Illinois · Nonprofit
MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC
MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC (Illinois) receives grants from 144 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,424,392 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($5,300,000). 98 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 144
- Grants received
- $27M
- Net assets
- $46M
What Merit School of Music does
Mission
Merit School of Music is dedicated to helping young people transform their lives by removing barriers to high-quality music education, with the majority of students benefitting from need-based financial aid, scholarship support, or low-cost instrument rental. Merit enables motivated students, regardless of economic circumstance, to develop their talent and to use music as a springboard for achieving their full personal potential, with 100% of Merit graduates going on to college. The community music school's programming continuum consists of five major areas: Early Childhood, Instrumental & Vocal Music Program(Group classes), Private Lessons, Merit Music in Communities, and the Alice S. Pfaelzer Conservatory.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Merit Music in Communities (MMiC) program was founded in response to a request from Chicago Public Schools to create an in-school music education program. MMiC provides provides high-quality music education to students at dozens of schools throughout the city through group instruction in strings, band, choir, piano, guitar, early childhood, and general music. In addition to leading year-long courses, Merit faculty also participate in multi-week general music residencies where they collaborate with students and CPS teachers to creatively enhance reading, language, and critical thinking skills through music.
$2,172,831 spent$512,853 earned by the program28% of program spendingMerit School of Music has a robust private lesson program for jazz and classical students of all ages and levels of musical ability. Over 900 students take private lessons at Merit, working one-on-one with celebrated music faculty to explore individual talents and interests, develop skills and technique, and overcome challenges. Most all of students enrolled in private lessons at Merit receive financial aid.
$2,604,505 spentof which $360,098 as grants$1,793,751 earned by the program33% of program spendingMerit's Instrumental & Vocal Music program provides beginning and intermediate K-9 musicians with small group after-school programming for string, band, piano, guitar, and voice. As students move through the program's sequential curriculum by achieving set goals, the program becomes deeper and more rigorous, preparing students for entry into Merit's prestigious Alice S. Pfaelzer Conservatory.
$1,060,244 spentof which $290,312 as grants$428,164 earned by the program14% of program spendingMerit's Alice S. Pfaelzer Conservatory accepts approximately 300 students annually, by competitive audition. Each Saturday, students receive a full day of pre-collegiate classes including technique, music theory, chamber music, large ensembles, masterclasses, and more-all TUITION-FREE. 100 percent of Conservatory students graduate high school and many are accepted to the most prestigious university and conservatory programs, often achieving successful careers in music performance or education.
$1,015,506 spent$57,005 earned by the program13% of program spendingIn addition to Merit's programming continuum, the music school is also a lead partner for Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, a multi-organization collaborative effort with a mission to identify and develop gifted and motivated orchestral students from underrepresented backgrounds for acceptance into top-tier conservatory, college or university classical music programs in preparation for careers as professional musicians.
$734,921 spentof which $181,280 as grants9% of program spendingEarly Childhood, Summer, other music instruction programming, and student support. Early Childhood Programs offer weekly day-time music exploration classes for newborns to age 7. Merit's Instrumental and Ensemble camps offer a wide variety of worthwhile and fun summer musical experiences for intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced students. Merit's program administration and Student Support Services provide support for students and program pedagogy.
$247,539 spent$163,455 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,835,546.
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 2023 to 2024, from $36M to $43M (+19%).
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 1% · 2019 0% · 2020 0% · 2021 8% · 2022 14% · 2023 1% · 2024 0% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
50% of MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Charles Grode
President and Executive Director
Board chair
Julie Green Baumeister
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 43 funders to 69 funders, grant income rose $569k → $4.5M.
12 of 144 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $505k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Chicago Community Trust). These are real filings, and they are not money MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC raised.
From the IRS filings of MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 144 funders by total. 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
MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 20% · 2018 79% · 2019 65% · 2020 16% · 2021 14% · 2022 27% · 2023 34% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
How long its funders stay
50% of MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
63% of MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 states 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
MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
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 MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: 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 MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC?
- MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC (Illinois) receives grants from 144 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,424,392 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($5,300,000). 98 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC have?
- IRS filings report 144 organizations giving $27,424,392 in grants to MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC, 98 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Merit School of Music →
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 144 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing