Esther and Harold Mertz Foundation
Sioux Falls, SD · EIN 13-7231616. Reported 45 grants totalling $67.6M to 18 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Esther and Harold Mertz Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $15,000 and $250,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $52.1M. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tunnels to Towers | Staten Island, NY | $53.5M | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Pines of Sarasota Foundation | Sarasota, FL | $8,500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pines Foundation | Sarasota, FL | $2,000,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Freedom Alliance | Dulles, VA | $1,450,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hope for New York | New York, NY | $1,450,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Back on My Feet | Philadelphia, PA | $100,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| America's Vetdogs | Smithtown, NY | $90,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Inc | Smithtown, NY | $90,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Helen Keller Services for the Blind | Brooklyn, NY | $80,600 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Restore Nyc | New York, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation | Sioux Falls, SD | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Banquet | Sioux Falls, SD | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Florida Southwestern State College Foundation | Fort Myers, FL | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| You Can Thrieve | New York, NY | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| First Responders Children's Foundation | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Spark Youth Nyc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Make a Wish South Dakota & Montana | Sioux Falls, SD | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Back on My Feet | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
13 of 18 (72%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 67%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Tunnels to Towers
TO FURTHER THE DONEE'S EXEMPT PURPOSE IN ACCORDANCE WITH DONEE'S MISSION STATEMENT - Pines of Sarasota Foundation
TO FURTHER THE DONEE'S PURPOSE IN ACCORDANCE WITH DONEE'S MISSION STATEMENT. - Hope for New York
TO SERVE NEW YORK'S MOST MARGINALIZED RESIDENTS INCLUDING AT RISK YOUTH AND THE HOMELESS - Freedom Alliance
TO ADVANCE THE AMERICAN HERITAGE OF FREEDOM BY HONORING MILITARY SERVICE - Restore Nyc
TO END SEX TRAFFICKING IN NEW YORK - Helen Keller Services for the Blind
TO ASSIST DEAF-BLIND YOUTHS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 35 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | $10.6M | $40,000 |
| 2022 | 11 | $1,115,600 | $25,000 |
| 2023 | 13 | $2,040,000 | $25,000 |
| 2024 | 9 | $53.8M | $15,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 82% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
Find more foundations like Esther and Harold Mertz Foundation
We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.
No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.
Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Esther and Harold Mertz Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 212 S Main Ave Suite 133, Sioux Falls, SD, 57104. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 13-7231616 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.