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Merakey Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Merakey Foundation

To conduct fundraising events and solicit donations to support the operations of its affiliates.

$355k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$145k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$2.7MFood & Nutrition$535kHuman Services$23k
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 7 grants below total $335,654, the rows itemized in this filing. The $355,093 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $19,439 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $41k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $281k
$22,588
Median grant
1
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MERAKEY PENNSYLVANIA$144,738
FRESH START NOW INC$68,143
MERAKEY PARKSIDE RECOVERY$67,860
MERAKEY WOODHAVEN$22,588
MERAKEY ALLOS$18,664
MERAKEY PHILADELPHIA$7,377
MERAKEY CHILDREN'S SERVICES$6,284
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 (FY21–25, $95k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 5%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 5%MERAKEY WOODHAVEN: $32k → 7%MERAKEY WOODHAVEN: $23k → 7%MERAKEY ALLEGHENY VALLEY SCHOOL: $16k → 7%MERAKEY AVS: $11k → 7%MERAKEY BUCKS COUNTY: $7k → 7%MERAKEY ALLEGHENY VALLEY SCHOOL: $7k → 7%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.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 13 repeat orgs$13k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
2

Total granted

$3.3M
$13k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+26%

Still filing today

92%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthHuman ServicesOther
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

  • MP
    MERAKEY PENNSYLVANIA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +34%
  • MU
    MERAKEY USA
    7× · 2017–2023 · $459k · revenue +55%
  • MP
    MERAKEY PARKSIDE RECOVERY
    5× · 2019–2025 · $139k · revenue +95%

Funded once

  • MB
    MERAKEY BUCKS COUNTY
    one grant, 2021 · $7k · revenue -6%
  • MI
    MERAKEY IDD PHILADELPHIAgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $6k · revenue +26%
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
Tri-Valley Care Inc

Provide community services, targeted services management and early intervention services to individuals who reside in pa and la.

Health
2
Nhs Stevens Center

Provide various behavioral health and early diagnostic intervention services.

Health
3
Melmark Inc

Melmark is a human services provider with premier private special education schools, professional development, training, and research centers. melmark is committed to enhancing the lives of individuals within diverse communities with…

Human Services
4
Merakey Foundation

To conduct fundraising events and solicit donations to support the operations of its affiliates.

Health
5
Elwyn of Pennsylvania and Delaware

Elwyn makes life better for people with developmental and behavioral health challenges.

Human Services
6
Melmark New England Inc

Melmark new england, is a multi state human services provider with premier private special education schools, professional development, training, and research centers. melmark new england is committed to enhancing the lives of individuals…

Education
7
Merci

Supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilites in maximizing their independence and in becoming productive, contributing members within the community.

Employment
8
Philhaven

Philhaven promotes hope, healing and wholeness through the provision of behavioral resources.

Health
9
Maine Behavioral Health Organization

The mission of maine behavioral health organization is to provide evidence based services leading to increased quality of life; through research, advocacy, education, operated services, and participation in public mental health policy…

Health
10
Keystone Human Services

Keystone organizations (keystone) provide comprehensive community-based services for children, young people, adults and families in the areas of intellectual disability, autism, mental health, and children and family services. keystone…

Health
11
Medstar Health Inc

Plan, develop, coordinate, direct and manage an integrated healthcare system.

Health
12
Cornerstone Montgomery

Empowering people living with mental health and substance use disorders to thrive in their community through collaboration, treatment, education and advocacy.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Merakey Delaware County; the most unlike its peers is Merakey Allos. 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

14 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. 14 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
7/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MERAKEY PENNSYLVANIA: $1,332,206 · HealthMERAKEY PENNSYLVANIAMERAKEY USA: $459,347 · HealthMERAKEY USAMERAKEY PHILADELPHIA: $303,454 · HealthMERAKEY PHILADELPHIAMERAKEY MIDWEST: $132,156 · HealthMERAKEY MIDWESTMERAKEY ALLOS: $104,929 · Health+3 more: $137,315 · Health+3 moreFRESH START NOW INC: $535,237 · OtherFRESH START NOW INCMERAKEY PARKSIDE RECOVERY: $139,120 · OtherMERAKEY PARKSIDE RECOVER…MERAKEY CHILDRENS SERVICES: $39,299 · OtherMERAKEY CHILDRENS SERVIC…+1 more: $6,292 · OtherMERAKEY WOODHAVEN: $54,194 · Human ServicesMERAKEY ALLEGHENY VALLEY SCHOOL: $34,071 · Human ServicesMERAKEY BUCKS COUNTY: $7,139 · Human Services
Health$2,469,407Other$719,948Human Services$95,404

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMERAKEY PENNSYLVANIA: $1,332,206 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetMERAKEY USA: $459,347 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetMERAKEY PHILADELPHIA: $303,454 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetMERAKEY PARKSIDE RECOVERY: $139,120 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMERAKEY MIDWEST: $132,156 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetMERAKEY ALLOS: $104,929 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetFRESH START FOUNDATION: $71,115 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetMERAKEY WOODHAVEN: $54,194 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMERAKEY DELAWARE COUNTY: $48,979 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMERAKEY CHILDRENS SERVICES: $39,299 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMERAKEY ALLEGHENY VALLEY SCHOOL: $34,071 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMERAKEY MONTGOMERY COUNTY: $17,221 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMERAKEY BUCKS COUNTY: $7,139 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMERAKEY IDD PHILADELPHIA: $6,292 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.

  • Who funds MERAKEY PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY USA ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY PARKSIDE RECOVERY ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY MIDWEST ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY ALLOS ↗
  • Who funds FRESH START FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY WOODHAVEN ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY DELAWARE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY CHILDRENS SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY ALLEGHENY VALLEY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY MONTGOMERY COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY BUCKS COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds MERAKEY IDD PHILADELPHIA ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Merakey Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merakey Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    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 Merakey Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Merakey 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 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