About Vermeer Charitable Foundation
The Vermeer Charitable Foundation concentrates its giving on large, local grants that support basic needs and faith-based education in and around Pella, Iowa. Its funding is split between substantial support for regional hunger relief and significant backing of a local Christian secondary school, indicating a community-oriented, religiously informed philanthropic focus.
Focus Areas
Regional food security / local food banks in central IowaChristian secondary education in Pella, IACommunity charitable support in local/municipal settings
Who They Fund
students / school-aged childrenlow-income families experiencing food insecurity
Giving Approach
Very concentrated — a small number of large grants to a few local organizations, split primarily between faith-based education and charitable/human services; appears to prefer issuing major single gifts rather than many modest awards.
Funding Style
programmatic supportdirect service funding
About Vermeer Charitable Foundation
A $190,700 grant to Food Bank of Iowa stands out in Vermeer Charitable Foundation’s recent giving and points to a clear pattern: the foundation supports both immediate basic needs and long-standing local education priorities in Iowa. Recent awards also include $135,450 to Pella Christian High School and $100,000 grants to Central College and Dordt University, showing a mix of community relief and faith-linked schooling. The foundation’s grant history is concentrated in nearby places, especially Pella and the surrounding central Iowa network, with awards that often back institutions serving students, families, and local residents. In charitable work, the foundation has also supported organizations such as Pella Food Shelf, Pella Community Foundation, and Spirit of Pella, alongside education grants to schools and colleges that reflect a sustained commitment to the Pella area. The overall picture is of a funder that gives through a small number of visible priorities rather than a broad scatter of unrelated causes, with faith-based education and community support appearing together across the recent grant list.
What Vermeer Charitable Foundation Funds
Food security is one of the clearest themes in the recent grants. The foundation gave $66,400 to Pella Food Shelf in 2025 and $50,000 to Food Bank of Iowa in 2024, alongside a $190,700 award to Food Bank of Iowa in 2025. Education is the other major pillar. Grants include $86,100 to Pella Christian Grade School and $85,850 to Pella Christian High School in 2025, plus $76,700 to Des Moines Christian School. Higher education also appears in the record through $50,000 to Northwestern College and $100,000 to Dordt University. Community-oriented charitable support shows up as well, including $52,500 to Pella Community Foundation and $50,000 to Pella Opera House.
How Vermeer Charitable Foundation Gives
Typical grants are modest to mid-sized relative to the foundation’s largest awards: the p25 is $1,000, the median is $5,000, and the p75 is $15,000. The recent grant list also shows a set of much larger institutional awards at $50,000, $100,000, and above, suggesting a layered approach that combines many smaller grants with a handful of substantial ones. The foundation operates through nonprofit grantmaking rather than individual support, and it does not make program-related investments. Recipients recur across years: Food Bank of Iowa, Pella Food Shelf, Des Moines Christian School, Central College, Dordt University, and the Vcf Scholarships program each appear in more than one year of recent grants.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$5.2M
Total Assets
$33.2M
Total Revenue
$7.2M
Total Expenses
$5.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $1K and $15K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$1K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$15K
Geographic Reach
Local22 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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