Irving S Gilmore Foundation
ActiveMutual & Membership BenefitFunds Individuals
About Irving S Gilmore Foundation
The Irving S. Gilmore Foundation concentrates substantial, place-based philanthropy in Kalamazoo and the surrounding region, prioritizing community development, higher education capital projects, and support for the performing arts. Their giving is dominated by a handful of large capital and program investments that enhance local institutions and workforce training rather than many small operating grants.
Focus Areas
Local community development and neighborhood revitalization in KalamazooHigher education capital projects (facility upgrades and equipment) at regional colleges and universitiesWorkforce and industrial trades training infrastructure (technical/skills facility expansion)Support for performing arts infrastructure (music program/piano replacement)
Who They Fund
Kalamazoo County residents / local communitychildren and families (including infants and mothers)artists and arts studentsyouth and young adults (interns, trainees)
About Irving S Gilmore Foundation
A $1.7 million award to Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation for an industrial trades complex renovation and expansion shows how the Irving S Gilmore Foundation uses large, place-based grants to shape local institutions. The foundation’s giving is centered on Greater Kalamazoo and stays overwhelmingly close to home, with 99% of grants going to recipients in Michigan. Its work reaches across community development, education, human services, health and well-being, and the arts, but it does so through a limited set of substantial awards rather than broad, dispersed microgranting. Recent grants also show support for infrastructure that serves public life in Kalamazoo. The foundation gave $1.6 million to Western Michigan University Foundation for a piano replacement project and $537,100 to Douglass Community Association for former library space renovation. In the same pattern, it backed senior services, community mental health, neighborhood placemaking, and arts organizations with operational and capital support. The result is a portfolio that looks less like issue-specific charitable reactiveness and more like long-term investment in local civic and cultural capacity. That includes colleges, libraries, cultural groups, and community-serving nonprofits that anchor daily life in Kalamazoo and nearby communities.
What Irving S Gilmore Foundation Funds
Community development appears through built-environment projects. The foundation gave $500,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo Inc for the Edison Flagship Facility capital campaign, and $350,000 to Gryphon Place for facility renovations and property purchase. Those grants point to an emphasis on physical spaces that support local services. Education funding includes both higher education and K-12 infrastructure. Kalamazoo Public Schools received $375,000 for Chenery Auditorium phase 1 capital improvements, while Kalamazoo Public Library received $285,000 for OnePlace programming over three years. The foundation also supported Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency with $670,000 for EFA operational support in 2025. Health and human services show up in facility and program support. Family Health Center Inc received $300,000 for security upgrades at the Patterson campus, and Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services received $500,000 for facility improvements. Arts funding is similarly practical: Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo received $300,000 for operational support, and the Irving S Gilmore International Keyboard Festival received grants for operational support and piano purchase.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$15.2M
Total Assets
$367.5M
Total Revenue
$42.2M
Total Expenses
$19.1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $8K and $65K, with a median of $25K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$25K
75th Percentile
$65K
Geographic Reach
Local4 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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