Skip to content
George W Mergens Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

George W Mergens Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
95
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$2.2MYouth Development$1.0MHuman Services$748kArts & Culture$697kEnvironment$561kFood & Nutrition$450kRecreation & Sports$421kHealth$343kOther$0
02FY2025 · 95 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k48 grants · $254k
  • $10k–50k46 grants · $696k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$9,130
Median grant
4
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER SCHOOL$50,000
RICE MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL$45,000
VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS$35,000
BSA GREEN MOUNTAIN COUNCIL$35,000
SAINT PAUL'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL$30,000
VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS$30,000
SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES$25,000
VERMONT FOOD BANK$25,000
WUKU KAWOQMAYA HEALTH ALLIANCE$20,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF BURLINGTON$20,000
GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA$20,000
KING STREET CENTER$18,000
LIFE HOUSE INC$15,000
RESOURCE$15,000
AUDUBON VERMONT$15,000
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 (FY17–25, $702k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FEJ - USA: $5k → 14%FEJ USA: $5k → 14%FEJ USA: $5k → 14%FEJ USA: $5k → 14%FEJ USA: $5k → 14%ORANGE COUNTY PARENT CHILD CENTER: $5k → 10%ORANGE COUNTY PARENT CHILD CENTER: $5k → 10%CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: $10k → 10%The Fold Family Ministries: $10k → 12%CREAMOS NORTE: $5k → 7%Changing Perspectives: $8k → 10%CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: $8k → 10%Changing Perspectives: $7k → 10%Changing Perspectives: $5k → 10%Special Needs Support Center: $10k → 9%SPECIAL NEEDS SUPPORT CENTER OF THE UPPER VALLEY: $5k → 9%Maya Health Alliance: $25k → 9%The Fold Family Ministries: $10k → 10%Lund Family Center: $10k → 10%Milton Family Community Center: $10k → 10%Lund Family Center: $10k → 10%Lund Family Center: $5k → 10%Greater Burlington YMCA: $100k → 10%SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $25k → 10%SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 10%GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA: $20k → 10%Spectrum Youth & Family Services: $20k → 10%GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA: $20k → 10%Spectrum Youth & Family Services: $20k → 10%SPECTRUM YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 10%GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA: $20k → 10%ReSource: $15k → 10%ReSource: $15k → 10%RESOURCE: $15k → 10%ReSource: $15k → 10%ReSource: $15k → 10%RESOURCE: $15k → 10%RESOURCE: $15k → 10%Spectrum Youth & Family Services: $15k → 10%Howard Center: $15k → 10%Greater Burlington YMCA: $15k → 10%Spectrum Youth & Family Services: $15k → 10%Greater Burlington YMCA: $13k → 10%Greater Burlington YMCA: $10k → 10%Spectrum Youth & Family Services: $10k → 10%King Street Center: $10k → 10%King Street Center: $8k → 10%JANET S MUNT FAMILY ROOM: $7k → 10%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
IL
NY
MA
VA
AZ
FL
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.5M · 117 repeat orgs$683k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

117 repeat relationships: 67 still active in FY2025, 50 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

117
67

Total granted

$6.5M
$521k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
0%

Still filing today

67%
34%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $162k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • VY
    VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $339k · revenue +104%
  • GB
    GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA INC
    7× · 2018–2025 · $198k · revenue +17%
  • SY
    SPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $145k · revenue +145%

Funded once

  • VY
    Vermont Youth Conservation Corporation
    one grant, 2021 · $57k
  • TB
    TRINITY BAPTIST SCHOOL
    one grant, 2023 · $30k
  • WK
    Wuqu Kawoq SAgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +324%
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
Cooperation Vermont

The mission of cooperation vermont is to build thriving community economic and enviromental democracy.

Community Improvement
2
Vermont Public Co

Vermont public informs, educates, and entertains through public service journalism and enlightening content rooted in vermont. our storytelling enriches lives and fosters community connection and understanding.

Arts & Culture
3
Vermont Center for Family Studies

Our mission is to strengthen families and communities by improving human relationships. We do this through the training of expert family therapists, advisors, leaders, and family members in Bowen Family Systems Theory.

Human Services
4
Voices for Vermonts Children

To promote public policy that enhances the lives of children and youth in vermont.

—
5
Alliance for Vermont Communities Inc

The mission of alliance for vermont communities, inc. is to protect working farms, forests and communities of central vermont and to promote responsible development that will sustain the rural heritage and values for present and future…

—
6
Vermont Center for International Learning Partnerships Llc

Education

Youth Development
7
Mountain Village Charter School

Mountain Village is a public Nature-based, Montessori school, engaging students in experiences that integrate natural environments with the Montessori curriculum, igniting achievement in academic, social-emotional and physical development.

Education
8
Vermont Wilderness School

Provide nature-based education and mentoring to youth and adults in southern vermont and western massachusetts.

Environment
9
Vermont Afterschool Inc

The mission of vermont afterschool, inc. ("vta") is to support organizations in providing quality afterschool, summer, and expanded learning experiences for the benefit of vermont's children and youth.

International
10
Mt Ascutney Outdoors Inc

Mt. Ascutney Outdoors, Inc's mission is to promote vitality within the community by providing affordable and unique recreational, cultural and educational activities to local residents and visitors from the Upper Valley region of Vermont…

Recreation & Sports
11
Cooperation Vermont Community Land Trust

The mission of cooperation vermont community land trust is to reclaim the commons.

Community Improvement
12
The Bridge School inc

The Bridge School is a state approved independent Elementary school located in Middlebury, VT. Small by design, Bridge School accepts up to 50 preK-6th grade students annually to ensure students build strong relationships with peers and…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Inc; the most unlike its peers is Seven Miles From Jerusalem 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

123 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 123 of the 210 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)
40
Early backer (in before they grew)
119/123
Grantees still filing
72/123
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Saint Francis Xavier School: $850,000 · OtherSaint Francis Xavier SchoolRICE MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL: $455,000 · OtherRICE MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOLBSA Green Mountain Council: $436,834 · OtherBSA Green Mountain Council+117 more: $2,595,642 · Other+117 moreGREATER BURLINGTON YMCA INC: $197,500 · Human ServicesGREATER BURL…SPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC: $145,000 · Human ServicesSPECTRUM YOU…RESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC: $120,000 · Human ServicesRESOURCE A N…KING STREET CENTER INC: $98,500 · Human ServicesKING STREET …CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: $38,000 · Human ServicesLund Family Center Inc: $30,000 · Human Services+12 more: $164,300 · Human Services+12 moreVERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $81,000 · Arts & CultureVERMONT HI…LAKE CHAMPLAIN MARITIME MUSEUM AT BASIN HARBOR INC: $70,000 · Arts & CultureLAKE CHAMP…LYRIC THEATRE COMPANY: $60,000 · Arts & CultureLYRIC THEA…FAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM: $58,000 · Arts & CultureFAIRBANKS …BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC: $55,000 · Arts & CultureBRATTLEBOR…LEAHY CENTER FOR LAKE CHAMPLAIN INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureLEAHY CENT…VERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION INC: $40,000 · Arts & CultureVERMONT SY…FLYNN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS LTD: $30,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER INC PO BOX 617: $28,000 · Arts & CultureBENNINGTON MUSEUM INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureVERMONT YOUTH ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION INC: $22,000 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $111,900 · Arts & Culture+11 moreVERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC: $339,402 · EnvironmentVERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE INC: $50,000 · EnvironmentSHELBURNE FARMS: $47,500 · Environment+2 more: $12,310 · EnvironmentCHILDREN'S LITERACY FOUNDATION: $105,000 · EducationCOMMON GROUND CENTER INC: $59,500 · EducationSOUTH HERO LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · EducationVERMONT ENERGY EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $29,000 · EducationIN-SIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT INC: $26,500 · EducationWINSTON PROUTY CENTER FOR CHILD AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT: $15,000 · EducationLAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY SAILING CENTER INC: $15,000 · EducationUNLEASHING THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP FOR LEARNING INC: $14,000 · Education+12 more: $78,055 · EducationBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BURLINGTON INC: $75,000 · Youth DevelopmentOur Community Cares Camp Inc: $65,000 · Youth DevelopmentEssex Chips Inc: $65,000 · Youth DevelopmentYoung Writers Project Inc: $42,500 · Youth DevelopmentTHE NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATER INC: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentBradford Teen Center Inc: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentBoys and Girls Club of Brattleboro Inc: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentWindsor County Mentors Inc: $20,000 · Youth Development+3 more: $18,000 · Youth DevelopmentASPIRE TOGETHER INC: $75,000 · HealthVERMONTS CAMP TA-KUM-TA: $41,000 · HealthAZIMUTH COUNSELING AND THERAPEUTIC SERVICES INC: $32,600 · HealthCANCER PATIENT SUPPORT PROGRAM: $15,000 · Health
Other$4,337,476Human Services$793,300Arts & Culture$630,900Environment$449,212Education$377,055Youth Development$370,500Health$163,600

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetVERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC: $339,402 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetGREATER BURLINGTON YMCA INC: $197,500 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetSPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC: $145,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetRESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC: $120,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S LITERACY FOUNDATION: $105,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetPURE WATER FOR THE WORLD INC: $100,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetKING STREET CENTER INC: $98,500 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetVERMONT FOODBANK: $90,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetVERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $81,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BURLINGTON INC: $75,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetASPIRE TOGETHER INC: $75,000 over 6y, 5.5% of budgetLAKE CHAMPLAIN MARITIME MUSEUM AT BASIN HARBOR INC: $70,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetOur Community Cares Camp Inc: $65,000 over 7y, 14% of budgetEssex Chips Inc: $65,000 over 6y, 5.3% of budgetINTERVALE CENTER INC: $60,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetLYRIC THEATRE COMPANY: $60,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetCOMMON GROUND CENTER INC: $59,500 over 7y, 4.6% of budgetFAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM: $58,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetGOVERNOR'S INSTITUTES OF VERMONT: $57,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetPREVENT CHILD ABUSE VERMONT: $55,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetBRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC: $55,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetBRATTLEBORO DEVELOPMENT CREDIT CORP: $52,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLEAHY CENTER FOR LAKE CHAMPLAIN INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetVERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE INC: $50,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetSHELBURNE FARMS: $47,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetYoung Writers Project Inc: $42,500 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetCATAMOUNT TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $42,500 over 7y, 3.4% of budgetVERMONTS CAMP TA-KUM-TA: $41,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetRETREAT FARM LTD: $40,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetVERMONT FARM-TO-SCHOOL INC: $40,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetVERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION INC: $40,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCHANGING PERSPECTIVES: $38,000 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetMILTON COMMUNITY YOUTH COALITION: $37,945 over 4y, 9.8% of budgetSOUTH HERO LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 2y, 8.0% of budgetTHE NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATER INC: $35,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetVERMONT ADAPTIVE SKI AND SPORTS: $35,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetAZIMUTH COUNSELING AND THERAPEUTIC SERVICES INC: $32,600 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetVERMONT PATRIOTS INC: $32,500 over 4y, 19% of budgetGENERATOR INC: $30,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetKIDS ON THE BALL INC: $30,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetFLYNN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS LTD: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLund Family Center Inc: $30,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVERMONT ENERGY EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $29,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetSOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER INC PO BOX 617: $28,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetIN-SIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT INC: $26,500 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetThe John W Graham Emergency Shelter and Service Inc: $25,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWuqu Kawoq SA: $25,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetBENNINGTON MUSEUM INC: $25,000 over 2y, 1.2% 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 VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BURLINGTON YMCA INC ↗
  • Who funds SPECTRUM YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds RESOURCE A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S LITERACY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PURE WATER FOR THE WORLD INC ↗
  • Who funds KING STREET CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT FOODBANK ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BURLINGTON INC ↗
  • Who funds ASPIRE TOGETHER INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE CHAMPLAIN MARITIME MUSEUM AT BASIN HARBOR INC ↗
  • Who funds Our Community Cares Camp Inc ↗
  • Who funds Essex Chips Inc ↗
  • Who funds INTERVALE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds LYRIC THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds COMMON GROUND CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds FAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM ↗
  • Who funds GOVERNOR'S INSTITUTES OF VERMONT ↗
  • Who funds PREVENT CHILD ABUSE VERMONT ↗
  • Who funds BRATTLEBORO MUSEUM & ART CENTERINC ↗
  • Who funds BRATTLEBORO DEVELOPMENT CREDIT CORP ↗
  • Who funds LEAHY CENTER FOR LAKE CHAMPLAIN INC ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds SHELBURNE FARMS ↗
  • Who funds Young Writers Project Inc ↗

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.

The Vermont Community…Ben & Jerry's Foundat…The Windham Foundatio…National Life Group C…Oakland Foundation IncVermont Childrens Tru…Vermont Afterschool I…Agnes M Lindsay TrustVermont Council on th…Lintilhac Foundation …United Way of Northwe…Richard E and Deborah…
The Vermont Community FoundationVT146.4× affinity94 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Vermont Community Foundation · Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc · The Windham Foundation Inc · National Life Group Charitable Foundation Inc · Oakland Foundation Inc · Vermont Childrens Trust Foundation · Vermont Afterschool Inc · Agnes M Lindsay Trust · Vermont Council on the Arts Inc · Lintilhac Foundation Inc · United Way of Northwest Vermont Inc · Richard E and Deborah L Tarrant Foundation Inc

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 George W Mergens Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from George W Mergens Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 330%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 16%
  • Boys & Girls Club of Rutland County: 72% of income from government
  • Steps to End Domestic Violence Inc: 71% of income from government
  • Milton Family Community Center Inc: 65% of income from government
  • Orange County Parent Child Center Inc: 63% of income from government
  • Prevent Child Abuse Vermont: 58% of income from government
  • Mentor Vermont Inc: 58% of income from government
  • Mary Johnson Children's Center Inc: 54% of income from government
  • Vermont Works for Women Inc: 52% of income from government
  • Committee On Temporary Shelter Inc: 52% of income from government
  • Vermont Historical Society: 51% of income from government
  • Green Mountain Conservancy Incorporated: 49% of income from government
  • Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Inc: 47% of income from government
  • Janet Munt Family Room: 44% of income from government
  • King Street Center Inc: 43% of income from government
  • Vermont Rural Education Collaborative Inc: 43% of income from government
  • Peace and Justice Center: 41% of income from government
  • The Family Place Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Upper Valley Haven: 38% of income from government
  • Laraway Youth and Family Services Inc: 36% of income from government
  • Lund Family Center Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Leahy Center for Lake Champlain Inc: 33% of income from government
  • South Hero Library Foundation Inc: 28% of income from government
  • Salvation Farms Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Retreat Farm Ltd: 25% of income from government
  • Hunger Free Vermont Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Essex Chips Inc: 21% of income from government
  • Vermont Council On the Arts Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Brattleboro Development Credit Corp: 17% of income from government
  • Boys and Girls Club of Burlington Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Food Connects: 15% of income from government
  • Governor's Institutes of Vermont: 15% of income from government
  • Association of Africans Living in Vermont Inc: 14% of income from government
  • United Way of Lamoille County Inc: 14% of income from government
  • Vermont Foodbank: 13% of income from government
  • Poker Hill School Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Intervale Center Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Paran Recreations Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Town Hall Theater Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Vermont Symphony Orchestra Association Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports: 11% of income from government
  • Catamount Trail Association: 10% of income from government
  • Common Ground Center Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Shelburne Museum Inc: 9% of income from government
  • HowardCenter Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Vermont Farm-to-School Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium: 7% of income from government
  • Northern Stage Company: 5% of income from government
  • Vermont Stage Company: 4% of income from government
  • Vermont Energy Education Program Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Norwich University: 4% of income from government
  • Upper Valley Trails Alliance: 3% of income from government
  • Waterbury Ambulance Service Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Shelburne Farms: 3% of income from government
  • Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Resource a Nonprofit Community Enterprise Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Brattleboro Museum & Art Centerinc: 1% of income from government
  • Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Ltd: 0% of income from government
  • Vermont Youth Orchestra Association Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Vermont Institute of Natural Science Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
33get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
10rely 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 George W Mergens Foundation?

Find your warmest path to George W Mergens Foundation 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 210 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

Play a game based on George W Mergens’ filings →

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