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The Steven L Merrill Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Steven L Merrill Family Foundation

Its FY2017 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$15M
Granted FY2017
17
Grants FY2017
2
States reached
$14M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

94% of The Steven L Merrill Family Foundation’s FY2017 grant dollars went to Marin Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2017 names 13 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

01What it funds
01FY2017 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k12 grants · $36k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $22k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+2 grants · $15M
$3,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$14,429,741
ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS$750,000
UCSF FOUNDATION$50,000
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART$12,000
SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY$10,000
TIPPING POINT COMMUNITY$5,000
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS$5,000
THE OXBOW SCHOOL$5,000
LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE$3,500
ICAA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER$3,000
GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY$2,500
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES$2,500
THE NOGUCHI MUSEUM$2,500
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA$2,500
COFAM$2,500
02The need
02

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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–17) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 5% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $4k → 8%MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $14.4M → 8%THE OXBOW SCHOOL: $5k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: $3k → 10%ICAA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER: $3k → 10%THE NOGUCHI MUSEUM: $3k → 13%DIA ART FOUNDATION: $1k → 17%ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $750k → 10%CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $3k → 10%CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: $1k → 17%CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $5k → 10%COFAM: $3k → 10%TIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $5k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $12k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY: $10k → 10%GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $3k → 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 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
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
2
Oakland Museum of California

The museum's mission is to inspire all californians to create a more vibrant future for themselves and their communities. through collections, exhibitions, education programs, and public dialogue, we inspire people of all ages and…

Arts & Culture
3
San Jose Museum of Art Association

Nurture empathy and connection by engaging communities with socially relevant contemporary art

Arts & Culture
4
San Diego Museum of Art

To inspire, educate and cultivate curiosity through great works of art.

Arts & Culture
5
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
6
Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco

The asian art museum celebrates, preserves, and promotes asian and asian american art and cultures for local and global audiences. we provide a dynamic forum for exchanging ideas, inviting collaboration, and fueling imagination to deepen…

Arts & Culture
7
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
8
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
9
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
10
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
11
Fisher Art Foundation
Philanthropy
12
Monterey Museum of Art

The monterey museum of art cultivates curiosity in the visual arts and engages community with the diversity of california art - past, present, and future.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Marin Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is League to Save Lake Tahoe. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

14 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. 14 of the 17 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $14,429,741 · PhilanthropyMARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+1 more: $5,000 · PhilanthropyASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $750,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Education+2 more: $10,000 · EducationSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $12,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTHE ISAMU NOGUCHI FOUNDATION AND GARDEN MUSEUM: $2,500 · Arts & CultureDIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureSan Francisco Film Society: $10,000 · OtherICAA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER: $3,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: $2,500 · OtherCOFAM: $2,500 · OtherLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $3,500 · ReligionGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $2,500 · EnvironmentTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $1,000 · Civil Rights
Philanthropy$14,434,741Education$810,000Arts & Culture$18,000Other$18,000Religion$3,500Environment$2,500Civil Rights$1,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $14,429,741 over 1y, 11% of budgetASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $750,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $12,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSan Francisco Film Society: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ISAMU NOGUCHI FOUNDATION AND GARDEN MUSEUM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $1,000 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.

The San Francisco Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Marin Community Found…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
The San Francisco FoundationCA15.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund · Marin Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Steven L Merrill Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Steven L Merrill 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Steven L Merrill Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Steven L Merrill 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 17 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Steven L Merrill 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