Michigan · Nonprofit
Land Conservancy of West Michigan
Land Conservancy of West Michigan (Michigan) receives grants from 54 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,208,991 to it, the largest being GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($968,975). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 54
- Grants received
- $4.2M
- Net assets
- $19M
What Land Conservancy of West Michigan does
Mission
Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners protect their own land.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Land Conservancy of West Michigan works with contractors, interns and volunteers in stewardship activities that provide for the management and restoration of our diverse network of dune, grassland, wetland and forested preserved lands. We coordinate with area schools, businesses and organizations to provide research, service learning and hands-on field opportunities at our preserves. We organize and lead workshops and trainings for the benefit of the public. These provide the tools and inspiration for all citizens to become better stewards of their community.
$435,557 spent$17,443 earned by the program43% of program spendingThe Land Conservancy is Keeping Nature Nearby by permanently preserving land that is important to West Michigans quality of life and environment. We do this by (1) establishing conservancy-owned nature preserves that are open to the public, (2) working with landowners to create conservation easements that protect natural habitats and open spaces on private property and (3) working in partnership with government agencies and communities to create parks and natural areas open to the public for their enjoyment and study of nature.
$344,836 spent34% of program spendingThe Land Conservancy provides outreach and communications to key audiences throughout our service area. We raise community and member awareness of West Michigan land protection and stewardship issues through events, newsletters, presentations, media relations, direct mail, website and social media.
$227,652 spent$491 earned by the program23% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,008,045.
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 2018 to 2019, from $16M to $22M (+37%).
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 2% · 2018 22% · 2019 1% · 2020 2% · 2021 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of Land Conservancy of West Michigan’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Kim Karn
Executive Director
Board chair
John Fox
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 23 funders, grant income fell $1.4M → $334k.
16 of 54 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 Land Conservancy of West Michigan’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 54 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
Land Conservancy of West Michigan has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
74% 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 Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 22% · 2019 32% · 2020 38% · 2021 28% · 2022 22% · 2023 30% — 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
47% of Land Conservancy of West Michigan's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
59% of Land Conservancy of West Michigan'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 $1.7M that is directly attributable, 61% of it comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
Land Conservancy of West Michigan's revenue fell 70% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Land Conservancy of West Michigan receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $22k on record.
- Department of the Interior$22k
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 Land Conservancy of West Michigan
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
85%
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 Land Conservancy of West Michigan: 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 Land Conservancy of West Michigan?
- Land Conservancy of West Michigan (Michigan) receives grants from 54 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,208,991 to it, the largest being GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($968,975). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Land Conservancy of West Michigan have?
- IRS filings report 54 organizations giving $4,208,991 in grants to Land Conservancy of West Michigan, 37 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Land Conservancy of West Michigan?
- GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $968,975 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Land Conservancy of West Michigan 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 Land Conservancy of West Michigan →
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 54 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