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Merkel Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Merkel Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$153k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$65k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$635kReligion$171kHuman Services$153kArts & Culture$87kRecreation & Sports$40kPhilanthropy$10kHealth$7kEnvironment$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $78k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $65k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$65,000
THE CHURCH OF GOD INTERNATIONAL$33,425
THE SALVATION ARMY$25,000
O R U GOLDEN EAGLE CLUB INC$20,000
HEART OF ROUTE 66 AUTO MUSEUM INC$5,000
THE PENCIL BOX INC$2,500
TULSA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$2,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–20, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%OKLAHOMA HEART GALLERY INC: $3k → 15%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 10 repeat orgs$39k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against -61% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
8

Total granted

$1.1M
$39k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
-61%

Still filing today

80%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesReligionEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • OS
    Oklahoma State University Foundation
    6× · 2020–2025 · $520k · revenue +63%
  • HO
    HEART OF ROUTE 66 AUTO MUSEUM INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $80k · revenue +217%
  • OR
    ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY
    4× · 2020–2023 · $78k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -114%
  • SS
    SAINT SIMEON'S FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • NM
    NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Tulsa Legacy Charter School

To prepare students for college through a rigorous arts infused program.

Education
2
University of the Ozarks

True to our christian heritage, we prepare students from diverse religious, cultural, educational and economic backgrounds to live life fully.

Education
3
Oklahoma Arts Institute Foundation

To support, promote, and improve the programs and services of the oklahoma arts institute.

Arts & Culture
4
Oklahoma Educational Memorial Trust Fdn

Providing, maintaining and issuing scholarships to eligible nominees or applicants for admission to college or for contributions to regularly maintained scholarship funds of other federal tax exempt colleges and universities with an…

Education
5
Tulsa Honor Academy Inc

The operation of a public charter school in the tulsa area with the mission to equip all scholars with the academic skills, content knowledge, and ethical character required for college graduation and life success.

Education
6
The University of Tulsa

The university of tulsa is a student-centered research university that cultivates interconnected learning experiences to explore complex ideas and create new knowledge in a spirit of free inquiry. guided by our commitment to diversity,…

Education
7
Will Rogers Memorial Foundation

Support Will Rogers Memorial Museums

Philanthropy
8
Oklahoma City Art Museum Affiliated Fund of Occf Inc

Support the oklahoma city community foundation through distributions made to the oklahoma city museum of art.

Arts & Culture
9
Tulsa Zoo Management Inc

Connecting, caring, advocating for wildlife, people, and wild places.

Animals
10
Oklahoma Hall of Fame

The oklahoma hall of fame preserves oklahomas unique history while promoting pride in our great state through each of its programs and the gaylord-pickens museum. the association honors our states rich tradition by telling oklahomas story…

Arts & Culture
11
Booker T Washington Foundation

It is to enhance all aspects of academic endeavors for the students, faculty, and administration at booker t washington high school in tulsa oklahoma

Philanthropy
12
Tulsa Children's Museum Inc

To inspire children, connect families, and build community through exploration, exhibits, programming, and play.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Oklahoma Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is O R U Golden Eagle Club 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

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 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)
13/14
Grantees still filing
6/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Oklahoma State University Foundation: $520,000 · EducationOklahoma State University FoundationORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY: $77,500 · EducationORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY+2 more: $25,000 · EducationCHURCH OF GOD INTERNATIONAL: $160,523 · OtherCHURCH OF GOD INTERNATIONALSALVATION ARMY: $150,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYO R U GOLDEN EAGLE CLUB INC: $40,000 · OtherO R U GOLDEN EAGLE CLUB INC+4 more: $22,000 · Other+4 moreHEART OF ROUTE 66 AUTO MUSEUM INC: $80,000 · Arts & CultureTULSA OPERA INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureTULSA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN MIGUEL SCHOOL OF TULSA: $10,000 · ReligionTulsa Garden Center: $5,000 · EnvironmentOKLAHOMA HEART GALLERY INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesTHE CENTER FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PHYSICAL CHALLENGES: $1,500 · Health
Education$622,500Other$372,523Arts & Culture$87,000Philanthropy$10,000Religion$10,000Environment$5,000Human Services$2,500Health$1,500

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 budgetOklahoma State University Foundation: $520,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHEART OF ROUTE 66 AUTO MUSEUM INC: $80,000 over 6y, 19% of budgetORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY: $77,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetO R U GOLDEN EAGLE CLUB INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetThe Pencil Box Inc: $15,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTULSA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAN MIGUEL SCHOOL OF TULSA: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTULSA OPERA INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTulsa Garden Center: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetA NEW LEAF INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOKLAHOMA HEART GALLERY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetWILL ROGERS STAGE FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PHYSICAL CHALLENGES: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Tulsa Community Found…Oneok Foundation IncStuart Family Foundat…The Sharna and Irvin …The Hardesty Family F…The Anne and Henry Za…A R and Marylouise Ta…Mervin Bovaird Founda…Ralph and Frances McG…El and Thelma Gaylord…Edward & Helen Bartle…Sanford P & Irene F B…
Tulsa Community FoundationOK20.5× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tulsa Community Foundation · Oneok Foundation Inc · Stuart Family Foundation · The Sharna and Irvin Frank Foundation · The Hardesty Family Foundation Inc · The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation · A R and Marylouise Tandy Foundation · Mervin Bovaird Foundation · Ralph and Frances McGill Foundation the Trust Company of Oklahoma · El and Thelma Gaylord Foundation · Edward & Helen Bartlett Foundation · Sanford P & Irene F Burnstein Foundation Irene F Burnstein Co-Trustee

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 Merkel Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merkel Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Tulsa Community Foundation: 11% of income from government
  • Oral Roberts University: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
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 Merkel Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Merkel Family 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 Merkel Family’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