Public Charity

MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC

MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC is a Public Charity headquartered in Chicago, IL. Financial data from the 2025 filing: $13.8M revenue, $9.8M expenses, $46.9M total assets. 65 publicly reported grants to this organization, totaling roughly $4.1M, appear in IRS filings.

EIN: 363028768 Chicago, IL Latest filing: 2025
Total Revenue$13.8M
Total Expenses$9.8M
Total Assets$46.9M
Grant Records65
Funding Total$4.1M
Filing Years2021–2025

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.

Sample Grants Received

2024
CULTURE & ARTS
$610,000
2024
For grant recipient's exempt purposes
$200,670
2024
PROVIDE MUSIC LESSONS TO HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS AT VARIOUS SCHOOLS
$70,471
2024
ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES
$39,750

Showing up to 5 of 65 total records — full history available with membership.

Officers & Directors

Trustee Abiman Rajadurai
Vice President for Finance & Administration Amy Johnson
Trustee Binta Brown
Trustee Carol Clavadetscher
Trustee Cathy Wloch
President and Executive Director Charles Grode

Officer compensation and complete director data available with membership.

Top Grant Purposes

CULTURE & ARTS
$1,146,490 6 grants
For grant recipient's exempt purposes
$794,740 9 grants
ENVIRONMENT, ANIMALS
$441,584 1 grant
ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES
$350,391 8 grants
FOR RECIPIENT'S EXEMPT PURPOSE
$266,500 3 grants

Financial Trends

Year Revenue Expenses Assets
2025 $13.8M $9.8M $46.9M
2024 $16.0M $9.2M $43.0M
2023 $11.7M $8.4M $36.0M
2022 $6.6M $8.1M $32.4M
2021 $10.2M $7.1M $34.3M

Between 2021 and 2025, reported annual revenue grew from $10.2M to $13.8M (+36%), with total assets most recently reported at $46.9M.

Interactive year-over-year charts and full filing details available with membership.

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