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Kids Forward Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Kids Forward Inc

We inspire action and promote access to opportunity for every kid, every family, and every community in wisconsin.a wisconsin where every child thrives, notably children and families of color and those furthest from opportunity.

$76k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Employment$178kEducation$175kCommunity Improvement$86kHuman Services$40kFood & Nutrition$25kHealth$18kHousing & Shelter$6k
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 4 grants below total $66,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $76,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $10,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $60k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WORKER JUSTICE WISCONSIN$20,000
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM$20,000
MILWAUKEE AREA SERVICE & HOSPITALITY WORKERS HIRING HALL INC$20,000
GARDNER LEARNING CENTER LLC$6,000
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 (FY21–22, $40k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 63% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%YWCA OF ROCK COUNTY: $15k → 10%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $25k → 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.
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.

50%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$261k · 5 repeat orgs$266k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
6

Total granted

$261k
$240k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+121%
+128%

Still filing today

80%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EmploymentHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureFood & NutritionEnvironmentOther
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

  • CF
    CENTER FOR COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP
    3× · 2020–2023 · $86k · revenue +121%
  • WJ
    WORKER JUSTICE WISCONSIN
    2× · 2023–2024 · $45k · revenue +2%
  • EW
    EMBOLDEN WI INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $18k · revenue +132%

Funded once

  • WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $160k · revenue +153%
  • VOCES DE LA FRONTERA INC
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +12%
  • RW
    ROOTED WI INC
    one grant, 2022 · $15k · revenue -19%
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 Rural Womens Initiative Inc

We work to develop self-sustaining women's circles.

Health
2
Working for Wisconsin Inc

To promote social welfare including but not limited to informing the public and policymakers on the importance of wisconsin's construction work to the state's economy, the vitality of its communities, and the lives of its citizens.

Employment
3
Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin

See schedule o.to build power together to create the change need for everyone in the communities to make ends meet, live with dignity, and have a voice in shaping the decisions that impaction.

Public Benefit
4
Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund Inc

Citizen action of wisconsin education fund is an issue-focusedgrassroots organization committed to achieving social, racial,economic and environmental justice and works on developing a moreinformed, engaged and empowered public.

Public Benefit
5
Wisconsin Horse Alliance
—
6
Wisconsin Center for Nursing Inc

The mission of wisconsin center for nursing, inc. is to assure an adequate, well-prepared and diverse nurse workforce for the people of wisconsin. the work of the wisconsin center for nursing continues to be focused in five core nursing…

Arts & Culture
7
Groundwork Milwaukee Inc

Bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social…

Environment
8
Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools Inc

Wisconsin alliance for excellent schools, inc. is a diverse statewide coalition that is committed to ensuring high quality public education in wisconsin.

Education
9
Our Wisconsin Revolution Inc

To promote the common good and general welfare of the people of wisconsin.

Civil Rights
10
350 Wisconsin Action Inc

350 Wisconsin Action mobilizes concerned climate voters to push for bold climate action from government and elected officials. We keep the climate crisis at the center of the political conversation, and push for progressive policies that…

Environment
11
Wisconsin United Coalition of Mutual Assistance Association Inc

Empower and advance our member organizations by providing capacity building, funding, and advocacy services.

Human Services
12
Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Educators Inc

The corporation is organized exclusively for educational purposes, to improve and advance agricultural education efforts in the state of wisconsin at the secondary and post-secondary levels. programs and activities aim to provide…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Thriving Wisconsin Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Central Rivers Farmshed Inc. 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

10 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. 10 of the 13 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
7/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC: $159,500 · OtherWISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INCMASHWORKERS: $70,000 · OtherMASHWORKERSUniversity of Wisconsin Madison: $20,000 · OtherUniversity of Wisconsin Madison+1 more: $6,000 · OtherWORKER JUSTICE WISCONSIN: $45,000 · EmploymentWORKER JUSTICE WIS…THRIVING WISCONSIN INC: $42,831 · EmploymentTHRIVING WISCONSIN…CENTER FOR COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP: $85,610 · Community ImprovementCENTER FOR COMMUNI…VOCES DE LA FRONTERA INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ROCK COUNTY INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesEMBOLDEN WI INC: $17,800 · HealthROOTED WI INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentWISCONSIN HEAD START ASSOCIATION: $15,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTRAL RIVERS FARMSHED INC: $10,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$255,500Employment$87,831Community Improvement$85,610Human Services$40,000Health$17,800Environment$15,000Arts & Culture$15,000Food & Nutrition$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC: $159,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCENTER FOR COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP: $85,610 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetWORKER JUSTICE WISCONSIN: $45,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetTHRIVING WISCONSIN INC: $42,831 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVOCES DE LA FRONTERA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetEMBOLDEN WI INC: $17,800 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetROOTED WI INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ROCK COUNTY INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWISCONSIN HEAD START ASSOCIATION: $15,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetTHE CENTRAL RIVERS FARMSHED INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.4% 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.

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.

The Evjue Foundation …The Roots and Wings F…Madison Community Fou…Otto Bremer TrustFidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Evjue Foundation IncWI15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Evjue Foundation Inc · The Roots and Wings Foundation Inc · Madison Community Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Kids Forward Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kids Forward Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–24
    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.

    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 13 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Kids Forward’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home