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Merlo Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Merlo Family Foundation

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.

$217k
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Education$265kYouth Development$115kPublic Safety & Disaster$50kHealth$47kAnimals$38k
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $45k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
$10,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$100,000
ALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC$50,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PROVIDENCE$15,000
LINCOLN SCHOOL$10,000
HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES$10,000
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO$10,000
DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE INC$6,000
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$5,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION$5,000
LOVE4PAWS INC$5,000
MOVEMBER FOUNDATION$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 (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 87% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $50k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $100k → 11%AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO: $1k → 17%HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: $10k → 14%LOVE4PAWS INC: $5k → 9%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PROVIDENCE: $50k → 14%ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 13%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $5k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $100k → 11%AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO: $10k → 17%HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: $2k → 14%LOVE4PAWS INC: $5k → 9%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PROVIDENCE: $50k → 14%CHILDRENS HOSPITAL PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $5k → 11%HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: $1k → 14%LOVE4PAWS INC: $2k → 9%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PROVIDENCE: $15k → 14%WOMEN & INFANTS HOSPITAL OF RHODE ISLAND: $25k → 14%LINCOLN SCHOOL: $10k → 14%LINCOLN SCHOOL: $10k → 14%LINCOLN SCHOOL: $10k → 14%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

NY
MA
PA
RI
CA
MD
DC
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.
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 15% of Merlo Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Merlo Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 19% 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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$411k · 6 repeat orgs$104k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
3

Total granted

$411k
$37k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+14%

Still filing today

100%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $67k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
HealthAnimalsEducationYouth DevelopmentPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
    3× · 2022–2024 · $230k · revenue +11%
  • LINCOLN SCHOOL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $30k · revenue +24%
  • HW
    Humane World for Animals Inc
    3× · 2022–2024 · $13k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • WOMEN & INFANTS HOSPITAL OF RI
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +14%
  • AF
    ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue 0%
  • AS
    AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO
    one grant, 2023 · $2k
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 Johns Hopkins Hospital

For more than 125 years, the mission of the johns hopkins hospital has been to lead the world in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and to train tomorrow's great physicians, nurses and scientists. above all, we aim to provide the…

Health
2
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
3
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
4
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
5
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

We educate the next generation of leaders to improve the health of our society.

Education
6
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
7
University of Minnesota Physicians

University of minnesota physicians serves as the integrated group practice for the university of minnesota medical school full-time faculty to provide the highest quality healthcare to patients and their families.university of minnesota…

Health
8
Upmc Carlisle

Upmc carlisle's mission is to serve the community by providing access to outstanding patient care and to shape tomorrow's health care system through clinical and technological innovation, research and education.

Health
9
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute's mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn,…

Health
10
Children's Hospital & Research Center At Oakland

The mission of children's hospital & research center at oakland is to protect and advance the health and well-being of children through clinical care, teaching and research.

Health
11
Upmc Pinnacle Hospitals

Upmc pinnacle hospitals mission as a charitable organization is dedicatied to maintaining and improving the health and quality of life for all persons of the central pennsylvania area.

Health
12
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred hutch cancer center ("fred hutch") unites innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious disease. continued on schedule o

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Arthritis Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc. 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

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 14 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $230,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH+1 more: $5,000 · EducationBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PROVIDENCE: $115,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF P…ALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $50,000 · Public Safety & DisasterALL HANDS A…WOMEN & INFANTS HOSPITAL OF RI: $25,000 · HealthWOMEN & IN…ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · HealthARTHRITIS …Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $6,000 · HealthDana-Farbe…CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $5,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S…+1 more: $500 · HealthHumane World for Animals Inc: $13,000 · AnimalsLove4Paws Inc: $12,000 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $11,000 · AnimalsLINCOLN SCHOOL: $30,000 · OtherAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO: $2,000 · Other
Education$235,000Youth Development$115,000Public Safety & Disaster$50,000Health$46,500Animals$36,000Other$32,000

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $230,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PROVIDENCE: $115,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLINCOLN SCHOOL: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN & INFANTS HOSPITAL OF RI: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc: $13,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLove4Paws Inc: $12,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOVEMBER FOUNDATION: $500 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Amazonsmile Foundation
Amazonsmile FoundationWA3.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Merlo Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merlo Family 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% 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
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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.

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 14 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 Merlo 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