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The Isadore Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Isadore Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$3k
Granted FY2019
12
Grants FY2019
1
States reached
$1k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

92% of The Isadore Foundation’s FY2020 grant dollars went to American Endowment Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2020 names 11 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year The Isadore Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 7 organizations, $3k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

12
’17
7
’18
7
’19
11
’20

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.

Philanthropy$46kHuman Services$4kEducation$2kEnvironment$2kRecreation & Sports$2kArts & Culture$1kHealth$1kPublic Benefit$1kOther$0
02FY2019 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$150
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
RED CABOOSE CHILD CARE CENTER$1,000
GROUNDSWELL CONSERVANCY$200
COMMUNITY SHARES OF WISCONSIN INC$200
GATES OF HEAVEN PRESERVATION FUND$200
FOUNDATION FOR MADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS$200
MADISON VETERANS FOR PEACE$150
SIERRA CLUB$100
MADISON METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT$100
CLEAN WISCONSIN$100
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF DANE COUNTY$100
LUEKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY - WISCONSIN CHAPTER$100
DANE COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY$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 (FY17–20, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MAGGIE'S PLACE: $100 → 11%Goodman Community Center: $800 → 10%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $500 → 10%FREEDOM INC: $100 → 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

IL
WI
NY
MA
OH
PA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
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.

52%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8k · 13 repeat orgs$7k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +113% since the first grant, against +107% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2019, 5 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
14

Total granted

$8k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+113%
+107%

Still filing today

62%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
Arts & CultureHealthEnvironmentHuman ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • RC
    Red Caboose Child Care Center Inc
    2× · 2019–2020 · $2k · revenue +96%
  • IA
    IRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $1k · revenue +113%
  • GC
    GROUNDSWELL CONSERVANCY INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $1k · revenue +188%

Funded once

  • UO
    University of Wisconsin Athletics
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
  • RC
    RED CABOOSE CENTER
    one grant, 2018 · $1k
  • PE
    Progressive Education Fund
    one grant, 2017 · $400
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 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
2
Madison Community Foundation

Madison community foundation will engage greater madison in philanthropy to advance a more vibrant and equitable community.

Philanthropy
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
Renew Wisconsin Inc

Renew wisconsin leads and accelerates the transformation to wisconsin's renewable energy future through advocacy, education, and collaboration.

Environment
5
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.

—
6
Natural Resources Foundation of

To protect wisconsin's lands, waters, and wildlife by providing funding, leading partnerships, and connecting all people with nature.

—
7
Gathering Waters Inc

Gathering waters (wisconsin's alliance for land trusts) strengthens land trusts to protect wisconsin's special places and grow healthy, vibrant communities. the stronger the alliance between gathering waters' staff and board members, land…

Environment
8
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
9
Milwaukee Parks Foundation Inc

Engage our community in supporting milwaukee county parks to collectively steward a thriving park system.

Environment
10
Downtown Madison Inc

Make downtown madison an economically strong, equitable, inclusive, and vibrant place to live, work, and visit.

—
11
Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity

The wcmp will grow and nurture the mep's impact in the state of wisconsin by engaging and aligning the best possible resources to help small and medium-sized manufacturers reach their potential.

Education
12
Madison Professional Police Officers Association Inc

The madison professional police officers association represents law enforcement professionals who serve the city of madison, wisconsin, as either police officers, detectives, investigators, or sergeants.

—
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 Desert Mountain Band Boosters. 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

25 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. 25 of the 45 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)
25/25
Grantees still filing
23/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $45,279 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONRed Caboose Child Care Center Inc: $2,000 · OtherRed Caboose Child Ca…University of Wisconsin Athletics: $1,600 · OtherUniversity of Wiscon…RED CABOOSE CENTER: $1,000 · OtherRED CABOOSE CENTERLAKE VIEW SCHOOL PTA: $550 · OtherSOULS TO THE POLLS: $500 · OtherINTERNATIONAL DYSLEXIA FOUNDATION: $450 · OtherProgressive Education Fund: $400 · Other+24 more: $4,489 · Other+24 moreIRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $1,300 · Human ServicesFREEDOM INC: $100 · Human ServicesMAGGIE'S PLACE INC: $100 · Human ServicesGROUNDSWELL CONSERVANCY INC: $1,100 · EnvironmentORLEANS CONSERVATION TRUST: $100 · EnvironmentCLEAN WISCONSIN INC: $100 · EnvironmentCAPE COD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $250 · Arts & CultureSessions at McPike Park Inc: $200 · Arts & CultureLABORATORY FOR ICON AND IDIOM INC: $200 · Arts & CultureMADISON CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $125 · Arts & CultureDESERT MOUNTAIN BAND BOOSTERS: $100 · Arts & CultureMADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $600 · EducationDANE COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 · Animals
Philanthropy$45,279Other$10,989Human Services$1,500Environment$1,300Arts & Culture$875Education$600Animals$500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $45,279 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRed Caboose Child Care Center Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $1,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGROUNDSWELL CONSERVANCY INC: $1,100 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDANE COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPROGRESSIVE FOUNDATION INC: $300 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE PROGRESSIVE INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF DANE COUNTY INC: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY SHARES OF WISCONSIN INC: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE COD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF MADISON INC: $240 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWISCONSIN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN INC: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLABORATORY FOR ICON AND IDIOM INC: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMADISON CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAMI DANE COUNTY INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF WISCONSIN INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORLEANS CONSERVATION TRUST: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLEAN WISCONSIN INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAGGIE'S PLACE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREAP FOOD GROUP INC: $100 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.

Madison Community Fou…Madison Gas and Elect…Alliant Energy Founda…The Evjue Foundation …Herbert H Kohl Charit…The Roots and Wings F…Endres Manufacturing …United Way of Dane Co…Green Bay Packers Fou…Firerose Foundation I…Community Shares of W…Veridian Foundation I…
Madison Community FoundationWI32.1× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Madison Community Foundation · Madison Gas and Electric Foundation Inc · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · The Evjue Foundation Inc · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · The Roots and Wings Foundation Inc · Endres Manufacturing Foundation Inc · United Way of Dane County Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Firerose Foundation Inc · Community Shares of Wisconsin Inc · Veridian 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 The Isadore Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Isadore Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Orleans Conservation Trust: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 45 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Isadore’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