Grand Rapids, MI

FRIENDS OF GRAND RAPIDS PARKS

EIN 26-1406547

Environment & Animal Welfare Parks, Trails & Green Spaces

Mission

Friends of Grand Rapids Parks partners with community members, the City, and funders to protect, restore, and expand parks, trees, and trails in Grand Rapids, creating opportunities for residents to connect with nature now and into the future.

IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity Contributions are tax-deductible

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About FRIENDS OF GRAND RAPIDS PARKS

Friends of Grand Rapids Parks is a donor-facing 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 26-1406547) founded in 2008 to support the City of Grand Rapids’ parks, urban forest, and trail network through volunteerism, stewardship, philanthropy, and urban-forestry programs. The organization runs programs that include tree giveaways and plantings, a Youth Green Team, Adopt‑a‑Park/park stewardship, neighborhood foresters, trail building and workdays, and community events such as ArborFest and Neighborwoods. In recent years Friends has scaled both program delivery and public reporting (annual impact reports and Form 990s) and works in close partnership with the City of Grand Rapids Parks & Recreation department.

Notable achievements

Major USFS grant award

In 2024 Friends secured a multi‑million-dollar U.S. Forest Service award through the Community and Urban Forestry program (an approximately $5 million grant) to expand urban-forest work and program capacity across Grand Rapids.

Record tree-planting and volunteer impact (2024–2025)

Friends delivered record planting and stewardship results across 2024–2025, including planting hundreds of street trees each year (870+ street trees in 2024 and 873 in 2025), distributing several hundred giveaway trees to residents, and dramatically increasing volunteer engagement (more than 1,600 volunteers and multiple thousand volunteer hours recorded in 2025).

Expanded trails and youth employment

The organization significantly grew its trails work and hands-on capacity in 2025—building several miles of natural-surface trail, hosting an IMBA Trail School, piloting a Trail Stewards program, and employing seasonal youth through the Youth Green Team.

At a glance

Total assets: $1.0M
Annual revenue: $1.7M
Tax status: 501(c)(3)Public charity
EIN: 26-1406547
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Website: friendsofgrparks.org
On Mahalo since: May 2026

Financial figures from the IRS Business Master File, the IRS’s registry of tax-exempt organizations.

Recognition

Federally recognized 501(c)(3) public charity (tax‑exempt since 2008) with publicly available Form 990s and annual impact reports.

Sustained institutional and local philanthropic support (including foundation partners and community grantmakers) and grant awards that have underwritten program expansion and capacity building.

Formal partnership and operational collaboration with the City of Grand Rapids Parks & Recreation (city liaisons participate with Friends and the organization coordinates programs and stewardship work with the city).

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