· 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.
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 $10k16 grants · $34k
- $10k–50k4 grants · $52k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Create Wisconsin | $20,000 |
| Mount Mary University | $12,000 |
| Bloedel Reserve | $10,000 |
| Bat Conservation International | $10,000 |
| Opera Colorado | $6,000 |
| Colorado Ballet | $5,000 |
| Central City Opera | $5,000 |
| Girl Scouts of Wisconsin SE | $4,000 |
| St Anne's Episcopal School | $3,000 |
| Denver Center for the Performing Arts | $2,000 |
| Law Foward | $2,000 |
| Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin | $2,000 |
| University of School Milwaukee | $1,000 |
| Bryn Mawr College | $1,000 |
| Writer's Theater | $1,000 |
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 (FY18–20, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 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
Which US states its grants reach
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 +38% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.
41 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 27 since wound down; 6 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, 47% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $45k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL9× · 2017–2025 · $226k · revenue +179%
FLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INC7× · 2017–2023 · $165k · revenue +38%
THE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION7× · 2018–2025 · $60k · revenue +45%
Funded once
- HHHistoric Haymarket Milwaukee Incgraduatedone grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue +64%
NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATESone grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +12%
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART INCone grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -14%
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.
Milwaukee women inc is an organization of executives determined to change the quality and composition of corporate boards to maximize the performance of public and private companies with a focus on women and women of color.
The milwaukee institute of art and design's mission is to ignite curious minds through art, design and service. we value courage to seek our own path, integrity to pursue our lives and work with meaning, kindness to thoughtfully engage…
The mission of the milwaukee bar association is to be an inclusive, equitable and diverse organization that serves the interests of the lawyers, judges and the people of milwaukee county by working to promote the professional interests of…
The wisconsin maritime museum connects all people with wisconsin's waterways, by engaging and educating the public about wisconsin's maritime history, wisconsin's world war ii submarines, uss cobia, and the great lakes. the wisconsin…
To cultivate civil discourse, increase understanding, and create common ground by connecting wisconsin people and ideas.
We conduct impartial public policy research and analysis to drive informed debate and effective decision-making in the state of wisconsin.
To protect, conserve, and enhance wisconsin's natural resources by advocating for and supporting county conservation efforts, for current and future generations.
Strengthen communities by providing high-quality and innovative artistic experiences that entertain, inspire, and unite diverse audiences.
Lawrence university of wisconsin, through its undergraduate residential college and conservatory of music, educates students in the liberal arts and sciences. the university is devoted to excellence and integrity in all of its activities…
Landmark conservancy is a nationally accredited, nonprofit conservation organization serving 20 counties across northwest wisconsin. their mission is to conserve wisconsin's natural legacy for everyone...forever.
The purpose of the wisconsin public radio association (wpra) is to support wisconsin public radio by engaging in cooperative fundraising, stewardship and advocacy. the wpra generates support through programs and participatory activities…
To improve the health of the people of wisconsin by supporting and strengthening physicians' ability to practice high quality patient care in a changing environment.
How this is measured
55 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. 55 of the 74 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 BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL ↗
- Who funds MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
- Who funds FLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INC ↗
- Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF WISCONSIN SOUTHEAST INC ↗
- Who funds Historic Haymarket Milwaukee Inc ↗
- Who funds THE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds COLORADO BALLET ↗
- Who funds OPERA COLORADO ↗
- Who funds St Anne's Episcopal School Inc ↗
- Who funds MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM INC ↗
- Who funds CREATE WISCONSIN INC ↗
- Who funds LAYTON ART COLLECTION ↗
- Who funds DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
- Who funds MOUNT MARY UNIVERSITY INC ↗
- Who funds MILWAUKEE COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL INC ↗
- Who funds MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC ↗
- Who funds THE BLOEDEL RESERVE ↗
- Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WISCONSIN INC ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES ↗
- Who funds MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART INC ↗
- Who funds TALL PINES CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT ↗
- Who funds FOREST HOME HISTORIC PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
- Who funds Marquette University ↗
- Who funds LAW FORWARD INC ↗
- Who funds BRYN MAWR COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC ↗
- Who funds 1000 FRIENDS OF WISCONSIN ↗
- Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WISCONSIN INC ↗
- Who funds GATHERING OF SOUTHEAST WI 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 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
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Read Foundation Inc f/k/a The Merrill Foundation Inc?
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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.
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