California · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC
FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $95,000 to it, the largest being VALLEY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ($75,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $131k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $95k
- Net assets
- $358k
What Friends of Merced County Fair Inc does
Mission
To make improvements to the merced county fairgrounds, owned by the state of california. Improvements are capitalized until finished at which point they are turned over to the state of california.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Soliciation of dues & contributions for improvements to merced county's state of california's fairgrounds. Outreach to the public to educate them of the need for improvements to the fairgrounds and preserve the agricultural activities and traditions of merced county and to solicit contributions towards this effort. Hosting a booth at the merced county fair to educate the public about the organization and the goals and progress of the organization. Local business entities sponsor and provide refreshments for help in obtaining contributions and memberships in our organization. The board of directors allocated funds to local agriculatural groups that utilize the fairground property and volunteer services to the fair grounds.
The board of directors oversaw the expenditures of funds for the improvements to the fair grounds. This years improvements totaled $33,775 and included barn repairs, contractor services for potential bathroom to be added
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $1.3M to $101k (−92%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 0% · 2018 12% · 2019 0% · 2020 1% · 2022 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (18% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 21% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC's grant income comes from California funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $20k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 10,453 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,453 recreation & sports nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC?
- FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $95,000 to it, the largest being VALLEY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ($75,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $95,000 in grants to FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC?
- VALLEY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL is the largest funder on record, with $75,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF MERCED COUNTY FAIR INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 2 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing