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· Private foundation

Merle Chambers Fund

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.

$50M
Granted FY2024still arriving
193
Grants FY2024still arriving
17
States reached
$28M
Largest

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Merle Chambers Fund’s FY2025 grant dollars went to The Denver Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2024, the last year Merle Chambers Fund named its own grantees at scale: 86 organizations, $50M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

28
’19
55
’20
59
’21
91
’22
74
’23
86
’24
0
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$36MPublic Benefit$14MPhilanthropy$13MCivil Rights$4.9MCommunity Improvement$4.4MHuman Services$2.2MHealth$2.1MEducation$1.0MOther$0
02FY2024 · 193 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k37 grants · $68k
  • $10k–50k35 grants · $778k
  • $50k–250k96 grants · $8.8M
  • $250k+25 grants · $41M
$50,000
Median grant
17
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DENVER ART MUSEUM$28,459,047
DENVER ART MUSEUM$3,000,000
STATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT$750,000
CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY AND CIVIC LIF$600,000
THE DENVER FOUNDATION$501,777
DENVER ART MUSEUM$500,000
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDA$500,000
NEW VENTURE FUND$500,000
THE BELL POLICY CENTER$500,000
COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA$500,000
WYOMING COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$500,000
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE$500,000
THE WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF COLORADO$350,000
TIDES FOUNDATION$350,000
STATE VOICES$350,000
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 (FY19–24, $266k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%COLLABORATIVE HEALING INITIATIVE WI: $100k → 8%DWELLINGSNOW INC: $500 → 9%Asian Pacific Development Center: $10k → 8%LuBird's Light Foundation: $50 → 7%Episcopal Relief and Development: $10k → 17%Episcopal Relief and Development: $5k → 17%American Red Cross: $100 → 14%Early Milestones Colorado: $38k → 12%EARLY MILESTONES COLORADO: $38k → 12%EARLY MILESTONES COLORADO: $35k → 12%Early Milestones Colorado: $25k → 12%COLORADO NEWS COLLABORATIVE (COLAB): $3k → 12%COLORADO NEWS COLLABORATIVE (COLAB): $3k → 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
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
WY
OH
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
NC
DC
OK
LA
GA
TX
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 55% of Merle Chambers Fund’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 62% of the giving stays in CO; by stated purpose, 22%.

Merle Chambers Fundlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$63M · 108 repeat orgs$3.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

108 repeat relationships: 84 still active in FY2024, 24 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call). Read against FY2024, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

108
55

Total granted

$63M
$2.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+25%

Still filing today

88%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.6M went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Civil RightsArts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesPublic BenefitOther
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

  • DA
    DENVER ART MUSEUM
    5× · 2019–2024 · $33M · revenue +38% · 76% of their budget
  • SL
    STATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT
    3× · 2022–2024 · $2.5M · revenue +67%
  • VR
    VOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT
    4× · 2020–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • PP
    Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
    one grant, 2021 · $850k
  • MILE HIGH UNITED WAY INC
    one grant, 2020 · $151k · revenue -23%
  • TA
    THE ARCHER GROUPgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +75%
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
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
2
Colorado Gives Foundation

We connect people, ideas, and nonprofits to make good happen. our vision is that all of jeffco is thriving.

Philanthropy
3
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
4
Colorado Nonprofit Association

Colorado nonprofit association strengthens colorado's nonprofits through education, connection and advocacy.

Community Improvement
5
Center for Popular Democracy Inc

The center for popular democracy (cpd) and its affiliates know that everyday people have the power to change the world. we upend business and politics as usual to forge a representative, multiracial government and society where we all…

Public Benefit
6
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
7
Colorado Jobs With Justice Inc

Advance workers rights & social justice through building sustained relationships and taking direct action to create concrete change in the lives of working families

Employment
8
Ethics Watch Dba Colorado Ethics Watch

Ethics watch uses high impact legal actions to hold public officials and organizations accountable for unethical activities that undermine the integrity of government in colorado. the organization accomplishes its mission by combining…

—
9
Colorado Bar Association

To advance the science of jurisprudence, secure the more efficient administration of justice, encourage the adoption of proper legislation, advocate thorough and continuing legal education, uphold the honor and integrity of the bar,…

—
10
Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Advancing the well-being of all coloradans through relationships free from abuse and oppression.

Human Services
11
Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence

The mission of the center for legal inclusiveness (cli) is to advance diversity in the legal profession by actively educating and supporting private and public sector legal organizations in their individual campaigns to create cultures of…

Civil Rights
12
Democracy Works Inc

The organization's mission is to leverage web-technologies to improve civic engagement and voter education.

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Denver Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Colorado Womens Hall of Fame. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

158 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 158 of the 197 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
33
Early backer (in before they grew)
155/158
Grantees still filing
97/158
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DENVER ART MUSEUM: $33,135,647 · Arts & CultureDENVER ART MUSEUM+17 more: $1,382,230 · Arts & CultureTHE BELL POLICY CENTER: $2,228,480 · Civil RightsTHE BELL POLIC…STATE VOICES: $1,455,000 · Civil RightsSTATE VOICESALLIANCE FOR YOUTH ORGANIZING: $950,000 · Civil RightsALLIANCE FOR Y…COBALT FOUNDATION: $935,180 · Civil RightsCOBALT FOUNDAT…VOTEAMERICA: $650,000 · Civil RightsVOTEAMERICATake Back The Court Foundation: $450,000 · Civil RightsNew Era Colorado Foundation: $395,450 · Civil Rights+24 more: $3,155,470 · Civil Rights+24 moreVOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT: $1,400,000 · OtherVOTER REGISTRATION PR…CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE: $1,155,080 · OtherCLEO PARKER ROBINSON …Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM): $850,250 · OtherPlanned Parenthood of…UNITED FOR A NEW ECONOMY (UNE): $751,600 · OtherTHE WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF COLORADO INC: $1,590,280 · OtherTHE WOMEN'S FOUNDATIO…POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES INC: $930,060 · OtherPOLITICAL RESEARCH AS…ROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD INC: $810,350 · Other+104 more: $8,105,799 · Other+104 moreMONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,370,000 · PhilanthropyMONTANA CO…WYOMING COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,300,000 · PhilanthropyWYOMING CO…COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA: $1,200,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITIE…HOPEWELL FUND: $925,000 · PhilanthropyHOPEWELL F…TIDES FOUNDATION: $675,000 · PhilanthropyTIDES FOUN…THE DENVER FOUNDATION: $572,272 · PhilanthropyTHE DENVER…WOMEN DONORS NETWORK: $550,000 · PhilanthropyWOMEN DONO…MOMSRISING EDUCATION FUND: $325,000 · Philanthropy+8 more: $293,505 · PhilanthropyNEW VENTURE FUND: $5,325,000 · EnvironmentSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $550,000 · EnvironmentWINDWARD FUND: $400,000 · Environment+1 more: $50 · EnvironmentSTATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT: $2,500,000 · Public BenefitCENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY AND CIVIC LIFE: $1,350,000 · Public BenefitVOCES UNIDAS DE LAS MONTANAS: $275,000 · Public BenefitISSUE ONE: $250,000 · Public Benefit+4 more: $255,000 · Public BenefitPROGRESSNOW COLORADO EDUCATION: $455,600 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $365,000 · Community ImprovementCOLORADO FISCAL INSTITUTE: $325,080 · Community ImprovementTOGETHER COLORADO: $280,000 · Community ImprovementCenter for African American Health: $275,000 · Community ImprovementFAITH IN ACTION NETWORK: $125,000 · Community Improvement+3 more: $120,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$34,517,877Civil Rights$10,219,580Other$15,593,419Philanthropy$7,210,777Environment$6,275,050Public Benefit$4,630,000Community Improvement$1,945,680

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 budgetDENVER ART MUSEUM: $33,135,647 over 5y, 76% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $5,325,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSTATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT: $2,500,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetTHE BELL POLICY CENTER: $2,228,480 over 6y, 62% of budgetTHE WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF COLORADO INC: $1,590,280 over 6y, 12% of budgetSTATE VOICES: $1,455,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetVOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT: $1,400,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetMONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,370,000 over 6y, 3.1% of budgetCENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY AND CIVIC LIFE: $1,350,000 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetWYOMING COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,300,000 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA: $1,200,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetALLIANCE FOR YOUTH ORGANIZING: $950,000 over 3y, 4.9% of budgetCOBALT FOUNDATION: $935,180 over 6y, 8.0% of budgetPOLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES INC: $930,060 over 6y, 14% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $925,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD INC: $810,350 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $675,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVOTEAMERICA: $650,000 over 4y, 7.2% of budgetTHE DENVER FOUNDATION: $572,272 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWOMEN DONORS NETWORK: $550,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $550,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetPANORAMA GLOBAL: $500,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetPROGRESSNOW COLORADO EDUCATION: $455,600 over 5y, 24% of budgetTake Back The Court Foundation: $450,000 over 4y, 23% of budgetCivic Nation: $450,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetWINDWARD FUND: $400,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $400,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: $400,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTHE 19TH NEWS: $400,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNew Era Colorado Foundation: $395,450 over 6y, 6.1% of budgetCOLORADO ORGANIZATION FOR LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: $395,000 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetPUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC: $380,300 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCOMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $365,000 over 6y, 7.1% of budget9TO5 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN INC: $355,080 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetCOLORADO FISCAL INSTITUTE: $325,080 over 6y, 5.5% of budgetMOMSRISING EDUCATION FUND: $325,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetTHE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION: $325,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCOLORADO CHILDREN'S CAMPAIGN: $309,730 over 6y, 5.3% of budgetTOGETHER COLORADO: $280,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetCenter for African American Health: $275,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetVOCES UNIDAS DE LAS MONTANAS: $275,000 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetGLOBAL FUND FOR WOMEN INC: $270,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCOLORADO IMMIGRANT RIGHTS COALITION: $260,220 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetCOLORADO CENTER ON LAW AND POLICY: $255,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetBALLOT INITIATIVE STRATEGY CENTER INC: $250,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetISSUE ONE: $250,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetPizza to the Polls: $225,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetSTATES UNITED DEMOCRACY CENTER INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.6% 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.

  • Who funds DENVER ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds NEW VENTURE FUND ↗
  • Who funds STATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds THE BELL POLICY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF COLORADO INC ↗
  • Who funds STATE VOICES ↗
  • Who funds VOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds MONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY AND CIVIC LIFE ↗
  • Who funds WYOMING COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA ↗
  • Who funds ALLIANCE FOR YOUTH ORGANIZING ↗
  • Who funds COBALT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPEWELL FUND ↗
  • Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD INC ↗
  • Who funds TIDES FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds VOTEAMERICA ↗
  • Who funds THE DENVER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN DONORS NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PANORAMA GLOBAL ↗
  • Who funds PROGRESSNOW COLORADO EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds Take Back The Court Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Civic Nation ↗
  • Who funds WINDWARD FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE 19TH NEWS ↗
  • Who funds New Era Colorado Foundation ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO ORGANIZATION FOR LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds 9TO5 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN INC ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO FISCAL INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds MOMSRISING EDUCATION FUND ↗

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.

Rose Community FoundationCO93.3× affinity52 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Rose Community Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Colorado Gives Foundation · Community Foundation Boulder County · Hopewell Fund · New Venture Fund · The Colorado Trust · Brett Family Foundation · The Women's Foundation of Colorado Inc · Caring for Colorado Foundation · Boettcher 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 Merle Chambers Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merle Chambers Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Tools of the Mind: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
32report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Merle Chambers Fund?

Find your warmest path to Merle Chambers Fund 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 197 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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