The Merlin Foundation
The Merlin Foundation is a private foundation based in Boulder, Colorado. In 2024, it reported 28 grants totaling $5,110,000, including support for conservation, wildlife, outdoor-access, and other charitable organizations. Its 2025 filing, the latest on this page, reports 27 grants totaling $3.9 million.
The Merlin Foundation at a glance
In short: The Merlin Foundation gave $3.9M across 27 grants in 2025 (avg $144K), top state District of Columbia. 26% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $3,876,000
- -24.1% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 27
- -3.6% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $143,556
- -21.3% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $50,000
- Total assets
- $8,864,134
- -28.1% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 26% first-time grantees (7 of 27, 2025)
- Primary geography
- District of Columbia (45% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated November 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to The Merlin Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests.
- Contact
Mailing address: PO Box 18750, Boulder, CO 80308
Phone: (303) 440-8075
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who The Merlin Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was World Wildlife Fund ($1.1M). Together the top 10 received $3.3M.
Grant Size Distribution
120 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 51 grants of 120 (43%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2024 grant dollars were reported as 48% to recipients in DC, 22% in California, 10% in an unspecified state, 4% in Colorado, and 4% in Virginia. Listed recipients also included organizations in Connecticut and New York.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 27 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is The Merlin Foundation open to new grantees?
26%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 7 of 27 grantees (26%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $169K; repeat grants $135K. How we count
Medians: $25K first-time, $50K repeat.
- 70% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving fell 50% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 782% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $3.4M (2020) to $7.8M (2022). In 2025 it made 27 grants totaling $3.9M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| World Wildlife Fund Washington, DC | General Purpose | $1,100,000 |
| The Nature Conservancy Los Angeles, CA | General Purpose | $1,000,000 |
| Earthjustice League Defense Fund San Francisco, CA | General Purpose | $250,000 |
| The Wilderness Society Washington, DC | General Purpose | $250,000 |
| Heroes Project Washington, DC | General Purpose | $180,000 |
| Alaska Conservation Foundation Anchorage, AK | General Purpose | $100,000 |
| Aspen Center for Environmental Studies Aspen, CO | General Purpose | $100,000 |
| Oceana Washington, DC | General Purpose | $100,000 |
| Outdoor Afro Oakland, CA | General Purpose | $100,000 |
| Save the Redwoods League San Francisco, CA | General Purpose | $100,000 |
Ready to take the next step with The Merlin Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $8,864,134 | $412,920 | $3,877,907 | $3,876,000 | 27 | $3,876,000 | $411,013 | $495,482 |
| 2024 | $12,329,121 | $1,852,690 | $5,170,085 | $5,110,000 | 28 | $5,110,000 | $1,255,282 | $627,638 |
| 2023 | $15,646,516 | $7,472,586 | $3,581,174 | $3,530,000 | 17 | $3,530,000 | $3,897,638 | $652,219 |
| 2022 | $11,755,104 | $10,100,928 | $7,801,903 | $7,800,000 | 22 | $7,800,000 | $3,582,588 | $421,740 |
| 2021 | $9,456,079 | $3,021,318 | $6,211,192 | $6,127,000 | 26 | — | $534,358 | $526,308 |
| 2020 | $12,645,953 | $7,515,556 | $3,536,602 | $3,353,000 | 25 | — | $2,990,772 | $571,183 |
| 2019 | $8,666,999 | $11,245,717 | $3,823,352 | $3,815,000 | 16 | — | $7,568,312 | $50,762 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Merlin Foundation reported a distributable amount of $495K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2024 grants included organizations working in conservation and related areas. For example, the World Wildlife Fund describes its mission as conserving nature and reducing threats to life on Earth; the Wilderness Society says it protects wilderness and works to protect America’s wild public lands; and the Wildlife Conservation Society says it saves wildlife and wild places through science, conservation action, and education.
Other supported organizations describe work in national parks, environmental education, outdoor access, and river protection. These are the organizations’ stated missions, not a stated mission of the foundation.
Grantmaking
In 2024, the foundation reported 28 grants totaling $5,110,000. Grants ranged from $25,000 to $1,000,000, with a median of $87,500. The listed grant purposes were “general purpose.” Its 2025 filing, the latest on this page, reports 27 grants totaling $3.9 million.
Among the largest grants were $1,000,000 each to Earthjustice League Defense Fund and World Wildlife Fund; $800,000 to the Wilderness Society; $500,000 to the Rhodes Trust; and $250,000 to Oceana. Other listed grants included $200,000 to the Jane Goodall Institute, $175,000 to Heroes Project, and $130,000 to Yale University. Grants of $100,000 went to Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Wildlife Conservation Society, National Park Foundation, and Outdoor Afro.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2024 filing lists Thomas A. Barron as president and Currie C. Barron and Jana Lynn as directors.
The Merlin Foundation is led by Thomas A. Barron, President on every filing since 2019; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Thomas A. Barron
President
On filings since 2019
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Currie C. Barron
Director
On filings since 2019
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jana Lynn
Director
On filings since 2019
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about The Merlin Foundation
How much does The Merlin Foundation give each year?
The Merlin Foundation gave $3.9M across 27 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $5.1M across 28 grants.
What is The Merlin Foundation's typical grant size?
The Merlin Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $50,000, and its average grant was $143,556, across 27 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Merlin Foundation that year got $169K on average.
Where does The Merlin Foundation give grants?
The Merlin Foundation's top state is District of Columbia, with 45% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. The next largest states were California (38%) and Colorado (5%). The most frequent recipient cities were Washington, DC (6 grants), San Francisco, CA (2 grants), Aspen, CO (2 grants) and New York, NY (2 grants).
Does The Merlin Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 100% of The Merlin Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (27 of 27) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are The Merlin Foundation's largest grantees?
The Merlin Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include World Wildlife Fund ($1,100,000), The Nature Conservancy ($1,000,000) and Earthjustice League Defense Fund ($250,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 61% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The Merlin Foundation?
The Merlin Foundation reported $8.9M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $3.9M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $495K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does The Merlin Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2024 grants included organizations working in conservation and related areas. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from The Merlin Foundation?
The foundation makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is The Merlin Foundation's EIN?
The Merlin Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 84-1232001. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does The Merlin Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated November 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(3)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS February 26, 2020)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS August 31, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). The Merlin Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-merlin-foundation-morg_a11ab387b1864b6bb81a9f9d5308193e
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_841232001_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{The Merlin Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-merlin-foundation-morg_a11ab387b1864b6bb81a9f9d5308193e},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-05. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from The Merlin Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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