Funders › Pennsylvania

Marlin Miller JR Family Foundation

Reading, PA · EIN 23-2591890. Reported 183 grants totalling $6,861,015 to 69 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$6,861,015granted, 2021-2024
69recipients, as named on its returns
71%of grantees funded again the next year
$38.1Massets, latest filing

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. Marlin Miller JR Family 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.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $15,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $820,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
21 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
83 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
13 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
25 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
11 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
10 grants
$100,000 and Up
20 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Dana Farber Cancer InstBrookline, MA$1,985,160442024
The UCLA FoundationLos Angeles, CA$1,200,000442024
The Alfred UniversityAlfred, NY$762,500442024
Dana Farber Jimmy FundBrookline, MA$670,840442024
Goggle Works Center for the ArtsReading, PA$400,000442024
Reading Hospital & Medical Center AuxiliaryReading, PA$210,000332023
Reading Public MuseumReading, PA$200,175222022
United Way of Berks CountyReading, PA$150,000332024
Nantucket Cottage HospitalNantucket, MA$130,000442024
Reading Area Community CollegeReading, PA$112,860112024
The Foundation for Reading Area Community CollegeReading, PA$109,080112022
Reading Symphony OrchestraReading, PA$105,000442024
Craft Emergency Relief Fund (cerf)Urbana, IL$95,000442024
Planned Parenthood of Ne PaTrexlertown, PA$85,000332024
Opportunity HouseReading, PA$55,000442024
Kutztown University Foundation IncKutztown, PA$50,000112024
Pennsylvania State University- Berks CampusReading, PA$50,000112022
The Highlands at WyomissingWyomissing, PA$50,000112024
Caron FoundationWernersville, PA$40,000442024
Egan Maritime FoundationNantucket, MA$40,000332024
Haystack Mountain School of CraftsDeer Isle, ME$40,000332024
American Craft CouncilNew York, NY$30,000332024
Berks Business Education CoalitionWyomissing, PA$30,000332024
Helping HarvestReading, PA$25,500222024
Hawk Mountain Council BSAReading, PA$20,500442024
Harvard Business SchoolBoston, MA$20,000442024
Our House NantucketNantucket, MA$16,000222024
Centro HispanoReading, PA$11,000112024
Berks Military History MuseumMohnton, PA$10,000112022
Maria Mitchell AssociationNantucket, MA$10,000442024
Reading Music FoundationReading, PA$10,000442024
Salvation ArmyReading, PA$10,000222023
Wcr Preservation SocietyWyomissing, PA$10,000112022
Nantucket Land CouncilNantucket, MA$9,000442024
Museum of Art & DesignNew York, NY$7,500332024
Nantucket Boys and Girls ClubNantucket, MA$7,500332024
Archie Bray FoundationHelena, MT$6,500222024
The Clay StudioPhiladelphia, PA$6,000332024
Ensemble Theater CompanySanta Barbara, CA$5,500222022
Pa Free Enterprise WeekErie, PA$5,500442024
Berks EncoreReading, PA$5,000332024
Spotlight PaHarrisburg, PA$5,000112024
Habitat for HumanityTemple, PA$4,000222024
Mass AudubanLincoln, MA$4,000112024
Nantucket Conservation FoundationNantucket, MA$4,000442024
Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading & Berks CountyReading, PA$4,000442024
Reading Public Library FoundationReading, PA$4,000442024
The Nantucket AntheneumNantucket, MA$4,000442024
Watershed CenterNewcastle, ME$4,000222024
Berks NatureReading, PA$3,000332024
Nantucket Historical AssociationNantucket, MA$3,000332024
Penland School of CraftsPenland, NC$3,000332024
Voice UpReading, PA$3,000332023
Berks Art CouncilReading, PA$2,000222024
Berks Community Health CenterReading, PA$2,000222024
Berks History CenterReading, PA$2,000222024
Clay on MainOley, PA$2,000442024
Nantucket Shellfish Association IncNantucket, MA$2,000442024
Yocom Institute for Arts EducationWyomissing, PA$2,000222022
Berks Youth ChorusReading, PA$1,500332024
WhyyPhiladelphia, PA$1,500332023
Center Park Historic DistrictReading, PA$1,000112021
Longhouse ReserveEast Hampton, NY$1,000112022
Nan DreamlandNantucket, MA$1,000112021
Friends of Chamber MusicReading, PA$750222024
Greenfields Fire CompanyReading, PA$500222024
South Mountain YMCAWernersville, PA$250112021
Friends Og Kitp UC RegentsSanta Barbara, PA$200112023
UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA$200112023

53 of 69 (77%) 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 71%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 107 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Arts & Culture
31 grants
Education
17 grants
Environment
11 grants
Medical Research
11 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
7 grants
Youth Development
6 grants
Human Services
5 grants
Science & Technology
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202142$1,629,500$2,000
202246$1,909,755$2,500
202343$1,505,740$2,500
202452$1,816,020$2,500

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

42% of its giving went to organizations in Massachusetts. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Massachusetts
$2.9M
Pennsylvania
$1.8M
California
$1.2M
New York
$801K
Illinois
$95K
Maine
$44K
Montana
$6K
North Carolina
$3K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc29 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund26 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program25 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust21 shared recipientsBerks County Community Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Massachusetts.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Foundations funding arts & culture in MassachusettsEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding arts & culture in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Marlin Miller JR Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 211 North Tulpehocken Rd, Reading, PA, 19601. 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 23-2591890 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.