Michigan · Nonprofit
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP (Michigan) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,063,458 to it, the largest being IRVING S GILMORE FOUNDATION ($1,050,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.1M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $4.9M
What Southwest Michigan First Corp does
Mission
Increase prosperity for all in Southwest Michigan.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Southwest michigan first administered approximately $4,116,000 in grants to businesses through funding from the medc (state economic development corporation) during 2025.
$4,115,604 spentof which $4,115,604 as grants63% of program spendingOther economic development - the purpose is to serve as a regional economic development organization to attract business to and retain business in, and to reduce poverty and the burden of government by growing jobs in southwest michigan.
$2,406,587 spent$710,272 earned by the program37% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,522,191.
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 2023 to 2024, from $14M to $9.2M (−32%).
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 9% · 2018 7% · 2019 13% · 2020 65% · 2021 62% · 2022 23% · 2023 39% · 2024 34% · 2025 51%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% 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
Jonas Peterson
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Greg Dobson
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $118k → $728k.
5 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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: $658k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Bronson Healthcare Group). These are real filings, and they are not money SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP raised.
From the IRS filings of SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP’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
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
36% 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 SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 36% · 2019 31% · 2020 51% · 2021 62% · 2022 52% · 2023 48% — 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
54% of SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 76% 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
82% of SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $91k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP is better cushioned than half of the 2,127 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,127 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP
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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Southwest Michigan Buildings LLC · disregarded
- Southwest Michigan First Corporation No 2 · exempt
- Consultant Connect · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP: 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 SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP?
- SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP (Michigan) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,063,458 to it, the largest being IRVING S GILMORE FOUNDATION ($1,050,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $3,063,458 in grants to SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP?
- IRVING S GILMORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,050,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN FIRST CORP 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 21 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