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Michigan · Nonprofit

Communities First Inc

Communities First Inc (Michigan) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,416,240 to it, the largest being CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION ($13,527,145). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$7.0M
Funders on record
45
Grants received
$18M
Net assets
$47M
28/45 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 65%
01What it does

What Communities First Inc does

Mission

The mission of Communities First, Inc. is to build healthy, vibrant communities through economic development, affordable housing and innovative programming.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. Not described on the e-filed return.

    $6,780,229 spent
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $6,780,229.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($1.6M) Expenses 100 ($1.6M) Net assets 100 ($3.8M)2019 Revenue 192 ($3.1M) Expenses 71 ($1.1M) Net assets 152 ($5.8M)2020 Revenue 257 ($4.1M) Expenses 109 ($1.7M) Net assets 654 ($25M)2021 Revenue 199 ($3.2M) Expenses 144 ($2.2M) Net assets 787 ($30M)2022 Revenue 432 ($6.9M) Expenses 265 ($4.1M) Net assets 1164 ($44M)2023 Revenue 665 ($11M) Expenses 459 ($7.1M) Net assets 1301 ($50M)2024 Revenue 439 ($7.0M) Expenses 484 ($7.5M) Net assets 1245 ($47M)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (439)Expenses (484)Net assets (1245)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $6.1M to $26M (+324%).

$4.2M
$6.1M
$26M
$33M
$48M
$53M
$55M
2018201920202021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 2% · 2020 24% · 2024 30%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

73% of Communities First Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (39% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,214 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$48k
’18
$2.0M
’19
$2.4M
’20
$950k
’21
$2.8M
’22
$3.5M
’23
−$486k
’24
6.8
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Board chair

Jason Paulateer

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed7777775
Joined·+0+0+0+0+0+0
No longer listed·000002
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $362k → $6.0M.

8 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of Communities First Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

Communities First Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

73%
largest funder
84%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 79% · 2018 82% · 2019 60% · 2020 56% · 2021 42% · 2022 84% · 2023 82% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

58% of Communities First Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

92% of Communities First Inc's grant income comes from Michigan funders.

MI
NY
OH
CA
MD
GA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Michigan out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Communities First Inc has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,973 housing & shelter nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−7% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve6.8mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)28% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,973 housing & shelter nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding Communities First Inc receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.3M on record.

Federal$2.3M
grants $2.3Mcontracts $0
23
24
Top agencies
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development$1.2M
  • Small Business Administration$1.0M
  • Corporation for National and Community Service$146k

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like Communities First Inc

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Michigan

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

90% of spending goes to programs.

Program 90%Management 9%Fundraising 1%

Governance

7
board members
86%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

52%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MI

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Communities First Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds Communities First Inc?
Communities First Inc (Michigan) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,416,240 to it, the largest being CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION ($13,527,145). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Communities First Inc have?
IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $18,416,240 in grants to Communities First Inc, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Communities First Inc?
CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $13,527,145 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Communities First Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Communities First →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 45 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing