Home/Foundations/John & Melissa Besse Foundation

John & Melissa Besse Foundation

EIN: 20-3497950 • Wells, MI
Total Assets
$13.5M
Foundation endowment scale
Annual Giving
$357K
Annual capital distribution
Typical Grant
$5,000
Most grants: $5K – $8K
Application Status
Invitation Only
Rolling review

About John & Melissa Besse Foundation Grantmaking

John & Melissa Besse Foundation is an institutional grantmaking foundation headquartered in Wells, MI (EIN: 20-3497950). According to verified IRS Form 990-PF filings, the foundation maintains $13.5M in total assets and distributed $357K across 72 grants. Its typical award size is $5,000, with the middle 50% of awards falling between $5K and $8K. Its primary funding focus includes Arts, Culture & Humanities (53%), Human Services & Relief (20%), Philanthropy & Grantmaking (13%), with the highest concentration of grants awarded in MI (98%) and WI (1%).

Top Funded Causes% Capital
Arts, Culture & Humanities53%
$100K deployed2 awards
Human Services & Relief20%
$38K deployed5 awards
Philanthropy & Grantmaking13%
$25K deployed5 awards
Mutual Benefit8%
$16K deployed2 awards
Health Care & Medical Research5%
$10K deployed2 awards
Top Recipient States% Dollars
MI State Recipients98%
$1.2M funded67 grants
WI State Recipients1%
$13K funded4 grants
MN State Recipients1%
$10K funded1 grants
Grant Size DistributionAward Scale
Major Grants ($100K+)4%
3 large institutional grants
Mid-Sized ($25K–$100K)10%
7 standard program grants
Micro & Small (<$25K)86%
62 grassroots micro-awards
Application Guidelines & DeadlinesPublic Filing Data
Application Policy
Invitation Only / Preselected Grantees
Submission Deadlines

Quarterly review cycles. Applications accepted continuously.

Geographic Focus & Restrictions

Priority given to organizations registered and operating in MI or regional districts.

Program Officer & Direct Contacts

Unlock Direct Officer Contacts

Subscribe to reveal verified program officer telephone numbers, direct extensions, and application review notes.

Unlock Officer Contacts →
Recent Grant AwardsShowing 5 of 72 verified awards
Recipient OrganizationLocationTax YearAward AmountGrant Purpose
Michigan Tech FdHoughton, MI2025$110,000Ford center sawmill
Trees for TomorrowEagle River, MI2025$56,500Educational
Marquette City BandMarquette, MI2025$45,000Band shell donation
Gladstone Public Safety DepartmentGladstone, MI2025$13,200Aireal drone donation
Pregnancy Services of Delta CountyEscanaba, MI2025$13,000Charitable support
██████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████████████
██████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████████
████████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,█████████████████████████████████████
████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████
███████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,█████████████████████████████████
█████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,███████████████████████████████████
████████████████████████████████, ██202█$███,██████████████████████████████████████

Unlock All 72 Grants & Program Officer Contacts

See every recipient John & Melissa Besse Foundation funded over recent filings, get verified decision-maker phone lines, and evaluate your funding match score.

Frequently Asked Questions about John & Melissa Besse Foundation

Does John & Melissa Besse Foundation accept unsolicited grant proposals?

John & Melissa Besse Foundation operates on an invitation-only basis and primarily funds preselected organizations. Direct unsolicited applications are not currently reviewed.

What is the typical grant size from John & Melissa Besse Foundation?

The median grant size from John & Melissa Besse Foundation is $5,000, with the middle 50% of awards ranging between $5K and $8K.

What causes does John & Melissa Besse Foundation fund?

Over recent Form 990-PF filings, John & Melissa Besse Foundation's primary funding areas have been Arts, Culture & Humanities, Human Services & Relief, Philanthropy & Grantmaking.

How do I contact John & Melissa Besse Foundation about a grant?

John & Melissa Besse Foundation is headquartered in Wells, MI. Verified NPO Grant subscribers can access direct program officer telephone extensions, primary office numbers, and detailed submission guidelines.