Michigan · Nonprofit
Michigan Colleges Alliance
Michigan Colleges Alliance (Michigan) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,180,697 to it, the largest being FORD PHILANTHROPY ($330,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.2M
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $5.4M
What Michigan Colleges Alliance does
Mission
Michigan Colleges Alliance is a collective of excellent independent colleges and universities located throughout Michigan. MCA helps students pursue their educational goals by organizing on campus tours, funding scholarships and connecting graduates with meaningful careers that span the globe.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
College Access and Success - MCA conducts a number of programs to facilitate college choice in Michigan. Examples include: 1) a unique collective promotional campaign, "we are the independents", is at the center of this work. The campaign reaches students, parents, counselors and educators to create a greater awareness of the value, affordability, and educational opportunities at MCA institutions 2) targeted college fairs and college preparation programs for high school students and families 3) the Kalamazoo Math and Science Institute provides opportunities for 8th grade students to participate directly (alongside MCA faculty and students) in hands-on field and lab work in algebra and biology. The program introduces students to STEM fields in an engaging format and prepares them for high school and college success. Held new initiatives for targeted enrollment markets, early middle college students, Michigan Hispanic collaborative and Kalamazoo public schools. Conducted Kalamazoo Math and Science Institute and Battle Creek Math and Science Summer Program. Continued exclusive college fairs in key recruiting markets.
$536,491 spent$300,053 earned by the program11% of program spendingScholarships and Member Services - Private scholarship funds represent the area of greatest impact for our campuses, as they allow students to fulfill their education aspirations in small, teaching-oriented settings surrounded by fields of study at the center of our emerging knowledge-based economy. Scholarships include Michigan Scholarship Fund, named Scholarships, College Community Challenge Scholarships, Have Faith Haiti Scholarship Fund and others. Exclusive partnerships with the Kalamazoo Promise and The Bearcat Advantage represent major college affordability initiatives. Other member services include collective purchasing and collective higher education legal services program. MCA awarded $3,459,472 to students at the 15 MCA institutions studying a wide range of fields and provided additional operational and programmatic funds to member campuses.
$3,459,472 spentof which $3,459,472 as grants71% of program spendingTalent Development - MCA develops and manages programs to prepare and retain graduates for the Michigan workforce. Examples include: 1) a signature concierge corporate recruiting initiative provides customized access for Michigan business to possible interns and employees 2) an annual roundtable on talent is held at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, bringing corporate executives together with nationwide college and university presidents to collaborate on workforce development and student success 3) student/faculty project work with Michigan companies also highlights MCA's talent focus 4) MCA also facilitates cross-campus classroom learning opportunities for its members. Held the thirteenth consecutive Mackinac roundtable on talent with record college president participation and attendees from more than thirty-six states. Rolled out a collective talent development hub for employers to develop and attract rising talent on member institutions, Michigan Career Connect. Populated the Michigan Career Connect Hub with campus content, student programming and career development resources. Began partnership with 12twenty, connecting students to thousands of Michigan employers. Maintained…
$844,083 spent$472,084 earned by the program17% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,840,046.
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 2021 to 2022, from $6.3M to $5.2M (−18%).
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: 2022 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of Michigan Colleges Alliance’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% 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.
Board chair
Cyrus Mistry
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $14k → $188k.
4 of 33 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: $811k from 5 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Council of Independent Colleges). These are real filings, and they are not money Michigan Colleges Alliance raised.
From the IRS filings of Michigan Colleges Alliance’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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
Michigan Colleges Alliance has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 95% · 2019 52% · 2020 39% · 2021 28% · 2022 44% · 2023 27% — 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
53% of Michigan Colleges Alliance's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
86% of Michigan Colleges Alliance's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $247k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
Michigan Colleges Alliance is better cushioned than half of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Michigan Colleges Alliance
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
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
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 Michigan Colleges Alliance: 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 Michigan Colleges Alliance?
- Michigan Colleges Alliance (Michigan) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,180,697 to it, the largest being FORD PHILANTHROPY ($330,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Michigan Colleges Alliance have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $1,180,697 in grants to Michigan Colleges Alliance, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Michigan Colleges Alliance?
- FORD PHILANTHROPY is the largest funder on record, with $330,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Michigan Colleges Alliance 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 33 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