· Private foundation
Merrill Charitable Foundation
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k11 grants · $25k
- $10k–50k11 grants · $256k
- $50k–250k3 grants · $201k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| WILSON TOURISM HUB INC | $100,500 |
| COUNTRY CLUB CHRISTIAN CHURCH | $50,584 |
| SAINT LUKES FOUNDATION | $50,000 |
| LEAWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | $40,834 |
| Individual grant recipient | $40,000 |
| CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION | $30,000 |
| YOUTH FRONT | $30,000 |
| SALVATION ARMY | $25,000 |
| ROCKY RIDGE MUSIC CENTER FOUNDATION | $20,000 |
| MUSEUM OF PRAIRIEFIRE FOUNDATION | $18,834 |
| KANSAS STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION | $15,000 |
| THE KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY | $13,750 |
| JDRF KANSAS CITY CHAPTER | $13,000 |
| KANSAS CITY CHORALE | $10,000 |
| HARVESTERS COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY18–18, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +9% since the first grant, against -7% for those funded once.
33 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $81k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- KCKANSAS CITY SYMPHONY9× · 2017–2025 · $72k · revenue +18%
- TCTEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY9× · 2017–2025 · $49k · revenue +60%
- HTHARVESTERS - THE COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK9× · 2017–2025 · $35k · revenue +40%
Funded once
- BOBELLES OF THE AMERICAN ROYALone grant, 2024 · $9k
- KCKANSAS CZECHS INCone grant, 2022 · $8k
- TMTHE MOSAIC FOUNDATION INCone grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue +1%
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.
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.
The kansas city museum foundation preserves, interprets, and celebrates kansas city through collections, exhibitions, and bold programs that reflect the city's evolution and spirit, and engage visitors in unfolding stories about kansas…
Kansas farm bureau exists to strengthen agriculture and the lives of kansans through advocacy, education, and service.
To inspire and engage through the beauty, power and passion of dance
To secure and provide funds and resources to enhance student learning in the kansas city public schools.
Kansas wesleyan university is a liberal arts college that promotes and integrates academic excellence, spiritual development, personal well-being, and social responsibility.
The memorial unions function as a concessionaire to the university of kansas for the purpose of operating various enterprises within the kansas union building, the burge union, the debruce center, residential dining halls, and other…
To strengthen the University and communities that have touched the lives of KU alumni and friends, the mission of The KU Endowment Charitable Gift Fund is to receive and administer gifts and bequests to further the charitable objectives of…
The mission of KCAI is to educate artists and designers while honoring the distinct journeys of students. We forge a vibrant community that equips them to become leaders who leverage the creative process to transform the future.
The mission of The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City is to educate and inspire our community by presenting and promoting appreciation for African-American culture through our stories.
The Foundation was created to assist in the promotion, development and enhancement of the financial resources for Washburn University of Topeka, as well as to receive and hold in trust any assets given in benefit of the University.
We build lifelong relationships that strengthen the university of kansas and the legacy of excellence embodied by its students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends.
How this is measured
27 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. 27 of the 46 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 WILSON TOURISM HUB INC ↗
- Who funds MUSEUM OF PRAIRIEFIRE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY ↗
- Who funds Saint Lukes Foundation ↗
- Who funds TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Franklin Center Inc ↗
- Who funds KANSAS ALPHA OF PHI DELTA THETA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds HARVESTERS - THE COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK ↗
- Who funds Relentless Endeavor Ministries Inc ↗
- Who funds ROCKY RIDGE MUSIC CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds YOUTHFRONT INC ↗
- Who funds WAYSIDE WAIFS INC ↗
- Who funds LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC ↗
- Who funds KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE NELSON GALLERY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds BOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE ↗
- Who funds KAUFFMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
- Who funds KANSAS CITY CHORALE ↗
- Who funds Symphony in the Flint Hills Inc ↗
- Who funds PI BETA PHI FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds PUBLIC TELEVISION 19 INC ↗
- Who funds MUSICAL THEATER HERITAGE INC ↗
- Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds The Kansas University Endowment Association ↗
- Who funds KANSAS SAMPLER FOUNDATION INC ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · G Kenneth and Ann Baum Philanthropic Fund · Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City · Merriman Foundation · Richard J Stern Foundation for the Arts Commerce Bank Trustee · Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation · The Francis Family Foundation · Hallmark Corporate Foundation · The H & R Block Foundation · Womack Foundation · Linda T Watson Family Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Merrill Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Merrill Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Merrill’s filings →