About Buist Foundation
The Buist Foundation concentrates its giving on faith‑aligned community assistance both locally in the Grand Rapids/Byron Center area and internationally through mission partners. It favors relatively large, mission‑driven grants to churches, ministries, and direct service nonprofits that address family stability and basic needs. The foundation makes repeat awards to a small set of organizations, indicating ongoing partnerships rather than one‑off gifts.
Focus Areas
Faith-based local community assistance (churches and ministries in West Michigan)Family homelessness and rapid re-housing services (e.g., Family Promise of Grand Rapids)International Christian missions and relief in BurundiLocal grassroots ministries providing direct social services
Who They Fund
individuals and households (including one-off recipients)students and scholarship recipientslow-income or financially vulnerable community membersfaith-based and mission/community development groups
About Buist Foundation
Buist Foundation’s giving is marked by repeated support for Family Promise of Grand Rapids, including a $75,000 grant in 2023, a $50,000 grant in 2024, and a $7,300 grant in 2025. That pattern points to a funder that stays with specific partners over time rather than limiting itself to one-off awards. The foundation also backs faith-linked and community-based organizations such as Impact Burundi, Woodfield Community Center, Byron Community Ministries, and Bridge Street House of Prayer, showing a mix of local assistance and mission-oriented support. Its recent grants also include larger project-level awards and smaller direct-service gifts, with amounts ranging from five figures to modest support for community programs and needs. The grant list shows work tied to housing stability, ministries, community centers, and relief efforts, all within a relatively local footprint. A smaller set of recipients appears multiple times across different years, which suggests ongoing relationships and repeated funding to organizations the foundation already knows. The 2025 grants show that this pattern continued into the latest filing year.
What Buist Foundation Funds
Family stability is a clear part of the foundation’s grantmaking. In 2023 and 2024, it gave $75,000 and $50,000 to Family Promise of Grand Rapids, and then added $7,300 in 2025, all tied to community assistance. It also supported Daffodil Ministries with a $51,388 grant in 2025 for community assistance, indicating continued attention to local aid work. Faith-based missions are another visible theme. The foundation awarded $75,000 to Impact Burundi in 2023 and $25,000 in 2025, while giving $15,000 to Bridge Street House of Prayer in 2025 and $10,000 to Byron Community Ministries in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Community infrastructure shows up too: Streams of Hope received $20,000 in 2025 for electrical work, and Tall Oaks Camp received $11,353 in 2023 for electrical work. Those grants suggest a practical approach that includes operating support, facility needs, and ministry programming.
How Buist Foundation Gives
Buist Foundation’s typical grant size is small to mid-sized: the 25th percentile is $530, the median is $1,750, and the 75th percentile is $4,000. The recent-gifts list also shows a wider upper range, with several five-figure awards and a few six-figure-scale commitments. Recurring support is a defining feature: Byron Community Ministries appears in 2023, 2024, and 2025; Woodfield Community Center appears in 2023, 2024, and 2025; and Family Promise of Grand Rapids appears across three years. The foundation is a private foundation rather than a public grantmaker, funds individuals, and does not make program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$322K
Total Assets
$809K
Total Revenue
$621K
Total Expenses
$654K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $530 and $4K, with a median of $2K.
25th Percentile
$530
Median
$2K
75th Percentile
$4K
Geographic Reach
Local11 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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