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Greg Merage Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Greg Merage Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$107k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$102k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

95% of Greg Merage Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Community Foundation Of Jackson Hole, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

Organizations named directly on the return

1
’17
7
’18
1
’19
1
’20
1
’21
0
’22
0
’23
1
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$841kEducation$11kHealth$7kArts & Culture$5kEnvironment$3kEmployment$1kAnimals$750Crime & Legal$600Other$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $102k
$102,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE$102,000
NATIONAL BRAIN TUMOR SOCIETY INC$5,000
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 (FY20–20, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CLIMB WYOMING: $1k → 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.
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 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
The Wyldlife Fund

To unite people to advance wyoming wildlife habitat, research, and education.

Animals
2
Jackson Hole Land Trust

The jackson hole land trust (jhlt) is a nonprofit that was established in 1980. the land trust's mission is to protect and steward northwest wyoming landscapes for current and future generations. the land trust envisions a legacy of…

Environment
3
Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce

The mission of the Jackson hole chamber of commerce is to champion the interest of local businesses, enhance their prosperity and strengthen the economic climate of teton county

—
4
Rendezvous Lands Conservancy

To improve the quality of life in rural intermountain west communities by protecting, owning, and creating locally significant keystone conservation properties as public access parks.

Environment
5
Cougar Fund Inc

The cougar fund protects cougars, bears, wolves, and other native carnivores throughout the americas by educating children and adults about their essential ecological role, by supporting and promoting sound science, and by monitoring state…

Animals
6
Teton Valley Health Care Foundation

Teton Valley Health Care Foundation strives to build mutually beneficial relationships with community members, businesses, and guests that, through their generosity, support a healthy and thriving valley. (Continued on Schedule O). Through…

Health
7
Snake River Fund

The snake river fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting stewardship of and public access to the snake river watershed in wyoming, with an emphasis on partnerships, education and public outreach.

Environment
8
Teton Valley Mental Health Coalition Inc

Our mission is to promote mental wellness in teton valley by providing outreach, education, and connection to services.

Health
9
Teton County Search & Rescue Foundation

The Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation provides direct support, community education, and advocacy for the benefit of the Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers.

Public Safety & Disaster
10
Wyoming Wildlife Federation

Wyoming wildlife federation delivers leadership in conservation for the state's wildlife, hunters, anglers, and conservationists through policy, education, advocacy, and habitat.

Animals
11
Cheyenne Mtn Zoo Endowment Fund

To support the cheyenne mountain zoological society by investing contributions and managing investment income.

Philanthropy
12
Trout Unlimited Jackson Hole 051

Jhtu was formed in 1983 in jackson, wyoming, to conserve, protect, and restore jackson hole's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. currently jhtu has a membershp of 410 jackson hole residents and others concerned about the precious…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Foundation of Jackson Hole; the most unlike its peers is Oahu Waterkeeper. 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

13 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. 13 of the 15 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $840,900 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE+2 more: $5,500 · PhilanthropyKELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: $10,000 · OtherNATIONAL BRAIN TUMOR SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · OtherOAHU WATERKEEPER: $2,500 · Other+3 more: $1,250 · OtherThe Neuromuscular Disease Foundation: $1,000 · HealthTETON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $500 · HealthCLIMB DBA CLIMB WYOMING: $1,000 · Human ServicesJACKSON HOLE WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: $500 · AnimalsThe Zuri Pet Rescue Corp: $250 · AnimalsTETON COUNTY SHERIFF'S AUXILIARY: $600 · Crime & Legal
Philanthropy$846,400Other$18,750Health$1,500Human Services$1,000Animals$750Crime & Legal$600

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $840,900 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetNATIONAL BRAIN TUMOR SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIVE A NOTE FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetOAHU WATERKEEPER: $2,500 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetThe Neuromuscular Disease Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCLIMB DBA CLIMB WYOMING: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTETON COUNTY SHERIFF'S AUXILIARY: $600 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSANTA CLAUS FUND: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEDUCATION FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTETON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $500 over 1y, 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.

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.

Community Foundation …The Brooks FoundationNatl Christian Charit…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation of Jackson HoleWY15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Jackson Hole · The Brooks Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Greg Merage Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Greg Merage Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Greg Merage Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Greg Merage 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 15 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Greg Merage’s 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