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Foundation Dossiers
Plinth

· Private foundation

Harry a Merlo Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
44
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2020–2024.

Education$813kHealth$739kRecreation & Sports$644kHuman Services$417kArts & Culture$338kAnimals$175kHousing & Shelter$155kEnvironment$154kOther$0
02FY2024 · 44 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k11 grants · $42k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $433k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $600k
$20,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$36M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION$100,000
EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$100,000
ALEXANDER VALLEY HEALTHCARE$50,000
IMBLER EDUCATION FOUNDATION$50,000
CATHOLIC YOUTH ORGANIZATION$50,000
UNIVERITY OF PORTLAND SCHOOL OF NURSING$50,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES$50,000
PAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS$50,000
RANGER'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND$50,000
LIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION$50,000
TUNNEL TO TOWERS$35,000
Individual grant recipient$35,000
CASA FOR CHILDREN$30,000
MUSIC WORKSHOP$27,800
CLACKAMAS VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE$25,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–24, $459k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 51% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%YOUTH VILLAGES OREGON: $10k → 8%LIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%CENTER FOR HOPE AND SAFETY: $20k → 14%ST MARY'S HOME FOR BOYS: $5k → 8%ST MARY'S HOME FOR BOYS: $5k → 8%ST MARY'S HOME FOR BOYS: $3k → 8%ST MARY'S HOME FOR BOYS: $2k → 8%HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION: $100k → 8%HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION: $50k → 8%ALBERTINA KERR CENTERS: $20k → 12%EASTSIDE TIMBERS: $75k → 12%EASTSIDE TIMBERS: $75k → 12%EASTSIDE TIMBERS: $45k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

WA
MT
NY
OR
WY
SD
CA
AZ
SC
DC
GA
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

62%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.5M · 25 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +100% since the first grant, against +25% for the ones you funded once.

25 repeat relationships — 15 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 29 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
37

Total granted

$2.5M
$956k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+100%
+25%

Still filing today

72%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 45% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $596k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsHealthAnimalsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • EO
    EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2024 · $301k · revenue +21%
  • ET
    EASTSIDE TIMBERS
    3× · 2020–2022 · $195k · revenue +62%
  • ER
    Eastwood Ranch Foundation
    3× · 2021–2024 · $175k · revenue +198%

Funded once

  • OC
    OHSU-KNIGHT CANCER CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $200k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • DT
    DEPAUL TREATMENT CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $100k

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

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Portland State University Foundation

Portland state university foundation is responsible for raising and managing private resources to advance psu's priorities and mission to be a leading urban university.

—
2
Portland Business Alliance

To ensure economic prosperity in the portland region by providing strong leadership, partnership, and programs that encourage business growth and vitality.

Community Improvement
3
Oregon Center for Public Policy

The oregon center for public policy's mission is to achieve economic justice for all oregonians through research, analysis, and advocacy. ocpp works to change policies that foster economic security and stability for all oregonians. we do…

Employment
4
Portland Board of Realtors

To provide & promote services to enhance members' abilities to conduct their businesses with integrity & competency with due consideration for the promotion & preservation of a favorable environment for brokerage operations & the right to…

Community Improvement
5
Portland Youth Philharmonic Association

To prepare young people for success through musical excellence.

Arts & Culture
6
Priority Oregon

To support public policies that will help oregon's economy and create new family supporting jobs in oregon.

—
7
Oregon Research Institute

Oregon research institute is an independent behavioral sciences research center dedicated to understanding human behavior and improving the quality of human life through the prevention and treatment of health, educational, and social…

Social Science
8
Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is a welcoming cultural center that brings people together and connects them with trusted resources, ideas, experiences, and information. We build a stronger community by inspiring learning, creativity, and…

Education
9
University of Oregon Foundation

The purpose and mission of the foundation are, acting on its own or through affiliates, to support and assist the university of oregon in its activities by management and administration of foundation assets representing privately donated…

Education
10
Agricultural Research Foundation

Our mission is to encourage facilitate support and engage in scientific investigation and research experimentation and to advance educational and training activities related to agriculture and natural resources throughout the state of…

—
11
Oregon Agricultural Trust

Oregon agricultural trust partners with farmers and ranchers to protect agricultural lands for the benefit of oregons economy, communities, and landscapes.

Environment
12
City Club of Portland

To inform its members and the community in public matters and to arouse in them the realization of the obligations of citizenship.

Community Improvement

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sunshine Division Inc and the most unlike its peers is Inga Thompson Foundation Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyHealth Access Advocacy and …Military Veterans SupportOrchestra and Ensemble Perf…Community College Foundatio…Child Abuse Advocacy Servic…Domestic Violence ServicesLocal History MuseumsElementary Literacy TutoringCommunity FoundationsEnvironmental Conservation …Senior Support ServicesAnimal Rescue and ShelterYouth Sports ProgramsCommunity Arts Centers
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 30 years old; the field is 18. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number20%2%<5yr13%12%5–10yr19%22%10–20yr19%27%20–35yr12%10%35–55yr16%27%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value20%0%<5yr13%13%5–10yr19%21%10–20yr19%27%20–35yr12%3%35–55yr16%36%55yr+

The field is 20% startups (under 5 years old) — 2% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 11% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/56
the rest of the field
11%
2,771/25,375

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 50 of the 91 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/50
Grantees still filing
32/50
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

DE LA SALLE NORTH CATHOLIC — $300,000 · OtherDE LA SALLE NORTH CATHOLICCATHOLIC CHARITIES — $277,000 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIESOHSU-KNIGHT CANCER CENTER — $200,000 · OtherOHSU-KNIGHT CANCER CENTERPROVIDENCE ST VINCENT HEART PROGRAM — $152,500 · OtherPROVIDENCE ST VINCENT HEART PROGRAMIndividual grant recipient — $100,000 · OtherDEPAUL TREATMENT CENTER — $100,000 · OtherEVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION — $75,000 · OtherPORTLAND TENNIS & EDUCATION — $80,000 · Other+53 more — $927,898 · Other+53 moreEASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $301,000 · EducationEASTERN OREGON UN…UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND — $115,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF POR…STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION — $85,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TU…RANGERS SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC — $80,000 · EducationRANGERS SCHOLARSH…IMBLER EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $50,000 · EducationIMBLER EDUCATION …EASTSIDE TIMBERS — $195,000 · Human ServicesEASTSIDE TIMB…HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION — $150,000 · Human ServicesHOPE FOR THE …LIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION — $50,000 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE FI…CENTER FOR HOPE AND SAFETY — $20,000 · Human ServicesALBERTINA KERR CENTERS — $20,000 · Human Services+3 more — $29,000 · Human Services+3 moreBODYVOX INC — $65,000 · Arts & CultureBEAVERTON ARTS FOUNDATION INC — $50,000 · Arts & CultureYOUTH MUSIC PROJECT — $50,000 · Arts & CultureMusic Workshop — $42,800 · Arts & CultureOREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $30,000 · Arts & CultureTRIGG - C M RUSSELL FOUNDATION INC — $20,000 · Arts & CultureARLINGTON CLUB HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $20,000 · Arts & CultureMY VOICE MUSIC INC — $15,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more — $5,000 · Arts & CultureEastwood Ranch Foundation — $175,000 · AnimalsRESOLVE INC — $20,000 · AnimalsNEW MOUNT CARMEL FOUNDATION INC — $70,000 · ReligionNORTHEAST OREGON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT — $50,000 · ReligionCOPPERTOWER FAMILY MED CTR INC DBA ALEXANDER VALLEY HEALTHCARE — $50,000 · HealthTHE PEACEFUL PRESENCE PROJECT — $40,000 · HealthCLACKAMAS VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE — $25,000 · Health
Other$2,212,398Education$631,000Human Services$464,000Arts & Culture$297,800Animals$195,000Religion$120,000Health$115,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetEASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $301,000 over 3y, 5.2% of budgetEASTSIDE TIMBERS — $195,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetEastwood Ranch Foundation — $175,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetHOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION — $150,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND — $115,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION — $85,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPORTLAND TENNIS & EDUCATION — $80,000 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetRANGERS SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC — $80,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetEVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION — $75,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetNEW MOUNT CARMEL FOUNDATION INC — $70,000 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetBODYVOX INC — $65,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetBEAVERTON ARTS FOUNDATION INC — $50,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetCOPPERTOWER FAMILY MED CTR INC DBA ALEXANDER VALLEY HEALTHCARE — $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNORTHEAST OREGON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT — $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetFriends of Hopewell House dba Hopewell House — $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCATHOLIC YOUTH ORGANIZATION — $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetYOUTH MUSIC PROJECT — $50,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetIMBLER EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetREADING RESULTS — $50,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetMusic Workshop — $42,800 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetTHE PEACEFUL PRESENCE PROJECT — $40,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetOREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCASA FOR CHILDREN INC — $30,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF OREGON AND SW WASHINGTON INC — $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCLACKAMAS VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE — $25,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetWORLD FORESTRY CENTER — $23,898 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetROTARY CLUB OF HEALDSBURG - SUNRISE — $20,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetTRIGG - C M RUSSELL FOUNDATION INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRESOLVE INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCENTER FOR HOPE AND SAFETY — $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetALBERTINA KERR CENTERS — $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARLINGTON CLUB HERITAGE FOUNDATION — $20,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetMY VOICE MUSIC INC — $15,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetST MARY'S HOME — $14,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY CYCLING CENTER — $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPEACE OFFICERS RELIEF & EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetOREGON BRAVO YOUTH ORCHESTRAS — $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetALMANOR FISHING ASSOCIATION — $10,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetYOUTH VILLAGES INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOREGON SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS — $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetIMPACT NW — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Smokejumper Association — $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetZACK PACKARD MEMORIAL FOUNDATION — $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE CHARITABLE INSTITUTE INC — $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSUNSHINE DIVISION INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM OF FLIGHT FOUNDATION — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLAY IT FORWARD — $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

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

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Oregon Community …Marie Lamfrom Charita…Maybelle Clark Macdon…The Autzen FoundationOCF Joseph E Weston P…The Jackson FoundationJuan Young TrustClark FoundationRose E Tucker Charita…The Collins FoundationThe Reser Family Foun…Hillman Family Founda…
The Oregon Community FoundationOR48.1× affinity30 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Oregon Community Foundation · Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Trust · Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund · The Autzen Foundation · OCF Joseph E Weston Public Foundation · The Jackson Foundation · Juan Young Trust · Clark Foundation · Rose E Tucker Charitable Trust · The Collins Foundation · The Reser Family Foundation · Hillman Family Foundations

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Harry a Merlo Foundation Inc funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Northeast Oregon Economic Development District — 100% of income from government
  • Albertina Kerr Centers — 74% of income from government
  • Center for Hope and Safety — 68% of income from government
  • Play It Forward — 30% of income from government
  • My Voice Music Inc — 11% of income from government
  • Oregon Historical Society — 10% of income from government
  • Music Workshop — 10% of income from government
  • Impact Nw — 8% of income from government
  • Clackamas Volunteers in Medicine — 7% of income from government
  • Bodyvox Inc — 3% of income from government
  • Community Cycling Center — 2% of income from government
  • Casa for Children Inc — 2% of income from government
  • Portland Business Alliance Charitable Institute Inc — 1% of income from government
  • University of Portland — 1% of income from government
  • Youth Music Project — 1% of income from government
  • Beaverton Arts Foundation Inc — 0% of income from government
  • World Forestry Center — 0% of income from government
  • The Peaceful Presence Project — 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
3rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 91 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines