Wisconsin · Private foundation
Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc
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.
- $86k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 20
- Grants FY2025
- 20
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 20%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $2,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $20,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 13 to 36
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 7
- Total assets, FY2025
- $608k
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 20% of the organizations Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 34% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $102k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 20 | $86k | 30% |
| FY2024 | 20 | $302k | 20% |
| FY2023 | 13 | $159k | 8% |
| FY2022 | 20 | $108k | 20% |
| FY2021 | 33 | $111k | 24% |
| FY2020 | 32 | $109k | 9% |
| FY2019 | 36 | $109k | 31% |
| FY2018 | 36 | $197k | 72% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bat Conservation International | $226,000 | 9 | 1% |
| Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Inc | $201,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Florentine Opera Company Inc | $165,050 | 7 | 1% |
| Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast Inc | $156,200 | 9 | 1% |
| Historic Haymarket Milwaukee Inc | $100,000 | 1 | 0% |
| St Pauls Church | $68,650 | 7 | n/a |
| The University School of Milwaukee Corporation | $59,750 | 7 | 0% |
| Colorado Ballet | $43,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Opera Colorado | $32,500 | 9 | 0% |
| St Anne's Episcopal School Inc | $29,000 | 9 | 0% |
Show all 57 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 16 recipients with no EIN on record ($104k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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 Milwaukee Foundation Inc · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Hauske Family Foundation Inc · Bert L and Patricia S Steigleder Charitable · Ralph Evinrude Foundation Inc · Charter Manufacturing Company Foundation Inc
How this is measured
Compare Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc?
Find your warmest path to Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill 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.
About Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc
- How much does Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc give?
- Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc reported 20 grants totaling $85,900 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 13 and 36 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (55%), Animals (16%), Youth Development (11%).
- Who are Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Bat Conservation International ($226k), Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Inc ($201k), Florentine Opera Company Inc ($165k).
- Does Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 20% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc, Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc, Baird Foundation Inc.
- Where is Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc based?
- Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc is based in WI.
Play a game based on Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill’s filings →