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Harry a Merlo Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Harry a Merlo Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$813kHealth$739kRecreation & Sports$644kHuman Services$417kArts & Culture$338kAnimals$175kHousing & Shelter$155kEnvironment$154kOther$0
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $359k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $632k
$25,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$35M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SUTTER SANTA ROSA REGIONAL HOSPITAL$200,000
BODY VOX$131,500
EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$100,000
HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION$100,000
LIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION$50,000
PAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS$50,000
Individual grant recipient$35,000
RANGER'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND$30,000
MUSIC WORKSHOP$27,800
OREGON JOURALISM PROJECT$25,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF OREGON & SW WASHINGTON BIZ TOWN$25,000
ST ANTHONY'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL$25,000
OHSU FOUNDATION$25,000
FRIEND FIREFIGHTER INTERNATIONAL$25,000
CATHOLIC SCHOOL ENDOWNMENT FUND$25,000
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 (FY20–25, $609k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 39% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YOUTH VILLAGES OREGON: $10k → 8%LIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%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: $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
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

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

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.4M · 35 repeat orgs$1.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +72% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
56

Total granted

$3.4M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+72%
+14%

Still filing today

66%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $330k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • EO
    EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    4× · 2021–2025 · $401k · revenue +21%
  • HF
    HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2025 · $250k · revenue +100% · 31% of their budget
  • BODYVOX INC
    4× · 2020–2025 · $197k · revenue +130%

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
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
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
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
3
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
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
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
6
Priority Oregon

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

—
7
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
8
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
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
Portland Youth Philharmonic Association

To prepare young people for success through musical excellence.

Arts & Culture
11
Oregon Public Broadcasting

Connecting people across oregon and the pacific northwest through the power of a shared story.

Arts & Culture
12
The Oregon Community Foundation

The mission of The Oregon Community Foundation is to improve lives of all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sunshine Division Inc; 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.
04the grantee network

54 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. 54 of the 100 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/54
Grantees still filing
33/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DE LA SALLE NORTH CATHOLIC: $300,000 · OtherDE LA SALLE NORTH CATHOLICCATHOLIC CHARITIES: $287,000 · 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: $85,000 · OtherPAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS: $100,000 · Other+60 more: $1,191,723 · Other+60 moreEASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $401,000 · EducationEASTERN OREGON UN…UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $115,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF POR…RANGERS SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $110,000 · EducationRANGERS SCHOLARSH…STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $85,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TU…IMBLER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationIMBLER EDUCATION …HOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION: $250,000 · Human ServicesHOPE FOR THE …EASTSIDE TIMBERS: $195,000 · Human ServicesEASTSIDE TIMB…LIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE FI…+5 more: $69,000 · Human Services+5 moreBODYVOX INC: $196,500 · Arts & CultureBODYVOX INCMusic Workshop: $70,600 · Arts & CultureMusic Works…YOUTH MUSIC PROJECT: $50,000 · Arts & CultureYOUTH MUSIC…BEAVERTON ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureBEAVERTON A…OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $40,000 · Arts & CultureOREGON HIST…MY VOICE MUSIC INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureMY VOICE MU…OREGON JOURNALISM PROJECT: $25,000 · Arts & CultureARLINGTON CLUB HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTRIGG - C M RUSSELL FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $15,817 · Arts & CultureSUTTER BAY HOSPITALS: $200,000 · HealthCOPPERTOWER FAMILY MED CTR INC DBA ALEXANDER VALLEY HEALTHCARE: $50,000 · HealthTHE PEACEFUL PRESENCE PROJECT: $40,000 · HealthCLACKAMAS VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE: $25,000 · HealthEastwood Ranch Foundation: $175,000 · AnimalsRESOLVE INC: $20,000 · AnimalsNEW MOUNT CARMEL FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 · ReligionNORTHEAST OREGON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT: $50,000 · Religion
Other$2,516,223Education$761,000Human Services$614,000Arts & Culture$517,917Health$315,000Animals$195,000Religion$120,000

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 budgetEASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $401,000 over 4y, 5.2% of budgetHOPE FOR THE HOMELESS FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 3y, 31% of budgetBODYVOX INC: $196,500 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetEASTSIDE TIMBERS: $195,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetEastwood Ranch Foundation: $175,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $115,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRANGERS SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC: $110,000 over 3y, 27% of budgetPAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS: $100,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetEVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION: $85,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $85,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPORTLAND TENNIS & EDUCATION: $80,000 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetMusic Workshop: $70,600 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetNEW MOUNT CARMEL FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF OREGON AND SW WASHINGTON INC: $50,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetCOPPERTOWER FAMILY MED CTR INC DBA ALEXANDER VALLEY HEALTHCARE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetIMBLER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetREADING RESULTS: $50,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetYOUTH MUSIC PROJECT: $50,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetBEAVERTON ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 7.4% 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 budgetNORTHEAST OREGON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetOREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $40,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PEACEFUL PRESENCE PROJECT: $40,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetCASA FOR CHILDREN INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMY VOICE MUSIC INC: $30,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetOREGON JOURNALISM PROJECT: $25,000 over 1y, 3.5% 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 budgetRESOLVE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetARLINGTON CLUB HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetTRIGG - C M RUSSELL FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER FOR HOPE AND SAFETY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetALBERTINA KERR CENTERS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST MARY'S HOME: $14,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPLAY IT FORWARD: $13,317 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetALMANOR FISHING ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetOREGON SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPEACE OFFICERS RELIEF & EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetOREGON BRAVO YOUTH ORCHESTRAS: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY CYCLING CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSUNRISE ROTARY CLUB OF HEALDSBURG FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetYOUTH VILLAGES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING KIDS IN OUR BACKYARD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetIMPACT NW: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Smokejumper Association: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% 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.

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

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 Harry a Merlo Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Harry a Merlo Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%3%10%23%40%funder's 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
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.

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 100 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 Harry a Merlo’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