West Michigan Foundation Watch: The Dick and Betsy 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

Dick and Betsy 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 Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation has been one of the largest in West Michigan, which was founded in 1989, the same time that Dick DeVos was the CEO of Amway. According to the Candid website, in 2024, the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation contributed $7,066,885,00 leaving them with $52,982,153.00 of funds left in their foundation account.

The Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation made contributions to dozens of entities in 2024, 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.

I 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.

However, before I get to how they distributed their foundation funds for 2024, I think it is important that the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation paid two DeVos-owned entities to manage their foundation, which means they used foundation money to pay other DeVos family assets. The two DeVos entities that received funds were RDV Corporation $387,495.00 and Ottawa Avenue Private Capital $81,292.00.

Religious Groups

• Alpha USA – $150,000
• Degage Ministries – $5,000
• Global Leadership Network – $300,000
• Help Pregnancy Crisis AID Inc. – $25,000
• JCUC Blessing Incorporated – $60,500
• Mars Hill Bible Church – $162,000
• Partners Worldwide – $15,000
• Right to Life Michigan – $10,000

These religious groups practice varying degrees of conservative politics, which fit into the ideological framework that the DeVos family is committed to. For instance, Global Leadership Network merges Christianity and Capitalism, plus the partner with far right groups like Prison Fellowship. In addition, the foundation gives money to anti-abortion groups, but the DeVos Family gives a lot more money to anti-abortion candidates.

Far Right Think Tanks

• Acton Institute – $100,000
• American Enterprise Institute – $375,000
• Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression – $25,000
• Mackinac Center for Public Policy – $250,000
• Palmetto Promise Institute – $250,000
• Philanthropy Roundtable – $50,000
• The Claremont Institute – $50,000

These Think Tanks influence public policy in individual states, like the Acton Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy does in Michigan. The American Enterprise Institute and the Philanthropy Roundtable do the same thing, but at the federal level, which is why they are based in DC. They also fund regional think tanks like the Palmetto Promise Institute and the Claremont Institute, both of which work with the State Policy Network and the Heritage Foundation.

Political Organizations

• Ada Township – $1,100,000
• City of Kentwood Parks and Recreation – $100,000
• Kent County Parks Foundation – $1,000,000
• Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation – $250,000

DeVos family foundations giving money to government entities is nothing new. Giving $1 million to Ada Township was most likely motivated by getting approval to build a hotel in downtown Ada in 2024.

Education-centered groups

• Grand Rapids Christian Schools – $10,000
• Holland Christian Schools – $50,000
• Potters House – $250,000
• University of Maryland – $90,000

Far Right Ideology Groups

• Do No Harm – $100,000
• Liberty Justice Center – $50,000

The Do No Harm group is a medical entity that is anti-DEI and also will not support gender affirming care for youth. The Liberty Justice Center is a rightwing “litigation center that fights to protect economic liberty, private property rights and free speech.

DeVos-owned, created or connected groups

• Chicago Cubs Charities – $10,000
• Fiscal Sponsorship Allies – $1,550,000
• Grand Action Foundation – $1,000,000
• Grand Rapids Downtown Market – $10,000
• John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Pam DeVos sits on the Board) – $25,000
• Van Andel Institute – $10,000
• West Michigan Aviation Academy Foundation – $247,281

Of course all these entities that were created by DeVos family members, also promote their ideological religious and capitalist values. On top of that, it also means that DeVos family members are funding their own entities and using their foundation to fund their own pet projects, like Grand Action Foundation 2,0 – which promotes development projects in Grand Rapids that use public funds and expands their wealth – or the West Michigan Aviation Academy – because it promotes the privatization of education.

Groups receiving Hush $

• Guiding Light Mission – $5000
• ICCF Community Homes – $25,000
• ODC Network – $75,000
• Public Museum of Grand Rapids – $250,000
• Safe Haven Ministries – $10,000

These groups all provide some sort of social service – nature preserve, those who are housing insecure, people with disabilities, and those fleeing domestic violence. 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 Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation has a long history of funding far right and religious right groups, which GRIID began documenting over a decade ago when we started this project. Lastly, it is worth noting that the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation, like all of the DeVos family foundations, compliments the campaign contributions they make to further impact public policy and promote their religious and capitalist ideologies.