Community Foundation for Oceana County
Pentwater, MI · EIN 83-1970895. Reported 100 grants totalling $8,660,091 to 58 organizations across tax years 2021-2025, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Community Foundation for Oceana County, the IRS classifies it under community improvement rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE S20) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 58 distinct organizations, with 48% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is concentrated. Most of the money has a settled destination, and the remainder is what is realistically in play.
- How much its list changes. 52% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is about the 56% median for grantmaking charities -- lower than the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $12,893. Half of what it reported fell between $7,895 and $30,960; the smallest was $5,100 and the largest $2,444,709. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
12 of those grants were non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $292,688 in total. In-kind giving is real support but it is not a cheque.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceana County | Hart, MI | $4,123,635 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Shelby Township | Shelby, MI | $2,197,554 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Oceana County Historical & Genealogical Society | Hart, MI | $360,998 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Oceana County Sheriff Department | Hart, MI | $214,210 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| The Ladder Community Center | Shelby, MI | $182,200 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Shelby Public Schools | Hart, MI | $145,310 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Trinity Lutheran Church | New Era, MI | $138,258 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Mercy Health Lakeshore Campus | Shelby, MI | $136,759 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Ladder Community Center | Shelby, MI | $120,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Village of Shelby | Shelby, MI | $106,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Community Foundation for Oceana County | Pentwater, MI | $71,550 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Shelby Township | Shelby, MI | $63,698 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| New Era Christian School | New Era, MI | $57,706 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Oceana County Sheriff Department | Hart, MI | $48,533 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Oceana Conservation District | Shelby, MI | $48,038 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hart Public Schools | Hart, MI | $42,887 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Trinity Health-Michigan | Grand Rapids, MI | $37,911 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Communities Overcoming Violent Encounters Inc | Ludington, MI | $36,462 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Oceana County Medical Care Facility | Hart, MI | $35,811 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Community Foundation of Holland Zeeland Area | Holland, MI | $30,960 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fountain Hill Center for Counseling and Consultation | Grand Rapids, MI | $30,424 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| United Way of the Lakeshore Inc | Muskegon, MI | $29,942 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Walkerville Public Schools | Walkerville, MI | $26,291 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Crystal Valley Care Fund | Hart, MI | $21,820 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Community Economic Development Association of Michigan | Lansing, MI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Pentwater Historical Society | Pentwater, MI | $19,940 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Hesperia Community Schools | Hesperia, MI | $18,250 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Trinity Health Corporation | Livonia, MI | $16,607 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Village of Pentwater | Pentwater, MI | $16,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Benzie County Central Schools | Benzonia, MI | $16,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Benzie County Central Schools Educational Foundation Inc | Benzonia, MI | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Oceana County Council on Aging | Hart, MI | $13,863 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Shelby Area Chamber of Commerce | Shelby, MI | $13,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| United Methodist Church Centenary | Pentwater, MI | $12,690 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Michael Catholic Church Brunswick | Fremont, MI | $11,031 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Lakeshore Childrens Advocacy Center | Manistee, MI | $10,100 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Oceana Read Early Read Often Fund | Pentwater, MI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Read Muskegon | Muskegon, MI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| West Michigan Community Mental Health | Ludington, MI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Whitehall Township | Whitehall, MI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Local Animal Shelter Support Inc | Pentwater, MI | $9,389 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lakeshore Community Hospital Endowment Fund | Pentwater, MI | $9,133 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Shelby Rotary Scholarship Fund | Shelby, MI | $8,799 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pentwater Public School | Pentwater, MI | $8,400 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| West Central Michigan Horticultural Research Inc | Shelby, MI | $8,280 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mike Blackmer Electric Inc | Hart, MI | $8,250 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Golden Township | Mears, MI | $8,215 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Disability Network West Michigan | Muskegon, MI | $7,895 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pentwater Fire Department | Pentwater, MI | $7,460 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Claybanks Township | New Era, MI | $7,343 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Love Inc of Oceana County | Shelby, MI | $7,167 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mid Michigan Community Action Agency Inc | Farwell, MI | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| City of Hart | Hart, MI | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pentwater Township Library | Pentwater, MI | $5,909 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan | Grand Rapids, MI | $5,375 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Michael Catholic Church Brunswick | Fremont, MI | $5,308 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Shelby Area District Library | Shelby, MI | $5,130 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Oceana County Economic Alliance | Hart, MI | $5,100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
28 of 58 (48%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Oceana County
SHELBY TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY PARK - Shelby Township
CONSTRUCTION COSTS FOR TIGER ATHLETIC COMPLEX, GUN RANGE PROJECT, AND COMMUNITY PARK. - Trinity Lutheran Church
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH BUILDING FUND - Shelby Public Schools
OUT OF SCHOOL TIME PROGRAM GRANT ADMIN FEE AND RIDE WITH PRIDE PROGRAM - Village of Shelby
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT - Oceana County Historical and Genealogical Society
VISITORS CENTER RENOVATIONS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 18 of 58 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | $358,220 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 12 | $292,688 | $16,328 |
| 2023 | 25 | $2,017,864 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 30 | $3,562,051 | $11,460 |
| 2025 | 22 | $2,429,268 | $13,786 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $12,893 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Michigan.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Community Foundation for Oceana County's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 22 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 388 S Hancock St, Pentwater, MI, 49449.
EIN 83-1970895 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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