Skip to content

· Private foundation

Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$91k
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$303kHealth$293kFood & Nutrition$170kPhilanthropy$102kHuman Services$52kArts & Culture$31kCrime & Legal$24kYouth Development$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $76k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$3,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$269k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION$15,152
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS - DAH$7,500
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN GREEN BAY - DAH$7,500
MAKING A MARK FOUNDATION INC$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA - LEGACY$5,000
NORTHEAST WI TECHNICAL COLLEGE - LEGACY$5,000
UW MILWAUKEE - LEGACY$5,000
MILWAUKEE AREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE - LEGACY$5,000
THE ARC FOND DU LAC$3,000
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$3,000
UW MADISON - DAH$3,000
EXPLORE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SUN PRAIRIE$3,000
WELLPOINT CARE NETWORK$3,000
WISCONSIBS INC$3,000
CENTER FOR DEAF AND BLIND PERSONS$3,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $37k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 46% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%HOMETOWN HEROES INC - CAMP HOMETOWN HEROES: $3k → 6%WISCONSIBS INC: $3k → 7%DOGSINVESTS: $2k → 8%SHAWANO AREA MATTHEW 25 INC: $2k → 11%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $3k → 15%CHOSEN INC: $3k → 5%SOAR FOX CITIES: $3k → 7%SGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $2k → 14%FOSTERING COMMUNITY INCORPORATED: $5k → 5%GREATER GREENBAY YMCA: $3k → 10%PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS OF WI CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%THE MILWAUKEE WOMEN'S CENTER INC: $1k → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $2k → 17%HEARTLOVE PLACE INC: $2k → 17%SOUTH MILWAUKEE HUMAN CONCERNS: $3k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
IA
IN
OH
PA
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
NC
OK
AL
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

57%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$583k · 17 repeat orgs$441k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
126

Total granted

$583k
$365k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+20%

Still filing today

41%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $76k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentHealthArts & CultureHousing & ShelterOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • HUNGER TASK FORCE INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $137k · revenue +70%
  • WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE INC
    3× · 2021–2024 · $13k · revenue +5%
  • MU
    Marquette University
    2× · 2020–2024 · $10k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation Incgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +94%
  • WS
    WAUKESHA SOUTH BAND BOOSTERS
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • MD
    MILWAUKEE DANCING GRANNIES INC
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Wisconsin Youth Company Inc

Wisconsin youth company's mission is to engage youth in opportunities to encourage them to be their best selves.

—
2
Milwaukee Excellence Inc

The mission of the organization is to provide a high quality education for all students with choices after graduation that will provide financial stability, inspire personal freedom to builda legacy.

—
3
Goodwill Industries of Metropolitan Chicago Inc

Goodwill industries of metropolitan chicago, inc. ("goodwill-chicago") is a nonstock, not-for-profit illinois corporation, whose sole member is goodwill industries of southeastern wisconsin, inc. ("goodwill"), a wisconsin nonstock,…

Human Services
4
Goodwill Industries of South Central Wisconsin Inc

Goodwill of south central wisconsin's mission is to help people in our community to live, work and thrive through housing, employment and supportive services. see schedule o for continuationsupported employment and job skills training are…

Employment
5
Employ Milwaukee Inc

The mission of employ milwaukee, inc. is to build a strong workforce development system by planning, coordinating, collaborating and monitoring workforce initiatives with businesses, partners and community stakeholders at the local,…

Employment
6
Westconsin Credit Union

The organization is a cooperative, nonprofit corporation, incorporated under wisconsin state law to encourage thrift among its members, create a source of credit at a fair and reasonable cost, and provide an opportunity for its members to…

—
7
Milwaukee Community Service Corps Inc

The milwaukee community service corps (mcsc) is a non-profit vocational training organization providing employment, education and life skills to training youth adults and unemployed and underemployed of milwaukee, wisconsin.

Employment
8
Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin Inc

Eliminating barriers to employment by providing pathways for those who are underserved, underrepresented and disadvantaged who have a goal of building skills that lead to sustained employment and improved financial stability.

Human Services
9
Wisconsin Policy Forum Inc

We conduct impartial public policy research and analysis to drive informed debate and effective decision-making in the state of wisconsin.

Public Benefit
10
Wisconsin Progress Inc

Wisconsin progress recruits, trains, elects, and develops progressive candidates and leaders at the local and state legislative levels.

Civil Rights
11
Goodwill Manufacturing Inc

Goodwill manufacturing, inc. ("goodwill manufacturing") is a nonstock, not-for-profit wisconsin corporation, whose sole member is goodwill industries of southeastern wisconsin, inc. ("goodwill"), a wisconsin nonstock, not-for-profit…

Employment
12
Pathways of Wisconsin Inc

Pathways of wisconsin provides supported employment opportunities and empowerment through quality, person-centered programming for individuals of all abilities.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin Inc; the most unlike its peers is Creekside Middle School Pto. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

98 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 98 of the 169 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
21
Early backer (in before they grew)
97/98
Grantees still filing
68/98
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VINCE LOMBARDI FOUNDATION: $199,500 · OtherVINCE LOMBARDI FOUNDATIONHUNGER TASK FORCE INC: $137,065 · OtherHUNGER TASK FORCE INCA&A ALL THE WAY FOUNDATION - PLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND: $75,000 · OtherA&A ALL THE WAY FOUNDATION - PLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUNDVince Lombardi Cancer Foundation Inc: $50,000 · OtherVince Lombardi Cancer Foundation IncUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN -MADISON: $32,500 · Other+93 more: $359,169 · Other+93 moreMarquette University: $10,000 · EducationMILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING: $10,000 · EducationCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY INC: $7,500 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITY: $7,500 · EducationCARROLL UNIVERSITY INC: $5,000 · EducationST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $2,500 · EducationLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $2,500 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $2,500 · EducationCedarville University: $2,500 · EducationGrand Canyon University: $2,500 · EducationUniversity of Dayton: $2,500 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $2,500 · Education+3 more: $4,101 · EducationFostering Community Incorporated: $5,000 · Human ServicesEbenezer Stone Ministries Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $3,000 · Human ServicesWISCONSIBS INC: $3,000 · Human ServicesGREATER GREEN BAY YMCA INC: $3,000 · Human ServicesSOUTH MILWAUKEE HUMAN CONCERNS INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesCHOSEN INC OF WISCONSIN: $2,500 · Human ServicesPROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS OF WISCONSIN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesHOMETOWN HEROES INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesSOAR FOX CITIES INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesSHAWANO AREA MATTHEW 25 INC: $2,450 · Human ServicesSTREET ANGELS INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesSECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesSGA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES NFP: $2,000 · Human ServicesHEARTLOVE PLACE INC: $1,500 · Human ServicesDOGSINVESTS INC: $1,500 · Human Services+2 more: $1,103 · Human ServicesTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $15,152 · PhilanthropyWAUKESHA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyHOPE GOSPEL MISSION INC: $3,000 · PhilanthropyVOLUNTEER CENTER INC: $2,500 · PhilanthropyOAK CREEK LIONS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · PhilanthropyGOOD FRIEND INC: $5,000 · HealthVISION FORWARD ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $4,704 · HealthHOPE STREET MINISTRY INC: $3,000 · HealthTHE ARC FOND DU LAC INC: $3,000 · HealthBROWN COUNTY ORAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INC: $2,500 · HealthWAUKESHA COUNTY COMMUNITY DENTAL CLINIC INC: $2,000 · HealthFox Valley Memory Project Inc: $1,500 · HealthLAKE AREA FREE CLINIC INC: $1,400 · HealthMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF WISCONSIN INC: $1,100 · HealthPENFIELD CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $900 · HealthWISCONSIN ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOCIATI: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH CENTER INC: $3,600 · Youth DevelopmentNeighborhood House Community Center Inc: $3,500 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER MILWAUKEE INC: $3,269 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE WAUSAU AREA INC: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentThe Kids Ranch Inc: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentWHEELS FOR WINNERS INC: $1,000 · Youth Development+6 more: $869 · Youth DevelopmentTHE STARFISH FOUNDATION: $3,500 · Arts & CultureEXPLORE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SUN PRAIRIE INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureGPS EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureARTISTS WORKING IN EDUCATION INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureBell Tower Memorial Inc: $2,000 · Arts & CultureARTS AT LARGE INC: $1,500 · Arts & CultureCEDARBURG CULTURAL CENTER INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER INC: $1,000 · Arts & CulturePHILIPPINE CULTURAL AND CIVIC CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $200 · Arts & Culture
Other$853,234Education$61,601Human Services$44,053Philanthropy$26,652Health$25,104Youth Development$20,738Arts & Culture$18,200

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHUNGER TASK FORCE INC: $137,065 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $15,152 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMarquette University: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARROLL UNIVERSITY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOOD FRIEND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetWISCONSIN ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOCIATI: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFostering Community Incorporated: $5,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetWAUKESHA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEbenezer Stone Ministries Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetVISION FORWARD ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $4,704 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWISCONSIN VETERANS NETWORK INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGOD TOUCH MILWAUKEE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH CENTER INC: $3,600 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE STARFISH FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetNeighborhood House Community Center Inc: $3,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER MILWAUKEE INC: $3,269 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE GOSPEL MISSION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE STREET MINISTRY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWISCONSIBS INC: $3,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE ARC FOND DU LAC INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER GREEN BAY YMCA INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEXPLORE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SUN PRAIRIE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTH MILWAUKEE HUMAN CONCERNS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN COUNTY ORAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE WAUSAU AREA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD KINGDOM WORKERS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHOSEN INC OF WISCONSIN: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetGPS EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCedarville University: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY ST PAUL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Dayton: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS OF WISCONSIN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRIVERVIEW GARDENS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetVOLUNTEER CENTER INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE YOUTH THEATRE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFONDY FOOD PANTRY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOMETOWN HEROES INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetARTISTS WORKING IN EDUCATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-SUPERIOR ALUMNI ASSOC: $2,500 over 1y, 6.4% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds HUNGER TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds Marquette University ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING ↗
  • Who funds CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds CARROLL UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds GOOD FRIEND INC ↗
  • Who funds WISCONSIN ADAPTIVE SPORTS ASSOCIATI ↗
  • Who funds Fostering Community Incorporated ↗
  • Who funds WAUKESHA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Green Bay Packers FoundationWI91.4× affinity51 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Green Bay Packers Foundation · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Otto Bremer Trust · Youth Foundation Inc · Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation · The Ros Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Joseph and Vera Zilber Family Foundation Inc · Jerome J and Dorothy H Holz Family Foundation C/O Donald Tushaus · Harri Hoffmann Family Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
37report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 169 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Cousins Subs Make It Better’s filings →

More from the funding graph