· Private foundation
Merit 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION | $5,200 |
| MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA INC | $5,200 |
| FOUNDATION FOR THE MOUNT PROSPECT PUBLIC LIBRARY | $5,200 |
| LAFAYETTE COLLEGE | $5,200 |
| ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF MADISON INC | $4,200 |
| WHEATON NORTH HIGH SCHOOL | $3,000 |
| THE PARENTING PATH | $3,000 |
| HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN CHURCH | $2,700 |
| TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY - BLOOM FAMILY LEADERSHIP | $2,700 |
| ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC | $2,700 |
| SUMMIT SCHOOL OF AHWATUKEE | $2,700 |
| TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY - FRIENDS OF MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING | $2,500 |
| GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH | $2,000 |
| EDITH KANAKA'OLE FOUNDATION | $1,700 |
| ALBION COLLEGE | $1,500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 57% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
38 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- LCLAFAYETTE COLLEGE8× · 2018–2025 · $42k · revenue +28%
- AAACTION AGAINST HUNGER - USA2× · 2022–2023 · $15k · revenue +23%
- FFFOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC2× · 2020–2021 · $11k · revenue +191%
Funded once
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $9k · revenue +64%- RCROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF MADISON INC LOVE BEGINS HEREone grant, 2023 · $5k
- TOTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY - LEADERSHIP INITIATIVEone grant, 2023 · $4k
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.
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.
Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…
Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…
To make kids better today and healthier tomorrow.
The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.
Ahip is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry. ahip's members provide health care coverage, services and solutions to more than 200 million americans. we are committed to market-based solutions and…
Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.
Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…
Primary functions are the coordination and delivery of health care resources and services, health care education for the hospital service area, long range analysis of health care needs and development of programs, and arranging for…
Empowering college admission counseling professionals through education, advocacy, and community.
The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…
American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…
Children's physicians delivers the highest quality pediatric primary care while supporting education and research.
How this is measured
38 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. 38 of the 67 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 LAFAYETTE COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds Foothills Educational Foundation ↗
- Who funds CAMP GRAY INC ↗
- Who funds ACTION AGAINST HUNGER - USA ↗
- Who funds MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA INC ↗
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC ↗
- Who funds EXCHANGE CLUB CENTER FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE OF NORTH CAROLINA INC ↗
- Who funds EDGEWOOD CAMPUS SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds GLAAD INC ↗
- Who funds HUSHABYE NURSERY ↗
- Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR THE MOUNT PROSPECT PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
- Who funds LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds Pleasant Hill PTA ↗
- Who funds GIO'S GARDEN INC ↗
- Who funds RHINELANDER HEALTH FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF HONOLULU ↗
- Who funds SOUTHWEST AUTISM RESEARCH AND RESOURCE CENTER ↗
- Who funds CHILD POVERTY ACTION LAB ↗
- Who funds XAVIER DADS CLUB INC ↗
- Who funds CANCER SERVICES INC ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Winston-Salem Foundation · Forsyth Memorial Hospital Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Merit Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merit Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Merit Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Merit 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.
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