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Arthur H Merry & Ernest B Merry Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Arthur H Merry & Ernest B Merry Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$98k
Granted FY2025still arriving
26
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$9k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Human Services$145kEmployment$114kYouth Development$112kEducation$112kHealth$108kHousing & Shelter$105kFood & Nutrition$41kArts & Culture$21kOther$0
02FY2025 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
YOUNG LIFE OF AUGUSTA$9,000
AUGUSTA RESCUE MISSION$9,000
COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC$7,000
EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA$7,000
CHRIST COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC$7,000
BROAD STREET MINISTRY$7,000
AUGUSTA CARE PREGNANCY CENTER$6,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF AUGUSTA$6,000
AUGUSTA TECHNICAL COLLEGE$5,000
GOLDEN HARVEST FOOD BANK$5,000
APPARO ACADEMY$5,000
TUTTLE NEWTON HOME$4,000
FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA$3,000
HERITAGE ACADEMY$3,000
SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF GEORGIA$2,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $200k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $2k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $8k → 23%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $2k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $7k → 23%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $1k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $7k → 23%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $1k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $7k → 23%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $1k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $7k → 23%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $1k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $7k → 23%CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES: $1k → 6%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $6k → 23%COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $6k → 23%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $8k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $8k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $7k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $7k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $7k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $7k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $6k → 18%EASTER SEALS OF EAST GEORGIA: $6k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $4k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $3k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $3k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $3k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $3k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $2k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $2k → 18%FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA: $2k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $9k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $9k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $7k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $7k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $7k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $7k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $6k → 18%BROAD STREET MINISTRY: $6k → 18%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$787k · 30 repeat orgs$10k to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
3

Total granted

$787k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+48%

Still filing today

77%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationHealthPhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • AR
    AUGUSTA RESCUE MISSION
    8× · 2018–2025 · $71k · revenue +37%
  • BS
    BROAD STREET MINISTRY CENTER INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $58k · revenue +36%
  • CC
    CHRIST COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES AUGUSTA INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $55k · revenue +159%

Funded once

  • JA
    JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF AUGUSTA
    one grant, 2018 · $2k
  • AP
    AUGUSTA PLAYERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue +48%
  • SM
    SUPREME MCS RULE CREATIVE EXPRESSION
    one grant, 2020 · $1k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Enable of Georgia Inc

Supporting people with special needs to lead fulfilled lives.

Housing & Shelter
2
Georgia Agape Inc

The organization offers social services as a compassionate outreach to abused, neglected and dependent children and families in need. the organization strives to positively impact the lives of children, families and all those who receive…

—
3
Goodwill of the Coastal Empire Inc

Our commitment is to provide the individual support, meaningful training and employment services to people to remove barriers and close skill gaps so that individuals build brighter futures.

Employment
4
The Arc of Southwest Georgia Inc

Our mission is to create life-changing solutions for people with disabilities.

Human Services
5
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits

Our mission is to create thriving communities by helping nonprofits succeed. our work revolves around four primary areas of focus.1. we are a hub for social innovation 2. we are a capacity accelerator for organizations and their people3.…

Community Improvement
6
Elevate Augusta Inc

Building long-term, life-changing relationships with augusta youth, equipping them to thrive and contribute to their community.

Education
7
Augusta University Foundation Inc

To raise private support from individuals, corporations, foundations, and others to further the interests of augusta university. other purposes of the foundation are to establish and maintain endowments and provide the administration for…

—
8
Georgia Fugees Academy Charter School Inc

To level the playing field for refugee and new american students by empowwering them.

Education
9
Family Counseling Center of Central Georgia Inc

Strengthen and preserve the well-being of individuals, couples, and families through easy, affordable access to professional counseling services.

—
10
Augusta Christian Schools

Our mission is to provide academic and spiritual training and extracurricula activities for students in the csra. it is also to prepare students to serve jesus christ as lord, partnering with family and church, instilling high standards…

—
11
The Augusta Preparatory Day School Inc

The augusta preparatory day school, inc. provides educational services to students in grades pre-k through 12.

—
12
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Augusta Inc; the most unlike its peers is Gamechangers Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

28 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 28 of the 38 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
20/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AUGUSTA RESCUE MISSION: $71,000 · OtherAUGUSTA RESCUE MISSIONYOUNG LIFE OF AUGUSTA: $69,000 · OtherYOUNG LIFE OF AUGUSTAAUGUSTA TECHNICAL COLLEGE: $40,000 · OtherAUGUSTA TECHNICAL COLLEGEBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER AUGUSTA INC: $38,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER AUGUSTA INCFORCESUNITED INC: $35,500 · OtherFORCESUNITED INCHERITAGE ACADEMY INC: $25,000 · OtherHERITAGE ACADEMY INCTHE SALVATION ARMY: $19,500 · OtherAPPARO ACADEMY INC: $13,000 · OtherRISE Augusta Inc: $17,500 · Other+15 more: $48,000 · Other+15 moreBROAD STREET MINISTRY CENTER INC: $58,000 · Human ServicesBROAD STREET MINISTRY CENTER…Easter Seals East Georgia Inc: $56,000 · Human ServicesEaster Seals East Georgia In…COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $55,000 · Human ServicesCOVENANT CARE SERVICES INCFAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA INC: $22,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA IN…CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES INC: $9,000 · Human ServicesCHRIST COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES AUGUSTA INC: $55,000 · HealthCHRIST COMMUNIT…AUGUSTA CARE PREGNANCY CENTER: $53,000 · HealthAUGUSTA CARE PR…GOLDEN HARVEST FOOD BANK INC: $41,000 · Food & NutritionTUTTLE NEWTON HOME INC: $34,000 · PhilanthropyJessye Norman School of the Arts Inc: $1,500 · PhilanthropyAUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $7,000 · Arts & CultureAUGUSTA JEWISH MUSEUM INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureSPECIAL OLYMPICS GEORGIA INC: $17,750 · Recreation & Sports
Other$376,500Human Services$200,000Health$108,000Food & Nutrition$41,000Philanthropy$35,500Arts & Culture$18,000Recreation & Sports$17,750

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAUGUSTA RESCUE MISSION: $71,000 over 8y, 1.9% of budgetBROAD STREET MINISTRY CENTER INC: $58,000 over 8y, 6.9% of budgetEaster Seals East Georgia Inc: $56,000 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetCHRIST COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES AUGUSTA INC: $55,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCOVENANT CARE SERVICES INC: $55,000 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetAUGUSTA CARE PREGNANCY CENTER: $53,000 over 8y, 2.1% of budgetGOLDEN HARVEST FOOD BANK INC: $41,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER AUGUSTA INC: $38,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFORCESUNITED INC: $35,500 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetTUTTLE NEWTON HOME INC: $34,000 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA INC: $22,000 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS GEORGIA INC: $17,750 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetRISE Augusta Inc: $17,500 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetAPPARO ACADEMY INC: $13,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY INC: $10,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetGEORGIA INDEPENDENT COLLEGE ASSOCIATION INC: $9,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES INC: $9,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetK9S FOR WARRIORS INC: $8,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWALTON FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetGEORGIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION HOMEFRONT INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAUGUSTA PLAYERS INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJessye Norman School of the Arts Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPaine College: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds AUGUSTA RESCUE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds BROAD STREET MINISTRY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Easter Seals East Georgia Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHRIST COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES AUGUSTA INC ↗
  • Who funds COVENANT CARE SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds AUGUSTA CARE PREGNANCY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds GOLDEN HARVEST FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER AUGUSTA INC ↗
  • Who funds FORCESUNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds TUTTLE NEWTON HOME INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY PROMISE OF AUGUSTA INC ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS GEORGIA INC ↗
  • Who funds RISE Augusta Inc ↗
  • Who funds APPARO ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds AUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY INC ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIA INDEPENDENT COLLEGE ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHOSEN FOR LIFE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds K9S FOR WARRIORS INC ↗
  • Who funds FRACTURED ATLAS INC ↗
  • Who funds WALTON FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIA TECH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION HOMEFRONT INC ↗
  • Who funds AUGUSTA PLAYERS INC ↗
  • Who funds Jessye Norman School of the Arts Inc ↗
  • Who funds AUGUSTA JEWISH MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Paine College ↗
  • Who funds GAMECHANGERS INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL CHILD SAFETY COUNCIL ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Creel-Harison Foundat…The Community Foundat…Arthur H & Earnest B …The Knox FoundationGeorgia Power Foundat…Tr Dorothy M Buttolph…United Way of the Csr…Erramuzpe Foundation …Porter Fleming Fdn Tr…University Health Ser…Storey Foundation IncRichards Family Found…
Creel-Harison Foundation IncGA36.9× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Creel-Harison Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area Inc · Arthur H & Earnest B Merry Foundation · The Knox Foundation · Georgia Power Foundation Inc · Tr Dorothy M Buttolph Fdn · United Way of the Csra Inc · Erramuzpe Foundation Inc · Porter Fleming Fdn Tr Ua · University Health Services Inc · Storey Foundation Inc · Richards Family Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Arthur H Merry & Ernest B Merry Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Arthur H Merry & Ernest B Merry Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • K9S for Warriors Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Arthur H Merry & Ernest B Merry Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Arthur H Merry & Ernest B Merry Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 38 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home