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Ws & Lois Vandalson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ws & Lois Vandalson 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.

$707k
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$150k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Human Services$1.1MEducation$773kFood & Nutrition$569kHealth$476kYouth Development$366kRecreation & Sports$155kCommunity Improvement$123kArts & Culture$91kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $47k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $282k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $378k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION$150,000
KALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES$63,000
YWCA OF KALAMAZOO$60,000
BRONSON HEALTH FOUNDATION$55,000
YWCA OF KALAMAZOO$50,000
FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC$40,000
MINISTRY WITH COMMUNITY$40,000
KC READY 4S$35,000
COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOO$30,000
KALAMAZOO INSTITUTE OF ARTS$25,000
CHEFF THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER$20,000
COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER$20,000
DISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN$20,000
KALAMAZOO REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY$20,000
DOUGLASS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION$12,000
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 (FY20–25, $536k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%ALLEGAN HOMELESS SOLUTIONS: $5k → 10%ALLEGAN HOMELESS SOLUTIONS: $3k → 10%ECUMENICAL SENIOR CENTER: $30k → 12%LIFT FOUNDATION: $15k → 12%SHERMAN LAKE YMCA OUTDOOR CENTER: $5k → 12%SHERMAN LAKE YMCA OUTDOOR CENTER: $5k → 12%SHERMAN LAKE YMCA OUTDOOR CENTER: $3k → 12%AMERICAN RED CROSS OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $25k → 12%AMERICAN RED CROSS OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $4k → 12%FIRST DAY SHOE FUND: $10k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $40k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $40k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $40k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $40k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $40k → 12%FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $40k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $15k → 12%DISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $20k → 12%COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER: $15k → 12%DISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $20k → 12%KAIROS DWELLING: $5k → 12%KAIROS DWELLING: $5k → 12%KAIROS DWELLING: $5k → 12%KAIROS DWELLING: $5k → 12%KAIROS DWELLING: $5k → 12%KAIROS DWELLING: $5k → 12%AACORN FARMS INC: $3k → 12%AACORN FARMS INC: $3k → 12%AACORN FARMS INC: $3k → 12%AACORN FARMS INC: $3k → 12%AACORN FARMS INC: $3k → 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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.2M · 32 repeat orgs$628k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
21

Total granted

$3.2M
$442k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+3%

Still filing today

72%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $186k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationHealthFood & NutritionArts & CultureYouth 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

  • KL
    KALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $324k · revenue +33%
  • KC
    KALAMAZOO COLLEGE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $255k · revenue +26%
  • MW
    MINISTRY WITH COMMUNITY INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $220k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • KP
    KALAMAZOO PARKS FOUNDATION OF ROTA KIWAN
    one grant, 2021 · $125k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $36k
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
Kalamazoo County Humane Society

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

Animals
2
Kalamazoo Housing Advocates

Kalamazoo housing advocate is a nonprofit working to break the cycle of homelessness in kalamazoo county.

Human Services
3
Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Serv

It is the mission of Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services (KNHS), together with residents and community partners, to revitalize neighborhoods and promote comprehensive strategies that foster homeownership.

Housing & Shelter
4
Kalamazoo Foundation for Excellence

The mission of the kalamazoo foundation for excellence is to support the goals of the city of kalamazoo, fund aspirational investments in the city, and empower kalamazoo residents to achieve the lives they want for themselves and their…

Public Benefit
5
Kalamazoo Nature Center

Create relationships & experiences that welcome and inspire people to discover, enjoy, value, and care for nature. Kalamazoo Nature Center envisions a resilient community where all people have strong interconnections with the natural world.

Environment
6
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre

The mission of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, with community partners and volunteers, is to create and deliver engaging, inspiring theatrical productions and educational experiences that spark delight, build community, encourage…

Unclassified
7
Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program

Probation residential center - alternative correctional facility and outpatient treatment facility

Crime & Legal
8
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center

To promote the arts of book printing, binding, printmaking, papermaking, and creative writing through a community workshop, teaching classes, publishing, and exhibitions

Arts & Culture
9
Kalamazoo Area Christian Retir Asso

To operate and manage according to law and applicable regulations, a certified home for the ages for qualified residents of Kalamazoo county and its surrounding counties.

Human Services
10
Housing Resources Inc

To assure housing for socially and economically vulnerable residents of kalamazoo county.

—
11
Kalamazoo Country Day School

An independent school providing a supportive, challenging and creative academic environment for talented and motivated students to prepare them for life long achievement.

Education
12
Kalamazoo Eastside Neighborhood Association

To improve and enhance the physical, social, and economic environment of the eastside section of the city of kalamazoo, michigan to the ends that the community may have a more pleasant, attractive, safe and convenient place to live and…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kalamazoo Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Allegan Homeless Solutions. 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

41 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. 41 of the 59 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
41/41
Grantees still filing
25/41
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

YWCA OF KALAMAZOO: $550,000 · OtherYWCA OF KALAMAZOOKC READY 4S: $210,000 · OtherKC READY 4SCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOO: $180,000 · OtherCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOOCHEFF THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $175,000 · OtherCHEFF THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTERKALAMAZOO PARKS FOUNDATION OF ROTA KIWAN: $125,000 · OtherKALAMAZOO PARKS FOUNDATION OF ROTA KIWANKALAMAZOO REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY: $100,000 · OtherKALAMAZOO NONPROFIT ADVOCACY COALITION: $67,500 · Other+25 more: $582,500 · Other+25 moreKALAMAZOO LOAVES & FISHES INC: $324,250 · Food & NutritionKALAMAZOO LOAVE…MINISTRY WITH COMMUNITY INC: $220,000 · Food & NutritionMINISTRY WITH C…+1 more: $5,000 · Food & NutritionFAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $240,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY & CHILD…COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $110,000 · Human ServicesCOMSTOCK COMMU…DISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $40,000 · Human ServicesDISABILITY NET…ECUMENICAL SENIOR CENTER INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesECUMENICAL SEN…KAIROS DWELLING: $30,000 · Human ServicesKAIROS DWELLIN…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $28,750 · Human ServicesAmerican Natio…+5 more: $57,500 · Human Services+5 moreKALAMAZOO COLLEGE: $255,000 · EducationKALAMAZOO COL…KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $150,000 · EducationKALAMAZOO VAL…KALAMAZOO LITERACY COUNCIL: $55,000 · EducationKALAMAZOO LIT…WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $23,000 · Education+1 more: $7,500 · EducationBronson Health Foundation: $200,000 · HealthDOUGLASS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: $52,000 · HealthGRYPHON PLACE: $30,000 · Health+2 more: $13,750 · HealthBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF KALAMAZOO INC: $141,250 · Youth DevelopmentKALAMAZOO YOUTH DEVELOPMENT NETWORK: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE DISABILITY NETWORK: $80,000 · Civil Rights
Other$1,990,000Food & Nutrition$549,250Human Services$536,250Education$490,500Health$295,750Youth Development$146,250Civil Rights$80,000

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 LOAVES & FISHES INC: $324,250 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetKALAMAZOO COLLEGE: $255,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC: $240,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetMINISTRY WITH COMMUNITY INC: $220,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetBronson Health Foundation: $200,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOO: $180,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetCHEFF THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $175,000 over 5y, 9.7% of budgetKALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF KALAMAZOO INC: $141,250 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetCOMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $110,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetTHE DISABILITY NETWORK: $80,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetKALAMAZOO NONPROFIT ADVOCACY COALITION: $67,500 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetKALAMAZOO LITERACY COUNCIL: $55,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetKALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDOUGLASS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: $52,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetHISPANIC AMERICAN COUNCIL INC: $50,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetDISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: $40,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetGRYPHON PLACE: $30,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPRETTY LAKE VACATION CAMP INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetECUMENICAL SENIOR CENTER INC: $30,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetKAIROS DWELLING: $30,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $28,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKalamazoo Institute of Arts: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetKALAMAZOO VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetWESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $23,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLIFT FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAACORN FARM INC: $12,500 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetSherman Lake YMCA Outdoor Center: $12,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNEW GENESIS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER KALAMAZOO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFIRST DAY SHOE FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetPREVENTION WORKS INC: $8,750 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetALLEGAN HOMELESS SOLUTIONS: $7,500 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetMichigan Colleges Alliance: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOPEN DOORS KALAMAZOO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKALAMAZOO YOUTH DEVELOPMENT NETWORK: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPUBLIC MEDIA NETWORK: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCAN-DO KALAMAZOO: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetHOSPITAL HOSPITALITY HOUSE OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLENDING HANDS OF MICHIGAN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.8% 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 LOAVES & FISHES INC ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds MINISTRY WITH COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds Bronson Health Foundation ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF KALAMAZOO ↗
  • Who funds CHEFF THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF KALAMAZOO INC ↗
  • Who funds COMSTOCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE DISABILITY NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO NONPROFIT ADVOCACY COALITION ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO LITERACY COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DOUGLASS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds HISPANIC AMERICAN COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds DISABILITY NETWORK SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN ↗
  • Who funds GRYPHON PLACE ↗
  • Who funds PRETTY LAKE VACATION CAMP INC ↗
  • Who funds ECUMENICAL SENIOR CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds KAIROS DWELLING ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds Kalamazoo Institute of Arts ↗
  • Who funds KALAMAZOO VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LIFT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AACORN FARM 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…Dorothy U Dalton Foun…Irving S Gilmore Foun…Tyler-Little Family F…United Way of South C…Marvin and Rosalie Ok…The Ronda E Stryker a…The Burdick-Thorne Fo…Suzanne Upjohn Delano…WK Kellogg FoundationJohn E Fetzer Institu…
Kalamazoo Community FoundationMI72.6× affinity33 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 · Dorothy U Dalton Foundation Inc · Irving S Gilmore Foundation · Tyler-Little Family Foundation · United Way of South Central Michigan · Marvin and Rosalie Okun Foundation · The Ronda E Stryker and William D Johnston Foundation · The Burdick-Thorne Foundation · Suzanne Upjohn Delano Parish Foundation · WK Kellogg Foundation · John E Fetzer Institute Inc

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 Ws & Lois Vandalson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ws & Lois Vandalson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 Ws & Lois Vandalson Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ws & Lois Vandalson 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 59 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 Ws & Lois Vandalson’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