FundersMichigan

The Aletheia Foundation

Belmont, MI · EIN 20-1861132. Reported 99 grants totalling $1,718,200 to 55 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$6,000median grant
$1,718,200granted, 2021-2024
55organizations funded
65%of grantees funded again the next year
$58,328assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. The Aletheia Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $6,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $24,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $250,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
9 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
45 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
23 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
17 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
3 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
West Michigan TrailsByron Center, MI$250,000112022
Pine Ridge Bible CampCedar Springs, MI$156,520442024
Reformation Heritage BooksGrand Rapids, MI$150,000222024
Alliance Defending FreedomScottsdale, AZ$140,000442024
Servants CenterGrand Rapids, MI$127,000442024
Mission IndiaGrand Rapids, MI$109,000442024
Northpointe Christian SchoolGrand Rapids, MI$100,000112024
Ethics and Public PolicyWashington, DC$70,000442024
Action InstituteGrand Rapids, MI$60,000332024
National Christian Foundation Donor Advised FundAlpharetta, GA$50,000112023
Heritage FoundationWashington, DC$35,000442024
Lifesong for OrphansGridley, IL$32,000112022
The Luke CommissionSagle, ID$32,000112021
City of RockfordRockford, MI$25,000112024
Right to LifeGrand Rapids, MI$25,000442024
Alpha Grand RapidsGrand Rapids, MI$22,500332024
Mel Trotter MinistriesGrand Rapids, MI$21,500442024
The Lighthouse for Teen MothersGrand Rapids, MI$20,000112022
Paws With a CauseWayland, MI$16,000332024
Autoimmune AssociationClinton Twp, MI$15,000112024
Forgotten Man MinistriesGrand Rapids, MI$15,000332023
Ligonier MinistriesSanford, FL$15,000332024
Maranatha BaptistComstock Park, MI$15,000112024
Spectrum Health FoundationGrand Rapids, MI$15,000332023
Pine Rest FoundationGrand Rapids, MI$14,000112024
Bridge St MinistriesGrand Rapids, MI$12,500222024
Baptist Mid-Missions FoundationCleveland, OH$10,000222022
Bibles InternationalCleveland, OH$10,000222024
Cedarville UniversityCedarville, OH$10,000112024
Cranhill RanchRodney, MI$10,000112024
CruOrlando, FL$10,000222023
Museum of the BibleWashington, DC$10,000112023
Word of LifeHudson, FL$10,000222022
Refuge Girl's AcademyLebanon, IN$7,000112024
Northpointe Christian SchoolsGrand Rapids, MI$6,180112021
Lead CollectiveGreenville, SC$6,000112021
2ND Chance CorporationLakeview, MI$5,000112024
Adult and Teen ChallengeMuskegon, MI$5,000112023
American Friends of Megen David AdomNew York, NY$5,000112023
Assure Women's CenterCedar Springs, MI$5,000112024
Bridge FellowshipBelmont, MI$5,000112023
Catholic Charities West MichiganGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112023
Faith Baptist Bible CollegeAnkeny, IA$5,000112024
Finding Freedom RanchMoline, MI$5,000112023
Grace's TableGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112024
Gull Lake MinistriesHickory Corners, DC$5,000112024
Lake Ann CampLake Ann, MI$5,000112022
Lincoln Lake Baptist Youth CampGowen, MI$5,000112022
Pregnancy Resource CenterGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112021
Reach the Forgotten Jail MinistiesGrand Rapids, MI$5,000112024
Sameritan's PurseBoone, NC$5,000112023
Helping Hands of Howard CityHoward City, MI$3,000332023
Love Inc of Boone CountyLebanon, IN$3,000112024
Arthritis FoundationAtlanta, GA$2,500112024
Corewell Health - Helen Devos Childrens Hospital FoundationGrand Rapids, MI$2,500112024

21 of 55 (38%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 65%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 52 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Religion
13 grants
Human Services
10 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
8 grants
Civil Rights
7 grants
Education
6 grants
Crime & Legal
3 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants
International Affairs
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202118$267,162$5,000
202223$535,112$5,000
202326$433,830$5,000
202432$482,096$10,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 73% of this one's giving went to organizations in Michigan. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Michigan
$1.2M
Arizona
$140K
District of Columbia
$120K
Georgia
$52K
Florida
$35K
Illinois
$32K
Idaho
$32K
Ohio
$30K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund28 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc26 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc20 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program17 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc16 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $6,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Michigan.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Aletheia Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 127, Belmont, MI, 49306. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 20-1861132 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.