Grand Haven Area Community Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237108776
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Grand Haven, MI, USA
- Phone
- 6168426378
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,875,518
- Expenses
- $11,931,324
- Assets
- $221,033,895
- Liabilities
- $546,015
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HADLEY STRENG (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- HADLEY STRENG (PRESIDENT & CEO): $335,584 total reported compensation
- CHRISTOPHER RIKER (V.P. ADVANCEMENT & DONOR SERVICES): $180,330 total reported compensation
- PATRICIA MACDONALD (V.P. FINANCE): $153,437 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The grand haven area community foundation is governed by a volunteer board of trustees. Our mission: we enhance the qualify of life for all by working together to collectively address challenges and opportunities throughout west Michigan. Our vision: we advance the well being of our communities by creating the very best places to live, learn, work, give and engage. We strive for community improvement through strategic grantmaking in priority areas of diversity & inclusion, education, economic & community betterment, health & human services, arts & culture and the environment, without discrimination as to race, color or creed.
What it reported doing in 2025
For the competitive grant program, our program service accomplishments focus on the following priority areas: arts & culture, diversity & inclusion, environment, education, economic & community betterment, health & human services. All organizations state in writing how they will use the funds awarded. They are also required to submit an evalution report on how the funds were used. The grants committee makes recommendations to the board of trustees and the board votes on the grants for approval or denial at their quarterly meetings. For all other grant awards, a grant recommendation form is submitted by the appropriate fund representative. Community foundation staff follow due diligence protocol in confirming the charitable status of the grantee organization. The board of trustees reviews and approves these grants as part of their quarterly meetings. The grant check is issued directly to the nonprofit organization with a cover letter identifying the fund from which the grant is awarded and the specific purpose of the grant.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 80
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 74
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.9%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.53; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 89.9% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $336K · 18 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 191 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 187 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.