The Political function of Philanthropy: DeVos Family Foundations – Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation

 “In any case, the hidden hand of of foundations can control the course of social change and deflect anger to targets other than elite power.” 

 – Joan Roelofs, Foundations and Public Policy

For the past 10 years, GRIID has been monitoring foundations in West Michigan, particularly the large family foundations that those who are part of the Grand Rapids Power Structure have created. Our monitoring of local foundations has been part of our larger critique of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex in Grand Rapids.

Over the next several weeks, GRIID will provide some information and analysis of the most recent 990 documents that foundations are legally required to submit. These 990 documents must be submitted within a three-year period, which is why the 990s that we will be examining are from 2020, since most foundations prefer to submit their 990 documents at the last minute, thus minimizing possible scrutiny.

Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation

GRIID has always begun our Foundation Watch work by looking at the foundations associated with the most powerful family in West Michigan, the DeVos family. The oldest of these family foundations is the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation. GRIID relies on GuideStar.org to access the 990s of each of their foundations and it appears that 2020 will be the last year that the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation will exist. According to GuideStar, in 2020, the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation contributed $19,170,000, leaving them with only $31,037 of funds left in the foundation. To see the 990 document for 2020 from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, go here.

The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation made contributions to dozens of entities in 2020, but there are some clear categories of groups they contributed to, such as the Religious Right, Think Tanks, Education-centered groups, and social service entities, to name a few. Below is a listing of each from these categories, with a dollar amount and a brief analysis. 

We also include groups that are DeVos owned or created, along with liberal non-profits. With the liberal non-profits, we believe that funding from foundations like the DeVos family foundations is a form of hush money. When we say hush money, we mean that these entities will not publicly challenge the system of Capitalism, the wealth gap, structural racism and other systems of oppression, which the DeVos family benefits from and perpetuates through their own political funding.

Religious Right

• Alliance for Children Everywhere – $150,000
• Back to God Ministries – $25,000
• Christian Leaders NFP – $150,000
• Christian Reformed Church in North America – $635,000
• David House Ministries – $35,000
• Evangelism Explosion III – $100,000
• Front Porch Ministries – $50,000
• Luis Palau Association – $150,000
• Madison Square Christian Reformed Church – $300,000
• Partners Worldwide – $250,000
• Right to Life of Michigan – $20,000
• Words of Hope Inc – $25,000
• World Renew – $150,000
• Youth for Christ USA Inc – $50,000

These religious groups practice varying degrees of conservative politics, which fit into the ideological framework that the DeVos family is committed to. For instance, the Luis Palau Association is a Latin American based group that was founded by Luis Palau, an evangelist who had a long history of supporting far right and military dictators throughout Latin American, which we have documented in a previous GRIID post.

Education-centered groups

• Calvin Theological Seminary – $150,000
• Grand Rapids Community College Foundation – $1,000,000
• Grand Valley State University – $1,000,000
• InterCollegiate Studies Institute Inc – $100,000
• King’s College – $5,500,000
• Rehoboth Christian School Association – $300,000
• Western Theological Seminary – $200,000
• Zuni Christian Mission School – $50,000

Richard and Helen DeVos have been using the massive wealth to influence education systems in West Michigan and abroad, with an emphasis on Christian Schools, such as Calvin College, Western Theological Seminary and the White Savior schools that are part of the longstanding practice of imposing christianity on Native communities. Contributions to GRCC and GVSU also is a long standing practice, primarily to influence the curriculum in those colleges. Rich DeVos used to be a trustee at Grand Valley State Colleges back in the 1970s and was instrumental in getting ride of the William James and Thomas Jefferson Colleges at GVSC, plus the played a role in getting GVSU to build a campus in downtown GR, along with the creation of the Seidman College of Business.

DeVos-owned, created or connected groups

• Christian Leaders NFP – $150,000
• Grand Rapids Initiative for Leaders – $10,000
• Spectrum Health Foundation – $3,350,000

Groups receiving Hush $

• Bethany Christian Services – $150,000
• Guiding Light Mission – $50,000
• Hope Network – $180,000
• Mel Trotter Ministries – $25,000
• Safe Haven Ministries – $25,000

These groups all provide some sort of social service – people fleeing domestic violence, those who are housing insecure, people with disabilities, adoption and immigration. There are root causes to all of these issues, but these groups are not likely to address root causes and larger systems of oppression. When the DeVos family foundations make contributions, this will increase the likelihood that systems of oppression will not be addressed by these groups.

Foundations rarely make contributions without strings attached. The Richard and Helen DeVos has a long history of funding far right and religious right groups, which GRIID documented 10 years ago when we started this project. In addition, investigative journalist and author Russ Bellant, documented the same sort of dynamics in several of his books on the far right/religious right, specifically with his book, The Religious Right in Michigan Politics, published in 1996.