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Merchant Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Merchant Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$42k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$25k
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, FY2023 to 2025.

Education$46kInternational$8kHealth$3kFood & Nutrition$3kArts & Culture$3kEnvironment$1kAnimals$100
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $35k
$1,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$73k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
University of Utah$25,000
Portland Community College Foundation$10,000
Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya Asha Foundation$2,000
Shriners Hospitals for Children$1,025
St Jude$1,000
Oregon Food Bank$1,000
Mona Foundation$500
Oregon Public Broadcasting$500
Greater Chicago Food Depository$500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY23–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 55% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Mission for Vision Foundation: $1k → 13%Doctors Without Borders: $4k → 17%Shriners Hospitals for Children: $1k → 13%Hunger Fighters of Oregon: $200 → 8%Oregon Food Bank: $1k → 12%St Jude: $1k → 17%University of Utah: $25k → 8%Weber State University: $1k → 9%CARE: $3k → 13%Colorado Animal Care Foundation: $100 → 8%Mona Foundation: $500 → 9%Greater Chicago Food Depository: $500 → 14%Meals on Wheels: $250 → 7%Alzheimers Foundation: $400 → 17%Oregon Food Bank: $1k → 12%Mona Foundation: $500 → 9%CragLaw Center: $260 → 12%Portland Community College Foundation: $10k → 12%Portland Community College Foundation: $10k → 12%Oregon Public Broadcasting: $500 → 12%Sustainable Northwest: $500 → 12%Sustainable Northwest: $500 → 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
IL
NY
OR
CA
UT
CO
VA
TN
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.

38%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$24k · 4 repeat orgs$40k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
9

Total granted

$24k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+5%
+12%

Still filing today

100%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 28% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
HealthFood & NutritionPhilanthropyArts & CultureEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $20k · revenue +3%
  • OREGON FOOD BANK
    2× · 2023–2025 · $2k · revenue +5%
  • SN
    SUSTAINABLE NORTHWEST
    3× · 2023–2025 · $1k · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • DW
    Doctors Without Borders
    one grant, 2023 · $4k
  • COOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue -7%
  • WS
    WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2024–2025 · $1k
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
The Global FoodBanking Network

To nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.

International
2
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
3
Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association

Orla serves as the leading industry advocate, striving to protect, improve and promote oregon hospitality.

—
4
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
5
Second Harvest North Central Food Bank

Engaging the community to end hunger

—
6
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Our mission is to solve hunger in central pennsylvania by ensuring that everyone struggling with hunger has access to enough wholesome food every day. we will achieve this bold goal with the help of our generous donors, volunteers and…

Food & Nutrition
7
The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri

The food bank for central & northeast missouri is a regional disaster and hunger relief network that acquires and distributes millions of meals each year to help neighbors get the food they need to thrive. (continued on schedule o)the…

Food & Nutrition
8
The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

Animals
9
Food & Water Watch

Food & water watch conducts extensive research and public education to ensure the food and water we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. so we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of…

Food & Nutrition
10
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
11
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
12
Western Rivers Conservancy

Western rivers conservancy's mission is to protect outstanding river ecosystems in the western united states. continued on schedule o.we acquire land to conserve critical habitat, provide public access for compatible use and enjoyment, and…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Oregon Food Bank; the most unlike its peers is Colorado Animal Care Foundation. 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 19 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
7/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $25,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAHDoctors Without Borders: $4,000 · OtherDoctors Without BordersOREGON FOOD BANK: $2,025 · OtherOREGON FOOD BANKKalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya Asha Foundation: $2,000 · OtherKalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya Asha Foundation+6 more: $3,610 · Other+6 morePORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyPORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION…MONA FOUNDATION: $1,000 · PhilanthropyCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $2,500 · InternationalSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $1,025 · HealthALZHEIMER'S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA INC: $400 · HealthSUSTAINABLE NORTHWEST: $1,000 · Community ImprovementGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $500 · Food & NutritionHUNGER FIGHTERS OREGON: $200 · Food & NutritionOREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $500 · Arts & Culture
Other$36,635Philanthropy$21,000International$2,500Health$1,425Community Improvement$1,000Food & Nutrition$700Arts & Culture$500

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 budgetPORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOREGON FOOD BANK: $2,025 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMONA FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSUSTAINABLE NORTHWEST: $1,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA INC: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRAG LAW CENTER: $260 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUNGER FIGHTERS OREGON: $200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO ANIMAL CARE FOUNDATION: $100 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.

The Oregon Community …American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Oregon Community FoundationOR13× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Oregon Community Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Merchant Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merchant Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Oregon Food Bank: 21% of income from government
  • Portland Community College Foundation Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Sustainable Northwest: 5% of income from government
  • Oregon Public Broadcasting: 1% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
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 Merchant Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Merchant Charitable 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 19 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 Merchant’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