Michigan · Nonprofit
HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY
HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY (Michigan) receives grants from 101 organizations whose IRS filings report $25,660,127 to it, the largest being Michigan 2-1-1 Inc ($5,565,897). 68 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 101
- Grants received
- $26M
- Net assets
- $31M
What Heart of West Michigan United Way does
Mission
We unite community resources to invest in solutions that reduce poverty in west michigan.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Eviction prevention program - a program that provides flexible financial assistance to allow for housing stability for families
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Community investment funds of $3,273,000 went to nonprofit providers that provide direct service to people in kent county. Direct services were provided to approximately 50,000 individuals and 16,000 families. Donors may designate gifts to other united ways or specific charitable organizations. Donor directed designations of $1,320,000 were made to other united ways, united way programs and/or other charitable organizations. Agency impact utilizes a volunteer driven process to review proposals for united way funding from local non-profits. They make recommendations to united way and its board of directors to invest in programs that will achieve measurable impact within the community driven by united way's focus on reducing poverty through investments in family stability, youth opportunity, financial security and community resiliency. Community impact decisions are based on best-practice research and reported annually.
$6,448,124 spentof which $4,989,541 as grants$307,382 earned by the program54% of program spendingInternal community service programs include 2-1-1, volunteer income tax assistance program (vita), volunteer center, eviction program, women united and emerging leaders. United way 2-1-1 is a free health and human services "hotline" that connects callers to more than 8,000 distinct services in 15 western and northern michigan counties 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is staffed and managed by extensively trained and certified united way staff members. United way's 211 service supported michigan residents by taking over 55,000 calls during the year. United way vita engages over 200 volunteers to help working individuals and families gain economic stability with free income tax return preparation, ensuring that the earned income tax credit is received by those who are eligible. The eviction prevention program supported 106 families with flexible financial assistance and/or housing case management, providing for housing stability for those families.
$2,541,909 spentof which $472,846 as grants$1,057,539 earned by the program21% of program spendingThe kent county essential needs task force and grand rapids area coalition to end homelessness focus on system change with an emphasis on collective impact and the interconnectedness of all systems. The committees are a reflection of those basic needs the community has deemed essential to the success of all residents. In addition to housing/homelessness, committees include energy efficiency, food and nutrition, kent county food policy council, economic and workforce development, transportation, and digital inclusion.
$2,422,473 spentof which $1,068,481 as grants20% of program spendingThe great start collaborative (gsc) of kent county serves as the local infrastructure for governance, planning, investment, advocacy, and innovation for michigan's great start system. Our collaborative is part of a network of 54 great start collaboratives and 60 great start parent coalitions working through the michigan office of great start (ogs). Charged with ensuring that all children birth to age eight, especially those in highest need, have access to high-quality early learning and development programs and enter kindergarten prepared for success.
$633,101 spent5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,045,607.
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 $27M to $38M (+39%).
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: 2017 5% · 2018 5% · 2019 12% · 2020 5% · 2021 39% · 2022 82% · 2023 42% · 2024 21% · 2025 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
80% of HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (80% 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.
Chief executive
Michelle Vandyke
President/CEO
Board chair
Gwen Sandefur
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 27 funders to 52 funders, grant income rose $1.0M → $3.8M.
23 of 101 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 21% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $175k from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Heart of West Michigan United Way). These are real filings, and they are not money HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY raised.
From the IRS filings of HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 101 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
HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
55% 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 HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 19% · 2018 35% · 2019 20% · 2020 12% · 2021 46% · 2022 24% · 2023 27% — 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 HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
94% of HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY's funding base is broadening — from 27 funders to 52 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 490 philanthropy nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.6M on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$5.1M
- Department of the Treasury$568k
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 HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY
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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY: 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 HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY?
- HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY (Michigan) receives grants from 101 organizations whose IRS filings report $25,660,127 to it, the largest being Michigan 2-1-1 Inc ($5,565,897). 68 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY have?
- IRS filings report 101 organizations giving $25,660,127 in grants to HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY, 68 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY?
- Michigan 2-1-1 Inc is the largest funder on record, with $5,565,897 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HEART OF WEST MICHIGAN UNITED WAY 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.
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 101 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing