNOLOGY — $80,000 · EducationWEST MICH…BLANDFORD NATURE CENTER — $75,000 · EducationBLANDFORD…FIRST STEPS KENT — $45,000 · EducationFIRST STE…Conductive Learning Center of North America — $25,000 · EducationConductiv…NOORTHOEK ACADEMY — $22,000 · EducationNOORTHOEK…+1 more — $2,500 · EducationSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC — $125,000 · Housing & ShelterSAFE HAVE…HOME REPAIR SERVICES OF KENT COUNTY INC — $85,000 · Housing & ShelterHOME REPA…FAMILY PROMISE OF GRAND RAPIDS — $50,000 · Housing & ShelterFAMILY PR…ICCF COMMUNITY HOMES — $50,000 · Housing & ShelterICCF COMM…HEALTHY HOMES COALITION OF WEST MICHIGAN INC — $25,000 · Housing & ShelterHEALTHY H…CHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER — $75,000 · HealthMARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $62,500 · HealthCherry Street Services Inc — $50,000 · HealthSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC — $50,000 · HealthCATHERINES HEALTH CENTER — $40,000 · HealthCOMPREHENSIVE THERAPY CENTER — $28,000 · Health+2 more — $13,000 · HealthYWCA WEST CENTRAL MICHIGAN — $80,000 · Human ServicesUNITED CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY — $65,000 · Human ServicesBAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER — $45,000 · Human ServicesDEGAGE MINISTRIES — $30,000 · Human ServicesTHE ARBOR CIRCLE CORPORATION — $20,000 · Human ServicesCAMP SUNSHINE — $11,000 · Human ServicesCAMP BLODGETT — $100,000 · Recreation & SportsOTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION INC — $100,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$2,212,500Arts & Culture$465,500Education$349,500Housing & Shelter$335,000Health$318,500Human Services$251,000Recreation & Sports$200,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetGRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC MUSEUM — $200,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetSAFE HAVEN MINISTRIES INC — $125,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetMEL TROTTER MINISTRIES — $120,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMIND MEETS MUSIC INC — $110,000 over 2y, 23% of budgetDA BLODGETT - ST JOHN'S — $110,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetJOHN BALL ZOO — $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLiteracy Center of West Michigan — $100,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetCAMP BLODGETT — $100,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetOTTAWA COUNTY PARKS FOUNDATION INC — $100,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetNEXT STEP OF WEST MICHIGAN — $100,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetHOME REPAIR SERVICES OF KENT COUNTY INC — $85,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS CHILDREN'S MUSEUM — $85,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetYWCA WEST CENTRAL MICHIGAN — $80,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetWEST MICHIGAN CENTER FOR ARTS & TECHNOLOGY — $80,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES INC — $75,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALING CENTER — $75,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetThe Refugee Education Center — $75,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetBLANDFORD NATURE CENTER — $75,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetWomen's Resource Center — $70,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM — $70,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY — $65,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetMARY FREE BED REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $62,500 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetGUIDING LIGHT MISSION INC — $60,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetSENIOR NEIGHBORS INC — $55,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetDISABILITY ADVOCATES OF KENT COUNTY — $55,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF GRAND RAPIDS — $50,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetICCF COMMUNITY HOMES — $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGrandville Avenue Arts and Humanities Inc — $50,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetCherry Street Services Inc — $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIALIZED LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC — $50,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetBAXTER COMMUNITY CENTER — $45,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetLand Conservancy of West Michigan — $45,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetFIRST STEPS KENT — $45,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetGILDA'S CLUB GRAND RAPIDS — $40,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCATHERINES HEALTH CENTER — $40,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGirls Choral Academy — $40,000 over 3y, 9.8% of budgetWEST MICHIGAN FLIGHT ACADEMY — $40,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCASA of Kent County Inc — $35,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetDEGAGE MINISTRIES — $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMIGRANT LEGAL AID INC — $30,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetSTEEPLETOWN NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES INC — $30,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCOMPREHENSIVE THERAPY CENTER — $28,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetPORTER HILLS FOUNDATION — $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGRAND RAPIDS OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN — $25,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetConductive Learning Center of North America — $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetHEALTHY HOMES COALITION OF WEST MICHIGAN INC — $25,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetNOORTHOEK ACADEMY — $22,000 over 3y, 5.2% 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.

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 Communit…Frey FoundationThe Wege FoundationThe Meijer FoundationPeter C & Emajean Coo…Heart of West Michiga…Steelcase FoundationDouglas & Maria Devos…Cdv5 FoundationThe Mercantile Bank F…Corewell Health Group…Krw Foundation
Grand Rapids Community FoundationMI110.2× affinity54 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 · The Wege Foundation · The Meijer Foundation · Peter C & Emajean Cook Foundation · Heart of West Michigan United Way · Steelcase Foundation · Douglas & Maria Devos Foundation · Cdv5 Foundation · The Mercantile Bank Foundation · Corewell Health Group Return · Krw 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 The Sebastian 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
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%your 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
    24report 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

    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 81 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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