Michigan · Nonprofit
Cornerstone University
Cornerstone University (Michigan) receives grants from 78 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,511,509 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($8,656,796). 48 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $47M
- Funders on record
- 78
- Grants received
- $17M
- Net assets
- $98M
What Cornerstone University does
Mission
The University, including Cornerstone Theological Seminary, Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, and radio ministries, exists to empower men and women to excel as influencers in our world for Christ by offering a student focused learning community where Jesus Christ is central.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Academic instruction and academic support make up the educational expenses. The university has over 270 full- and part-time staff and faculty. We have just under 2000 students on a 120-acre campus and online.
$23,339,104 spentof which $9,930,706 as grants$31,691,929 earned by the program64% of program spendingStudent services includes campus life and activities including athletics, health counseling services, enrollment services financial aid, etc. Organized activities include summer sports camps, golf outings, special academic and athletic trips, banquets, and other miscellaneous activities.
$7,883,138 spent$514,264 earned by the program21% of program spendingAuxiliaries include room and board, apartment rentals, hospitality and events, and radio ministries. Cornerstone Radio Ministries includes the operations of five noncommercial radio stations WCSG, Grand Rapids with signals also in Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor and Battle Creek. 3,536,960 is included in contribution revenue on Part VIII, Line 1f.
$5,444,830 spent$7,826,140 earned by the program15% of program spendingOther program services
$887,147 earned by the program
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $36,667,072.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $102M to $109M (+7%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 1% · 2020 3% · 2021 5% · 2022 8% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
13% of Cornerstone University’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Rick Koole
Trustee, Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 29 funders, grant income fell $3.4M → $1.6M.
24 of 78 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 69% 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 Cornerstone University’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 78 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
Cornerstone University leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
70% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Cornerstone University.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 54% · 2019 44% · 2020 72% · 2021 54% · 2022 41% · 2023 41% — diversifying over time.
“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
37% of Cornerstone University's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% give in more than one year at all.
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
68% of Cornerstone University's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $5.3M that is directly attributable, 69% of it comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $11M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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.
Against its field
Cornerstone University's revenue fell 25% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding Cornerstone University receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $9.1M on record.
- Department of Education$9.1M
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 Cornerstone University
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Asia Biblical Theological Seminary LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Cornerstone University: 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.
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 Cornerstone University?
- Cornerstone University (Michigan) receives grants from 78 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,511,509 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($8,656,796). 48 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Cornerstone University have?
- IRS filings report 78 organizations giving $16,511,509 in grants to Cornerstone University, 48 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Cornerstone University?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $8,656,796 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Cornerstone University 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 Cornerstone University →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 78 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