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Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$1.2M
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 2024.

International$9.5MReligion$812kArts & Culture$490kCrime & Legal$341kPublic Benefit$255kScience & Tech$240kEducation$108kHuman Services$53kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,197,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$7.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L$1,197,500
3ABN$250,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 19% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WHITE HORSE MEDIA: $11k → 12%LAYMEN MINISTRIES: $60k → 14%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $3.1M → 6%KENNETH COX MINISTRIES: $29k → 14%SECRETS UNSEALED: $13k → 19%ADVOCATES FOR SE ASIANS THE PERSECU: $37k → 15%REMNANT PUBLICATIONS: $32k → 16%NAPS: $279k → 16%ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST ACADEMY: $10k → 13%LIGHT BEARERS MINISTRY: $20k → 15%MILO ADVENTIST ACADEMY: $20k → 17%CHILD IMPACT INTERNATIONAL: $30k → 12%GOSPEL OUTREACH: $25k → 13%3ABN: $341k → 20%ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT RELIEF: $15k → 8%WHITE HORSE MEDIA: $5k → 12%LAYMEN MINISTRIES: $50k → 14%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $2.1M → 6%KENNETH COX MINISTRIES: $10k → 14%SECRETS UNSEALED: $5k → 19%ADVOCATES FOR SE ASIANS THE PERSECU: $10k → 15%REMNANT PUBLICATIONS: $10k → 16%NAPS: $10k → 16%MEDFORD SDA CHURCH: $20k → 13%CHILD IMPACT INTERNATIONAL: $30k → 12%GOSPEL OUTREACH: $10k → 13%3ABN: $250k → 20%ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT RELIEF: $9k → 8%LAYMEN MINISTRIES: $44k → 14%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $1.3M → 6%ADVOCATES FOR SE ASIANS THE PERSECU: $6k → 15%MEDFORD SDA CHURCH: $13k → 13%CHILD IMPACT INTERNATIONAL: $26k → 12%3ABN: $240k → 20%LAYMEN MINISTRIES: $25k → 14%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $1.2M → 6%ADVOCATES FOR SE ASIANS THE PERSECU: $6k → 15%MEDFORD SDA CHURCH: $9k → 13%3ABN: $205k → 20%LAYMEN MINISTRIES: $10k → 14%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $770k → 6%3ABN: $200k → 20%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $520k → 6%3ABN: $92k → 20%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $300k → 6%3ABN: $50k → 20%MARANATHA VOLUNTEERS INT'L: $125k → 6%3ABN: $40k → 20%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
ID
IL
MI
OR
CA
MD
TN
AL
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 80% of Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 82% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 15 repeat orgs$105k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
8

Total granted

$12M
$105k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+17%

Still filing today

60%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
ReligionInternationalArts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyOther
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

  • MV
    Maranatha Volunteers International Inc
    8× · 2017–2024 · $9.4M · revenue +59%
  • CI
    CHILD IMPACT INTERNATIONAL
    4× · 2017–2020 · $87k · revenue +147%
  • RP
    Remnant Publications Inc
    3× · 2017–2022 · $44k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • MS
    MEDFORD SDA CHURCH
    one grant, 2017 · $43k
  • MA
    MILO ADVENTIST ACADEMY
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
  • LB
    Light Bearers Ministry
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue +17%
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
Propagate Media Incorporaton

This media outreach tool affords preachers and teachers of the Word in Christs Kingdom the global projection of media gospel. Our vision of Propagate Media Incorporation is to lift Jesus Christ higher for the world to see! But I, when I am…

Religion
2
Worldcast Ministries

Publishing, writing, sales & distribution of Christian Books; speaking throughout the US and foreign countries on Christian subjects. Attending orphanages, Christian schools and Bible colleges in the US and foreign countries assisting in…

Religion
3
Explore God Network
—
4
Gospel Revivals Inc

To engage in christian evangelism through the publication and worldwide distribution of "herald of his coming" periodical

—
5
International Christian Publishers

Religious corp, charitable, educational and cultural, conduct all activities relate to publishingchristian literature

Religion
6
Gospel Crusade Ministries Inc
—
7
Dove On the Rise International

Expansion of the Gospel of Christ through training literature and digital teaching materials.

—
8
Equippers Group International

To produce and publish training materials for church leadership and development. To facilitate churches groups and individual participation in world mission.

Religion
9
Follow Him Media Inc
Religion
10
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry Inc

To glorify god by equipping the church with proper christian doctrine and to help non-believers come to a saving knowledge of jesus christ.

—
11
Signs & Wonders Ministries
—
12
Paul White Ministries

Present the gospel

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Secrets Unsealed Inc; the most unlike its peers is Better Life Television. 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

11 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. 11 of the 23 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
6/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Maranatha Volunteers International Inc: $9,397,500 · InternationalMaranatha Volunteers International Inc+1 more: $87,184 · International3ABN: $1,417,700 · Other3ABNNAPS: $289,200 · OtherNAPSLAYMEN MINISTRIES: $189,200 · OtherLAYMEN MINISTRIES+9 more: $181,580 · Other+9 moreTHE KENNETH COX MINISTRIES: $39,200 · ReligionGOSPEL OUTREACH: $35,000 · ReligionLight Bearers Ministry: $20,000 · ReligionSECRETS UNSEALED INC: $17,500 · ReligionWHITE HORSE MINISTRIES INC: $16,000 · ReligionAmazing Discoveries: $77,700 · EducationRemnant Publications Inc: $44,200 · Arts & CultureBETTER LIFE TELEVISION: $2,500 · Arts & CultureIT IS WRITTEN INC: $36,700 · Philanthropy
International$9,484,684Other$2,077,680Religion$127,700Education$77,700Arts & Culture$46,700Philanthropy$36,700

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

25%50%75%100%$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMaranatha Volunteers International Inc: $9,397,500 over 8y, 13% of budgetCHILD IMPACT INTERNATIONAL: $87,184 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetAmazing Discoveries: $77,700 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetRemnant Publications Inc: $44,200 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE KENNETH COX MINISTRIES: $39,200 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetIT IS WRITTEN INC: $36,700 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGOSPEL OUTREACH: $35,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLight Bearers Ministry: $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSECRETS UNSEALED INC: $17,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetWHITE HORSE MINISTRIES INC: $16,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetBETTER LIFE TELEVISION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Maranatha Volunteers International Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILD IMPACT INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds Amazing Discoveries ↗
  • Who funds Remnant Publications Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE KENNETH COX MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds IT IS WRITTEN INC ↗
  • Who funds GOSPEL OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds Light Bearers Ministry ↗
  • Who funds SECRETS UNSEALED INC ↗
  • Who funds WHITE HORSE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds BETTER LIFE TELEVISION ↗

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.

Asi Missions IncPopoff Family Foundat…Fjarli FoundationAmerican Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Asi Missions IncMD22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Asi Missions Inc · Popoff Family Foundation · Fjarli Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn 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 Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli Foundation Inc 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 23 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

    Play a game based on Merlin & Jo Ann Fjarli’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