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California · Public charity

United Way of Merced County

We mobilize the caring power of our community to advance health stability and opportunity for all.

$675k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
6
Itemized grants FY2025
3
Organizations funded FY2023
100%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2025
$120k
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2025
$19,852
Largest grant, FY2025
$30,000
Organizations funded a year
3 to 17
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2025
1
Total assets, FY2025
$5.8M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 100% of the organizations United Way of Merced County funded were first-time grantees, receiving 100% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $23k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’23
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthCommunity ImprovementEducationYouth DevelopmentOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving6$120k100%
FY20233$23k100%
FY202117$128k88%
FY202010$62k50%
FY20196$15k0%
FY201813$60k23%
FY201712$63kn/a
100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$97kCommunity Improvement$70kFood & Nutrition$57kHealth$40kEmployment$36kHuman Services$32kCrime & Legal$31kYouth Development$24kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Los Panchos Mexican Seafood Inc$30,0001n/a
Prospect Theater Project$23,45016%
Merced Union High School District$21,5004n/a
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Merced County$20,87631%
The Salvation Army$20,5803n/a
Watch Resources Inc$19,85211%
Lightbox Theatre Company$18,7501n/a
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center$18,44630%
South Modesto Businesses Unite$16,0001n/a
The Merced County Food Bank$15,84430%
Show all 42 grantees
All grantees of United Way of Merced County by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Los Panchos Mexican Seafood Inc$30,0001n/a
Prospect Theater Project$23,45016%
Merced Union High School District$21,5004n/a
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Merced County$20,87631%
The Salvation Army$20,5803n/a
Watch Resources Inc$19,85211%
Lightbox Theatre Company$18,7501n/a
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center$18,44630%
South Modesto Businesses Unite$16,0001n/a
The Merced County Food Bank$15,84430%
Habitat for Humanity Westside Merced County Inc$14,26047%
Board of Regents of the University of California (Merced)$13,5004n/a
Merced Center for the Performing Arts$12,19613%
Harvest Time$10,0001n/a
Growing Merced Foundation$10,0001n/a
Boys & Girls Club of Merced County$10,00014%
Merced County Arts Council Inc$10,00013%
Merced Theatre Foundation$10,00011%
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fresno$10,00010%
Dos Palos Youth Crisis & Outreach$9,8242n/a
Sacred Rok$9,00034%
Nami Merced County$8,500121%
Merced Symphony Association$8,0002n/a
Kids Discovery Station$7,50013%
Merced Lao Family Community Inc$7,50011%
Merced County Historical Society$7,50014%
Right Edge Fun & Fitness$7,5002n/a
Lifeline Community Development Corporation of Merced County$7,50014%
Pentecostal Church of God Inc$7,5002n/a
Center of Vision Enhancement$7,50013%
Merced Youth Soccer Association$7,50014%
Merced Area Crime Stoppers Inc$7,0002n/a
Cerebral Palsy Assn$6,0361n/a
Restore Merced$5,00011%
Merced Youth Connect$5,0001n/a
Sharing Love Ministries Romans 129$5,0001n/a
Love Inc of Greater Merced$5,00012%
The Marcom Institute$5,000111%
Merced Co Hispanic Chamber of Commerce$5,00015%
Haro Bros Boxing Foundation$5,0001n/a
Alliance for Community Transformations$4,00010%
Merced Rescue Mission$3,00010%

Plus 2 recipients with no EIN on record ($15k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget United Way of Merced County supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetProspect Theater Project: $23,450 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetCourt Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Merced County: $20,876 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetWatch Resources Inc: $19,852 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetDeaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center: $18,446 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetThe Merced County Food Bank: $15,844 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHabitat for Humanity Westside Merced County Inc: $14,260 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetMerced Center for the Performing Arts: $12,196 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetBoys & Girls Club of Merced County: $10,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetMerced County Arts Council Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetMerced Theatre Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCatholic Charities of the Diocese of Fresno: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSacred Rok: $9,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetNami Merced County: $8,500 over 1y, 21% of budgetKids Discovery Station: $7,500 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetMerced Lao Family Community Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMerced County Historical Society: $7,500 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetLifeline Community Development Corporation of Merced County: $7,500 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetCenter of Vision Enhancement: $7,500 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetMerced Youth Soccer Association: $7,500 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetRestore Merced: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetLove Inc of Greater Merced: $5,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetThe Marcom Institute: $5,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetMerced Co Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: $5,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetAlliance for Community Transformations: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMerced Rescue Mission: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 25.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Community Foundation of Merced CountyCA20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Merced County · Stewart Family Foundation · Ccf Community Initiatives Fund · Dignity Health · Hattie Givens Testamentary Trust · The Hatedust Project Inc · Elks Park Scholarship & Charity Fund · Sutter Valley Hospitals · The California Endowment · Impactassetsinc · Network for Good · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

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.

Compare United Way of Merced County with peer funders

About United Way of Merced County

How much does United Way of Merced County give?
United Way of Merced County reported 6 itemized grants totaling $120,248, out of $675,039 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 3 and 17 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does United Way of Merced County fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (20%), Community Improvement (15%), Food & Nutrition (12%).
Who are United Way of Merced County's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Los Panchos Mexican Seafood Inc ($30k), Prospect Theater Project ($23k), Merced Union High School District ($22k).
Does United Way of Merced County fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 100% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as United Way of Merced County?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Community Foundation of Merced County, Stewart Family Foundation, Ccf Community Initiatives Fund.
Where is United Way of Merced County based?
United Way of Merced County is based in CA.

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 45 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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