· Private foundation
The VombergTrumley Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Michigan State University | $9,000 |
| University of Olivet | $6,000 |
| Lansing Community College | $5,000 |
| Michigan Tech University | $5,000 |
| Kellogg Community College | $4,000 |
| Central Michigan University | $3,000 |
| Grand Valley State University | $2,000 |
| Davenport University | $2,000 |
| Spring Arbor University | $2,000 |
| Great Lakes Christian College | $2,000 |
| Trine University | $2,000 |
| Dartmouth | $1,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.
22 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
OLIVET COLLEGE6× · 2017–2023 · $21k · revenue +25%- IWINDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY4× · 2021–2024 · $9k · revenue +27%
- TUTrine University3× · 2022–2025 · $7k · revenue +70%
Funded once
- NUNorthwood Universityone grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue +4%
- WSWayne State Universityone grant, 2020 · $2k
- GRGRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGEone grant, 2024 · $500 · revenue -17%
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.
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.
Greenville college d/b/a greenville university empowers students for lives of character and service through a transforming christ-centered education in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies.
As an institution of higher education committed to the reformed christian perspective, dordt university equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary…
The university of rio grande/ rio grande community college is america's unique private/public institution of higher education designed to provide learners the opportunity to attain a high-quality, high-value education. our personalized,…
The mission of calvin university is to equip students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as christ's agents of renewal in the world.
Excelsior University provides educational opportunity to adult learners with an emphasis on those historically underrepresented in higher education. The University meets students where they are - academically and geographically, offering…
The university statement of values consists of christian heritage, baptist heritage, academic excellence, liberal arts, teamwork, a student-centered focus, community engagement and diversity.
Johnson university is a private, coeducational institution of higher learning offering associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.
Xavier is a jesuit catholic university rooted in the liberal arts tradition. our mission is to educate each student intellectually, morally, and spiritually. we create learning opportunities through rigorous academic and professional…
Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…
Education - lagrange college challenges the minds and inspires the souls of its students. founded in 1831 and committed to its relationship with the united methodist church and its wesleyan and liberal arts traditions, the college supports…
Inspired by lutheran scholarly tradition and the liberal arts, augustana provides an education of enduring worth that challenges the intellect, fosters integrity and integrates faith with learning and service in a diverse world.
Bradley university empowers students for immediate and sustained success in their personal and professional endeavors by combining professional preparation, liberal arts and sciences, and co-curricular experiences. alongside our dedication…
How this is measured
12 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. 12 of the 29 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 OLIVET COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Trine University ↗
- Who funds DAVENPORT UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds ADRIAN COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds Aquinas College ↗
- Who funds Spring Arbor University ↗
- Who funds ALBION COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds Northwood University ↗
- Who funds GREAT LAKES BIBLE COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds THE DARTMOUTH INC ↗
- Who funds GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Myer & Lois Franklin Charitable Tr · The Gerber Foundation · Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · Speerstra Peter & Evelyn · Michigan Colleges Alliance · Fred & Florence Dengler Scholarship Fund · Kanitz Louis J & Golda I Main Ac · The Alvin L Glick Foundation · Frey Foundation · Community Foundation for Muskegon County · Charles Koch Foundation · Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The VombergTrumley Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The VombergTrumley Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The VombergTrumley Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The VombergTrumley 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.
Play a game based on VombergTrumley’s filings →