Merck Company Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The charitable arm of a multinational pharmaceutical company, the Merck Company Foundation makes a handful of grants every year, usually large ones, to projects reforming policy and delivery systems related to chronic and infectious disease prevention and treatment in the developing world. The foundation’s United States grantmaking funds causes related to cancer, hepatitis C, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. It also promotes health literacy and works to improve patients’ understanding of their health care options.
IP TAKE: The Merck Company Foundation supports healthcare initiatives in the U.S. and abroad with the goal of increasing quality and access to care for underserved communities. Recent areas of specific interest include training programs for healthcare professionals, healthcare infrastructure expansion and programs that improve the health literacy of patients from low-income communities. This funder tends to support organizations with proven success and the potential to make large-scale improvements in healthcare for underserved communities.
The foundation prioritizes organizations that work regionally and those that collaborate with large healthcare systems and agencies are prioritized. Geographic areas of interest include California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
Merck posts its grantmaking guidelines on its website and accepts applications through its online portal at any time. The review and decision-making process usually takes about eight weeks, and grantees are required to submit progress and final reports to the foundation reflecting on how funding was used.
This foundation is somewhat approachable and responsive, so don’t hesitate to contact them.
PROFILE: Established in 1957, the New Jersey-based Merck Company Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Merck & Co., one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The foundation makes strategic investments to improve global health and its underlying human and physical infrastructure. The foundation seeks “to find sustainable solutions to key global health challenges and to strengthen communities where [its] employees live and work.” It invests in projects that support health and community well-being, both in the United States and abroad. Its philanthropy “provides financial and product donations, and coordinates employee volunteerism and disaster-relief assistance.”
Grants for Global Health and Diseases
Merck’s grantmaking primarily seeks to support programs with a proven record of “advancing the quality of health services delivery,” “reducing health care disparities,” “fostering innovation in the delivery of health care,” and “empowering patients as active participants in managing their own health.” Merck supports the treatment and prevention of diseases in underserved communities where there are significant health challenges that have relevance to the company, including initiatives for the treatment and care of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Merck also makes grants for the development of policies and social structures that improve regional healthcare systems. One area of specific interest involves training programs for health professionals and paraprofessionals in geographic areas where people do not receive basic care because of lack of personnel. Since 2020, Merck has made several COVID-19 response grants focusing on “contributing […] scientific expertise to the development of antiviral and vaccine approaches, and supporting healthcare providers and [local] communities.” All global health grantmaking prioritizes initiatives in developing nations.
Grants for Public Health
Merck makes grants to improve access to health in underserved areas and establish “relationships with communities to understand how socioeconomic inequity, bias and structural racism have impacted their ability to manage their health and co-creating local solutions to address these issues.” Past public health grantees include the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Programs, Minneapolis’s Healthpartners Center for Memory and Aging and the American Cancer Society.
Grants for Women and Girls
Merck’s support for women and girls is primarily channeled through its Merck for Mothers initiative, which is “a long-term effort with global health partners to create a world where no woman has to die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.” It was created in 2011 with an initial $500 million 10-year commitment and was continued in 2021 with an additional $150 million pledge “to further advance the initiative’s mission of helping create a world where no woman has to die giving life.”
Important Grant Details
The Merck Company Foundation makes between $20 and $30 million in grants a year, with an average grant size of about $50,000. This funder stresses the importance of partnerships among governmental and civil society actors and tends to fund projects that get regional stakeholders to collaborate on improving healthcare for many people. Grantseekers may review its Annual Reports for more information on its grantmaking habits.
Note that in the United States the foundation prioritizes organizations based in California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
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