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Sandy Oaks Foundation Douglas W Caves at a glance

· Private foundation

Sandy Oaks Foundation Douglas W Caves

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2k
Granted FY2024still arriving
5
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$650
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$755kEducation$390kArts & Culture$285kEnvironment$100kReligion$44kInternational$30kCivil Rights$10kPublic Benefit$8kOther$0
02FY2024 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$258
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM$650
FOOD 4 KIDS BACKPACK$525
LITERACY NETWORK$258
UW FOUNDATION$250
KMS COYOTE BAND BOOSTERS$100
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 (FY21–21, $128) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%THE ROAD HOME: $128 → 10%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

MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
CA
VA
AZ
AR
TN
DC
OK
GA
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.

51%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$473k · 18 repeat orgs$461k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +38% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 16 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
53

Total granted

$473k
$460k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+38%

Still filing today

67%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $883 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentEducationArts & CultureInternationalHousing & ShelterEmploymentOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2024 · $323k · revenue +39%
  • CF
    Cloud Forest School Foundation
    3× · 2017–2023 · $35k · revenue +248%
  • WD
    WISCONSIN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN INC
    2× · 2018–2019 · $5k · revenue +281%

Funded once

  • American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Incgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $220k · revenue +38%
  • WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $62k · revenue +66%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY
    one grant, 2017 · $48k
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 Waterfowl Association Inc

The purpose of the association shall be to restore and conserve wisconsin's waterfowl and wetland resources; to educate state waterfowlers during their progression from natural resource consumer to steward; and to promote governmental…

Environment
2
Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association Inc

To protect, conserve, and enhance wisconsin's natural resources by advocating for and supporting county conservation efforts, for current and future generations.

Environment
3
Landmark Conservancy Inc

Landmark conservancy is a nationally accredited, nonprofit conservation organization serving 20 counties across northwest wisconsin. their mission is to conserve wisconsin's natural legacy for everyone...forever.

Environment
4
Midwest Environmental Advocates Inc

Midwest environmental advocates is a nonprofit law center that combines the power of law with the resolve of communities facing environmental injustice to secure and protect the rights of all people to healthy water, land, and air.

Crime & Legal
5
Natural Resource Development Association Inc

The natural resource development association supports policies that lead to proper, necessary, and conscientious resource development and conservation. by engaging community leaders, laborers, manufacturers, and job creators in the…

Environment
6
Midwest Dairy Association

Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.

—
7
Door County Land Trust Inc

The door county land trust is a local, non-governmental non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve door county's exceptional lands and waters forever.

Environment
8
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
9
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts and Letters

To cultivate civil discourse, increase understanding, and create common ground by connecting wisconsin people and ideas.

Arts & Culture
10
Mississippi Valley Conservancy Inc

The mission of mississippi valley conservancy is to conserve native habitats and farmlands in the driftless area for the health and well-being of current and future generations.

Environment
11
Wisconsin's Green Fire Incorporated

Advance science-informed analysis and policy solutions that address wisconsin's greatest conservation challenges.

Environment
12
Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust Inc

To preserve lands that protect our waters, landscapes and natural habitats in northeast wisconsin. ne wisconsin is critical to the health of the largest freshwater estuaries in the world-lake michigan's crucial wetlands.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Natural Resources Foundation of; the most unlike its peers is Kms Coyote Band Boosters 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

38 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 38 of the 78 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
28/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $700,000 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUNDUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $322,750 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSI…+4 more: $2,749 · EducationAmerican Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc: $220,000 · Arts & CultureAmerican Players Th…WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $62,000 · Arts & CultureWISCONSIN PUBLIC RA…+2 more: $1,515 · Arts & CultureNATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION: $61,580 · OtherNATURAL RESOURCE…UNITED WAY: $48,000 · OtherUNITED WAYFIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $41,650 · OtherFIRST UNITED MET…OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · OtherOKLAHOMA STATE U…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $15,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSE…+49 more: $55,870 · Other+49 moreCloud Forest School Foundation: $35,122 · InternationalTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $28,000 · International+2 more: $333 · InternationalDRIFTLESS AREA LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $12,000 · EnvironmentGROUNDSWELL CONSERVANCY INC: $5,500 · EnvironmentSOUTHERN WISCONSIN BIRD ALLIANCE INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN LAKES ALLIANCE INC: $1,050 · Environment+5 more: $1,350 · EnvironmentFLORIDA RIGHTS RESTORATION COALITION: $10,000 · Civil Rights
Community Improvement$700,000Education$325,499Arts & Culture$283,515Other$247,100International$63,455Environment$24,900Civil Rights$10,000

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 budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $700,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $322,750 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc: $220,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetWISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $62,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCloud Forest School Foundation: $35,122 over 3y, 17% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $28,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDRIFTLESS AREA LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $12,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetPORCHLIGHT INC: $5,100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN WISCONSIN BIRD ALLIANCE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWISCONSIN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetOPERATION FRESH START INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION OF: $1,530 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $1,225 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCLEAN LAKES ALLIANCE INC: $1,050 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY SHARES OF WISCONSIN INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWAVE EDUCATIONAL FUND INC: $750 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED FUND OF IOWA COUNTY INC: $500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE RIVER ALLIANCE OF WISCONSIN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTs INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $390 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGATHERING WATERS INC: $380 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMADISON MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC: $290 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDFUND INTERNATIONAL USA: $282 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY NETWORK INC: $258 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND CANYON CONSERVANCY: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetYELLOWSTONE FOREVER: $170 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY INC: $128 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKMS Coyote Band Boosters Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOR LOVE OF WATER: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMADISON READING PROJECT INC: $75 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY OF LAKES WALDORF SCHOOL: $55 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHURCH WORLD SERVICE INC: $51 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Alliant Energy Founda…Madison Gas and Elect…Madison Community Fou…The Evjue Foundation …Lau & Bea Christensen…Herbert H Kohl Charit…Endres Manufacturing …Trustage Foundation I…United Way of Dane Co…Green Bay Packers Fou…Schlecht Family Found…The Roots and Wings F…
Alliant Energy Foundation IncWI39.7× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Madison Gas and Electric Foundation Inc · Madison Community Foundation · The Evjue Foundation Inc · Lau & Bea Christensen Charitable Foundat · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Endres Manufacturing Foundation Inc · Trustage Foundation Inc · United Way of Dane County Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Schlecht Family Foundation Inc · The Roots and Wings 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 Sandy Oaks Foundation Douglas W Caves funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sandy Oaks Foundation Douglas W Caves. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    12report 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.

    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 78 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Sandy Oaks Foundation Douglas W Caves’ 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