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· Public charity

Merrill Area United Way Inc

Disburse funds to other nonprofit organizations

$229k
Granted FY2020
14
Grants FY2020
1
States reached
$26k
Largest
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 2020.

Human Services$152kEducation$105kHousing & Shelter$77kFood & Nutrition$61kHealth$60kCommunity Improvement$55kYouth Development$44kEnvironment$41kOther$0
02FY2020 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 14 grants below total $210,914, the rows itemized in this filing. The $229,089 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $18,175 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k2 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $199k
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$600k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST VINCENT DEPAUL$26,000
MERRILL COMMUNITY HOMELESS CENTER$24,500
NORTH CENTRAL COMMUNITY ACTION PROG$20,000
PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER$18,000
HAVEN$18,000
COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY$17,000
PEACEFUL SOLUTIONS COUNSELING$15,000
BIG BROTHERSBIG SISTERS$15,000
SALVATION ARMY$13,000
CHILDREN'S SERVICE SOCIETY - WI$12,000
UNITED WAY OF MARATHON COUNTY$10,914
OUR SISTERS PLACE$10,000
CHILDCARING$6,000
HEALTHY MINDS FOR LINCOLN COUNTY$5,500
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 (FY17–20, $65k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER: $18k → 11%PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER: $17k → 11%PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER: $16k → 11%PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER: $15k → 11%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$602k · 12 repeat orgs$30k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2020, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
3

Total granted

$602k
$30k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+5%

Still filing today

92%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
Housing & ShelterHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEnvironmentPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • SV
    SAINT VINCENT DEPAUL CABRINI CONFERENCE
    4× · 2017–2020 · $84k · revenue +58%
  • PP
    PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER LTD
    4× · 2017–2020 · $65k · revenue +32%
  • CF
    COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY OF MERRILL INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $61k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • HA
    HOUSEHOLD ABUSE VICTIMS EMERGENCY NETWORK INC
    one grant, 2020 · $18k · revenue -12%
  • CI
    CHILDCARING INC
    one grant, 2020 · $6k · revenue +5%
  • HM
    HEALTHY MINDS FOR LINCOLN COUNTY
    one grant, 2020 · $6k
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
Waushara County Food Pantry Inc

We provide food, household and personal items as available to combat food scarcity and poverty in our community.

Food & Nutrition
2
Hope Center Inc

The Hope Center seeks out and teams with volunteers from congregations of many faiths.The Center is committed to serving people in need in Waukesha County, Wisconsin through financial assistance, food, child care, clothing and…

—
3
Hope House of Manitowoc County Inc

Helping families and individuals experiencing homelessness achieve sustainable independence.

Human Services
4
Sunny Day Child Care&Preschool Inc

Child care & preschool services

Human Services
5
Midwest Christian Services % Deanna Scott

Provide a home and the needs of children with no other place to go

—
6
Northwest Counseling Service Inc

Housing Counseling Services

Housing & Shelter
7
United Way of Langlade County Inc

United Way uses its global reach and local presence to build stronger, more resilient communities where everyone can thrive. We work to improve the health, education, and economic mobility of every person in every community we serve.

Philanthropy
8
Baraboo Area Homeless Shelter

Baraboo area homeless shelter works to provide shelter and comprehensive case management services to persons experiencing homelessness in baraboo, wisconsin and the surrounding area.

Housing & Shelter
9
Neighborhood Housing Services of Southeast Wisconsin Inc

The purpose of neighborhood housing services of southeast wisconsin, inc. is to renew pride, restore confidence,promote reinvestment, and revitalize the nhs neighborhoods through the efforts of local residents acting in concert with…

Housing & Shelter
10
Manitowoc County Habitat for Humanity Inc

To create decent, affordable housing for those in need

—
11
Bear Creek Development Center Inc

Bear Creek Development Center was established by Bear Creek Christian Church to create innovative, holistic, and truly affordable housing solutions with families and individuals in the Rochester MN area.

—
12
Monroe County Sheltercare Inc

To assist at-risk individuals

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Service Society of Wisconsin; the most unlike its peers is Three Rivers United Temporary Housing. 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

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 15 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
10/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SAINT VINCENT DEPAUL CABRINI CONFERENCE: $84,000 · OtherSAINT VINCENT DEPAUL CABRINI CONFERENCEPEACEFUL SOLUTIONS COUNSELING INC: $54,000 · OtherPEACEFUL SOLUTIONS COUNSELING INCBig Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin Inc: $44,000 · OtherBig Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin I…THE SALVATION ARMY: $44,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMYCHILDREN'S SERVICE SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN: $39,500 · OtherCHILDREN'S SERVICE SOCIETY OF WISCONSINHOUSEHOLD ABUSE VICTIMS EMERGENCY NETWORK INC: $18,000 · OtherHOUSEHOLD ABUSE VICTIMS EMERGENCY NETWORK INC+2 more: $11,500 · OtherMERRILL COMMUNITY HOMELESS CENTER INC: $56,500 · Housing & ShelterMERRILL COMMU…THREE RIVERS UNITED TEMPORARY HOUSING: $20,000 · Housing & ShelterTHREE RIVERS …PARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER LTD: $65,200 · Human ServicesPARKSIDE PR…COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY OF MERRILL INC: $61,000 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY …NORTH CENTRAL COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM INC: $55,000 · Community ImprovementNORTH CEN…MARSH HAVEN NATURE CENTER INC: $41,000 · EnvironmentUNITED WAY OF MARATHON COUNTY INC: $38,130 · Philanthropy
Other$295,000Housing & Shelter$76,500Human Services$65,200Food & Nutrition$61,000Community Improvement$55,000Environment$41,000Philanthropy$38,130

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSAINT VINCENT DEPAUL CABRINI CONFERENCE: $84,000 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetPARKSIDE PRESCHOOL CENTER LTD: $65,200 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetMERRILL COMMUNITY HOMELESS CENTER INC: $56,500 over 3y, 26% of budgetNORTH CENTRAL COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetPEACEFUL SOLUTIONS COUNSELING INC: $54,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin Inc: $44,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetMARSH HAVEN NATURE CENTER INC: $41,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S SERVICE SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN: $39,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF MARATHON COUNTY INC: $38,130 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetHOUSEHOLD ABUSE VICTIMS EMERGENCY NETWORK INC: $18,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetCHILDCARING INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

Church Mutual Insurance Company Foundation IncWI25.9× affinity10 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Church Mutual Insurance Company Foundation Inc · Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin Inc · Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation · Green Bay Packers Foundation · United Way of Marathon County Inc · 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 Merrill Area United Way Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merrill Area United Way Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 15 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2020, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

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