Michigan · Nonprofit
Great Lakes Christian Foundation
Great Lakes Christian Foundation (Michigan) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $831,477 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($812,582). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 99% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2019
- $194k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $831k
- Net assets
- $-22952
What Great Lakes Christian Foundation does
Mission
As the Eastern Michigan Affiliate of National Christian Foundation (NCF), our mission is to facilitate smarter Christian giving by offering the convenience and efficiency of donor advised funds through NCF and by providing educational programs for donors on philanthropic topics.
As stated on its FY2019 Form 990.
Program
We are one of a nationwide network of local Christian foundations that are affiliated with the National Christian Foundation (NCF). Since 1982, this network has granted more than $3 billion to over 15,000 churches and ministries worldwide. We offer expert council and innovative, flexible giving solution to help: (1)individuals and families make a greater impact with their charitable giving, give practically any asset entrusted to them, and balance their giving with income needs, (2)churches and ministries offer their supporters creative ways of giving which can lead to significant new funding for their organization, and (3)professional advisors (financial advisors, CPAs, attorneys, and others) present charitable giving expertise to their clients, which turns their practice into a ministry and builds stronger relationships.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990, which lists programs largest first by expense.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $29k to $84k (+193%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2021: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $187k → $159k.
2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 99% 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 Great Lakes Christian Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
Great Lakes Christian Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 Great Lakes Christian Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 90% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
99% of Great Lakes Christian Foundation'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 $8k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Michigan funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $823k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.
Organizations like Great Lakes Christian Foundation
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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Great Lakes Christian Foundation: 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 Great Lakes Christian Foundation?
- Great Lakes Christian Foundation (Michigan) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $831,477 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($812,582). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 99% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Great Lakes Christian Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $831,477 in grants to Great Lakes Christian Foundation, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Great Lakes Christian Foundation?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $812,582 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Great Lakes Christian Foundation 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 Great Lakes Christian →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2019 (financials across 2017–2019), and the filings of 3 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