California · Private foundation
The Paul & Elisabeth 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.
- $2.1M
- Granted FY2021
- 8
- Grants FY2021
- 8
- Organizations funded FY2021
- 0%
- First-time grantees FY2021
Read this first · the figures below need context
71% of The Paul & Elisabeth 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 4 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $2M. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2021
- $80,000
- Largest grant, FY2021
- $1,550,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 8 to 12
- FY2017 to FY2021
- States reached, FY2021
- 1
- Total assets, FY2021
- $41M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2021, 0% of the organizations The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 0% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2021, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 8 | $2.1M | 0% |
| FY2020 | 12 | $2.0M | 33% |
| FY2019 | 10 | $2.0M | 20% |
| FY2018 | 11 | $1.9M | 45% |
| FY2017 | 11 | $1.9M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Merage Institute | $1,655,000 | 4 | 20% |
| University of California Irvine Foundation | $1,111,400 | 3 | 1% |
| Simbelle Productions | $800,000 | 2 | 91% |
| C4L Kids Foundations Inc | $400,000 | 5 | 80% |
| The Key Worldwide Foundation | $400,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Sage Hill School | $350,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Segerstrom Center for the Arts | $335,888 | 5 | 0% |
| Pacific Symphony | $294,200 | 6 | 0% |
| Orange County Museum of Art | $251,000 | 2 | 1% |
| El Sol Academy Foundation | $205,000 | 6 | 11% |
Show all 18 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Merage Institute | $1,655,000 | 4 | 20% |
| University of California Irvine Foundation | $1,111,400 | 3 | 1% |
| Simbelle Productions | $800,000 | 2 | 91% |
| C4L Kids Foundations Inc | $400,000 | 5 | 80% |
| The Key Worldwide Foundation | $400,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Sage Hill School | $350,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Segerstrom Center for the Arts | $335,888 | 5 | 0% |
| Pacific Symphony | $294,200 | 6 | 0% |
| Orange County Museum of Art | $251,000 | 2 | 1% |
| El Sol Academy Foundation | $205,000 | 6 | 11% |
| Jewish Community Center of Orange County | $145,250 | 6 | 0% |
| Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County Inc | $100,000 | 1 | 0% |
| St Margarets Episcopal School | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Larry and Helen Hoag Foundation | $50,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Orange County Music and Dance Inc | $50,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Choc Foundation | $50,000 | 1 | 0% |
| University Synagogue | $45,000 | 5 | n/a |
| Festival Of Arts Of Laguna Beach | $10,000 | 2 | 0% |
Plus 8 recipients with no EIN on record ($5.2M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 15 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
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: Orange County Community Foundation · Rpm Foundation · Tarsadia Foundation · Samueli Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
Compare The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Paul & Elisabeth 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.
About The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation
- How much does The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation give?
- The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation reported 8 grants totaling $2,102,375 in its FY2021 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 12 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2021.
- What does The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Education (43%), Philanthropy (27%), Arts & Culture (11%).
- Who are The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: The Merage Institute ($1.7M), University of California Irvine Foundation ($1.1M), Simbelle Productions ($800k).
- Does The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2021, 0% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation 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 The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Orange County Community Foundation, Rpm Foundation, Tarsadia Foundation.
- Where is The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation based?
- The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation is based in CA.
Play a game based on Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family’s filings →