Skip to content
The Louise Merage Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Louise Merage 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.

$239k
Granted FY2021
10
Grants FY2021
2
States reached
$111k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

84% of The Louise Merage Family Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Orange County Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 3 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year The Louise Merage Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $239k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

13
’17
14
’18
14
’19
12
’20
9
’21
3
’22
2
’23
3
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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 2024.

Arts & Culture$543kInternational$490kPhilanthropy$393kHealth$152kEducation$69kYouth Development$36kReligion$20kCivil Rights$10kOther$0
02FY2021 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k6 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $201k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$4.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PACIFIC SYMPHONY$111,401
AMERICAN ISRAEL EDUCATION FOUNDATION$90,000
CEDARS-SINAI$15,000
HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$10,000
THE MEND PROJECT$5,000
SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS$4,500
LAGUNA GREENBELT INC$1,000
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM$1,000
LAGUNA BEACH POLICE FOUNDATION$500
LAGUNA CANYON FOUNDATION$250
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 (FY24–24, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%M3ND PROJECT: $5k → 10%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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 16 repeat orgs$104k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +80% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2021, 9 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
13

Total granted

$1.2M
$97k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+80%
+20%

Still filing today

81%
54%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentOther
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

  • PS
    Pacific Symphony
    8× · 2017–2024 · $349k · revenue +87%
  • SC
    Segerstrom Center for the Arts
    7× · 2017–2024 · $138k · revenue +57%
  • CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
    5× · 2018–2022 · $58k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • TA
    THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2018 · $19k · revenue +20%
  • AH
    ADVANCING HEALTH AFTER HYSTERECTOMY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $10k
  • CL
    COLORADO LEAGUE OF CHARTER SCHOOLSgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +41%
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
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Committed to exceptional healthcare quality for all and actively engaged with our community, einstein drives scientific discovery and educates compassionate leaders in health and science.

Education
2
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
3
Irvine Hebrew Day School

Ihds utilizes a dual general and judaic studies curriculum. the judaic studies curriculum emphasizes the fundamentals of hebrew reading, writing and speaking, jewish history, holidays, jewish values, torah, the jewish life cycle, the land…

—
4
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
5
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
6
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
7
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
8
Jewish Federation Council of Greater La

Based on jewish values, the jewish federation of greater los angeles convenes and leads the community and leverages its resources to assure the continuity of the jewish people, support a secure state of israel, care for jews in need here…

Philanthropy
9
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
10
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
11
American Law Institute

The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…

Crime & Legal
12
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Orange County Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Laguna Beach Police Foundation. 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

29 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. 29 of the 36 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/29
Grantees still filing
22/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Pacific Symphony: $349,201 · Arts & CulturePacific SymphonySegerstrom Center for the Arts: $138,423 · Arts & CultureSegerstrom Center for the ArtsRedline: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: $18,758 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $8,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN ISRAEL EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $450,000 · InternationalAMERICAN ISRAEL EDUCATION FOUN…+2 more: $20,000 · InternationalORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $373,000 · PhilanthropyORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY F…YAMPA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MEND PROJECT: $25,000 · OtherTHE MEND …FRIENDS OF ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCE: $20,000 · OtherFRIENDS O…GIRLS INCORPORATED OF ORANGE COUNTY: $20,000 · OtherGIRLS INC…ADVANCING HEALTH AFTER HYSTERECTOMY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherADVANCING…UC IRVINE GIFT ADMINISTRATION: $10,000 · OtherUC IRVINE…COLORADO CHARTER SCHOOL INSTITUTE: $9,000 · OtherCOLORADO …EMERALD MOUNTAIN SCHOOL: $5,000 · OtherADVANCING HEALTH AFTER HYSTERECTOMY: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $10,000 · OtherANTI-DEFA…M3nd Project: $5,000 · OtherGLENNWOOD HOUSING FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Other+6 more: $8,950 · Other+6 moreCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $57,750 · HealthHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthMOUNTAIN VILLAGE MONTESSORI CHARTER SCHOOL: $20,200 · EducationTILLY'S LIFE CENTER: $16,000 · EducationCOLORADO LEAGUE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS: $10,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationAMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · EducationMOISHE HOUSE: $20,000 · Religion
Arts & Culture$539,382International$470,000Philanthropy$393,000Other$137,950Health$107,750Education$61,200Religion$20,000

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 budgetAMERICAN ISRAEL EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $450,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $373,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPacific Symphony: $349,201 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $138,423 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $57,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRedline: $25,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetMOUNTAIN VILLAGE MONTESSORI CHARTER SCHOOL: $20,200 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetYAMPA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMOISHE HOUSE: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF ORANGE COUNTY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: $18,758 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTILLY'S LIFE CENTER: $16,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetJEWISH NATIONAL FUND (KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL) INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO LEAGUE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAdi Israel Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $8,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEMERALD MOUNTAIN SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGLENNWOOD HOUSING FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetM3nd Project: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBEYOND BLINDNESS: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN YOUTH SYMPHONY INC: $1,700 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY: $1,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLAGUNA GREENBELT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLAGUNA CANYON FOUNDATION: $250 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Orange County Communi…The Devto Support Fou…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Orange County Community FoundationCA18.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · The Devto Support Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation 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 The Louise Merage Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Louise Merage Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Louise Merage Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Louise Merage Family Foundation 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.

    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 36 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Louise Merage 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