The Esther And Carl Merklein Foundation

Phillipsburg, KS
Tax-exempt since Sept. 2007
EIN: 35-2291944

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Type of Nonprofit

Designated as a 501(c)(3) Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn't provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Category: Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations / Private Independent Foundations (NTEE)

Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

Revenue

$50.9k (2024)

Expenses

$59.9k (2024)

Total Assets

$839k (2024)

Total Liabilities

$0 (2024)

Source: Form 990 tax filings from 2012 to 2024

Tax Filings by Year

Form 990 is an information return that most organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly with the IRS. Nonprofit Explorer has IRS digitized Form 990 data for filings processed in 2012 and later. If this organization filed an amended return, it may not be reflected below. Duplicate download links may indicate a resubmission or amendment to this organization's original return. Form 990 data is from the IRS.

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2024

Revenue

$50,941

Expenses

$59,948

Net Income

-$9,007

Net Assets

$838,926

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$15,303	30.0%
Dividends	$20,455	40.2%
Sales of Assets	$15,183	29.8%
Other Income	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$51,132	85.3%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,845	8.1%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$838,926
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$838,926

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$969	$0
Rance Ames (Secretary)	$969	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$969	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$969	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$969	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Nov. 4, 2024

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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XML

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2023

Revenue

$43,319

Expenses

$62,249

Net Income

-$18,930

Net Assets

$847,933

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$15,897	36.7%
Dividends	$19,321	44.6%
Sales of Assets	$8,101	18.7%
Other Income	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$52,985	85.1%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,805	7.7%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$847,933
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$847,933

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$961	$0
Rance Ames (Secretary)	$961	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$961	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$961	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$961	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Dec. 4, 2023

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2022

Revenue

$69,831

Expenses

$64,964

Net Income

$4,867

Net Assets

$866,863

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$12,243	17.5%
Dividends	$20,860	29.9%
Sales of Assets	$36,682	52.5%
Other Income	$46	0.1%

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$54,306	83.6%
Compensation of Officers*	$5,605	8.6%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$866,863
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$866,863

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,121	$0
Rance Ames (Secretary)	$1,121	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,121	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,121	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$1,121	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Jan. 5, 2023

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2021

Revenue

$76,830

Expenses

$63,361

Net Income

$13,469

Net Assets

$861,995

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$9,235	12.0%
Dividends	$22,621	29.4%
Sales of Assets	$44,952	58.5%
Other Income	$22	0.0%

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$52,157	82.3%
Compensation of Officers*	$5,220	8.2%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$861,996
Total Liabilities	$1
Net Assets	$861,995

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,044	$0
Rance Ames (Secretary)	$1,044	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,044	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,044	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$1,044	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Nov. 17, 2021

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2020

Revenue

$50,545

Expenses

$61,710

Net Income

-$11,165

Net Assets

$848,526

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$11,281	22.3%
Dividends	$22,237	44.0%
Sales of Assets	$15,829	31.3%
Other Income	$1,198	2.4%

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$50,927	82.5%
Compensation of Officers*	$5,345	8.7%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$848,527
Total Liabilities	$1
Net Assets	$848,526

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,069	$0
Rance Ames (Secretary)	$1,069	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,069	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,069	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$1,069	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Nov. 17, 2020

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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XML

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2019

Revenue

$62,094

Expenses

$65,095

Net Income

-$3,001

Net Assets

$859,691

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$15,724	25.3%
Dividends	$21,805	35.1%
Sales of Assets	$24,765	39.9%
Other Income	-$200

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$53,465	82.1%
Compensation of Officers*	$5,395	8.3%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$859,692
Total Liabilities	$1
Net Assets	$859,691

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,079	$0
Lowell Hahn (Secretary)	$1,079	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,079	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,079	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$1,079	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Nov. 5, 2019

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2018

Revenue

$66,110

Expenses

$59,986

Net Income

$6,124

Net Assets

$862,693

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$16,114	24.4%
Dividends	$19,850	30.0%
Sales of Assets	$30,283	45.8%
Other Income	-$137

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$49,990	83.3%
Compensation of Officers*	$5,300	8.8%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$862,693
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$862,693

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,060	$0
Lowell Hahn (Secretary)	$1,060	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,060	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,060	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$1,060	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Oct. 18, 2018

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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XML

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2017

Revenue

$63,561

Expenses

$63,900

Net Income

-$339

Net Assets

$856,569

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$16,473	25.9%
Dividends	$19,204	30.2%
Sales of Assets	$27,957	44.0%
Other Income	-$73

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$54,480	85.3%
Compensation of Officers*	$5,190	8.1%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$856,569
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$856,569

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,038	$0
Lowell Hahn (Secretary)	$1,038	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,038	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,038	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$1,038	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Dec. 1, 2017

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2016

Revenue

$34,680

Expenses

$59,070

Net Income

-$24,390

Net Assets

$856,908

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$19,705	56.8%
Dividends	$9,029	26.0%
Sales of Assets	$6,364	18.4%
Other Income	-$418

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$49,042	83.0%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,830	8.2%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$856,908
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$856,908

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$966	$0
Lowell Hahn (Secretary)	$966	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$966	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$966	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$966	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Oct. 17, 2016

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2015

Revenue

$54,082

Expenses

$59,656

Net Income

-$5,574

Net Assets

$881,298

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$15,226	28.2%
Dividends	$26,407	48.8%
Sales of Assets	$12,386	22.9%
Other Income	$63	0.1%

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$50,744	85.1%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,156	7.0%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$881,298
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$881,298

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$1,039	$0
Lowell Hahn (Secretary)	$1,039	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$1,039	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$1,039	$0
Robert L Bennight (Director)	$0	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Oct. 19, 2015

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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PDF (2 of 2)

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2014

Revenue

$37,119

Expenses

$62,797

Net Income

-$25,678

Net Assets

$886,872

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$16,039	43.2%
Dividends	$15,509	41.8%
Sales of Assets	$5,764	15.5%
Other Income	-$193

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$53,695	85.5%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,935	7.9%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$886,872
Total Liabilities	$0
Net Assets	$886,872

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Other
Brett Biggs (President)	$987	$0
Lowell Hahn (Secretary)	$987	$0
John George (Treasurer)	$987	$0
Paula Schilowsky (Asst Treasurer)	$987	$0
Shelly G Klingensmith (Director)	$987	$0

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990-PF

Filed on Oct. 17, 2014

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2013

Revenue

$37,954

Expenses

$57,049

Net Income

-$19,095

Net Assets

$912,549

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$15,124	39.8%
Dividends	$12,901	34.0%
Sales of Assets	$9,929	26.2%
Other Income	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$48,632	85.2%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,995	8.8%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$912,550
Total Liabilities	$1
Net Assets	$912,549

990-PF

Filed on Jan. 9, 2014

Primary tax return for a private foundation's activities, finances, and governance

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Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2012

Revenue

$13,364

Expenses

$57,882

Net Income

-$44,518

Net Assets

$931,644

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions Received	$0
Interest Revenue	$13,743	> 100%
Dividends	$14,529	> 100%
Sales of Assets	$0
Other Income	$102	0.8%

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Charitable Disbursements	$50,087	86.5%
Compensation of Officers*	$4,655	8.0%
* Officer compensation may be included in charitable disbursements, so Percent of Total Expenses may add up to greater than 100%.

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$931,645
Total Liabilities	$1
Net Assets	$931,644

Nonprofit Explorer includes summary data for nonprofit tax returns and full Form 990 documents, in both PDF and digital formats.

The summary data contains information processed by the IRS during the 2012-2019 calendar years; this generally consists of filings for the 2011-2018 fiscal years, but may include older records. This data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s.

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Updated January 26, 2026

The Esther And Carl Merklein Foundation

Organization summary

Type of Nonprofit

Summary charts: organization finances over time

Revenue $50.9k (2024)

Expenses $59.9k (2024)

Total Assets $839k (2024)

Total Liabilities $0 (2024)

Tax Filings by Year

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2024

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2023

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2022

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2021

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2020

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2019

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2018

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2017

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2016

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2015

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2014

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Compensation

Document Links

990-PF

Fiscal Year Ending Sept. 2013

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990-PF

Document Links

990-PF

Revenue

$50.9k (2024)

Expenses

$59.9k (2024)

Total Assets

$839k (2024)

Total Liabilities

$0 (2024)

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2024

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2023

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2022

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2021

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2020

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2019

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2018

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2017

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2016

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2015

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2014

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2013

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2012

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2011

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2010

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2009

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2008

Fiscal Year Ending Sept.
2007