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· Private foundation

The Macdonald Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$690k
Granted FY2025still arriving
45
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$68k
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$1.4MHealth$1.1MPhilanthropy$612kYouth Development$601kReligion$363kArts & Culture$361kHuman Services$267kRecreation & Sports$250kOther$0
02FY2025 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $404k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $225k
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN$67,750
ST PIUS X ST MATTHIAS$57,500
ASPIRUS HEALTH FOUNDATION$50,000
MARSHFILED CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION$50,000
WAUSAU & MARATHON COUNTY PARKS RECREATION & FORESTRY DEPARTMENT$40,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WAUSAU$30,000
THE NEIGHBOR'S PLACE$28,500
THE WOMEN'S COMMUNITY$27,500
MONK BOTANICAL GARDENS$25,000
BREAKTHROUGH T1D$25,000
BRIDGE STREET MISSION$25,000
GREATER WAUSAU PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP$25,000
PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION$25,000
NEWMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS$25,000
ROGERS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH FOUNDATION$20,000
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, $72k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 89% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%American Red Cross: $10k → 14%Ethiopian Community Development Council: $5k → 7%Blessings in a Backpack: $2k → 15%American Red Cross: $10k → 14%Ethiopian Community Development Council: $3k → 7%Blessings in a Backpack: $2k → 15%American Red Cross: $10k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%American Red Cross: $10k → 14%CHATTERBOX CHARITIES: $3k → 11%Chatterbox Charities: $2k → 11%Chatterbox Charities: $2k → 11%Chatterbox Charities: $2k → 11%Chatterbox Charities: $2k → 11%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

WA
ID
MN
IL
WI
NY
OR
IN
OH
CA
UT
NE
KY
VA
MD
KS
TN
DC
GA
TX
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 14% of The Macdonald Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 66% of the giving stays in WI; by stated purpose, 59%.

The Macdonald Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 79 repeat orgs$507k to everyone else

79 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2025, 49 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

79
29

Total granted

$4.7M
$374k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+26%

Still filing today

53%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $133k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther
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

  • MC
    MARSHFIELD CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $287k · revenue +219%
  • AH
    ASPIRUS HEALTH FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $212k · revenue +13%
  • BT
    BREAKTHROUGH T1D
    9× · 2017–2025 · $193k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • CO
    City of Wausau - Athletic Park
    one grant, 2020 · $119k
  • MC
    Marshfield Clinic Health Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $75k
  • BN
    Basilica Nat'l Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation
    one grant, 2017 · $50k
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 Association of Health Plans Inc

Promote a positive state legislative and regulatory climate for wisconsin's community health plans. the association communicates with regulatory agencies to promote issue positions representing community health plans.

—
2
Wisconsin Medical Society Inc

To improve the health of the people of wisconsin by supporting and strengthening physicians' ability to practice high quality patient care in a changing environment.

—
3
Wisconsin Bankers Association

We actively advocate, educate and support our members to help them positively impact the wisconsin communities they serve.

—
4
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.

—
5
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
6
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

—
7
Southern Lakes Credit Union

We will stirve to make a significant difference in improving the quality of life of our members and the communities we serve by providing affordable access to credit and financial services.

—
8
Wisconsin Technology Council Inc

To lead wisconsin in development and retention of science and tech-based businesses and to provide policy guidance to lawmakers, the governor of wisconsin, state agencies, and other institutions.

Community Improvement
9
Reedsburg Area Medical Center

Reedsburg area medical center, always there, going beyond the expected to provide compassionate, quality, and efficient health care.

Health
10
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…

—
11
Sauk Prairie Healthcare Inc

Extraordinary healthcare from the heart - one person at a time.vision: we will set the standard for community-based healthcare that improves the health and quality of life of the people we serve.

Health
12
Covantage Credit Union

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 opportunity for its members to improve their economic…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Aspirus Health Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership L Partnership Ltd. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

59 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. 59 of the 123 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)
58/59
Grantees still filing
38/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST PIUS X ST MATTHIAS: $465,000 · OtherST PIUS X ST MATTHIASBoys & Girls Club Wausau: $187,500 · OtherBoys & Girls Club WausauTHE WOMEN'S COMMUNITY INC: $157,500 · OtherNEWMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: $155,000 · OtherNEIGHBORS PLACE INC THE: $153,500 · OtherBig Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin Inc: $120,000 · OtherCity of Wausau - Athletic Park: $119,000 · Other+89 more: $1,795,175 · Other+89 moreMARSHFIELD CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $287,479 · HealthMARSHFIELD CLIN…ASPIRUS HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $212,466 · HealthASPIRUS HEALTH …BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $192,500 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1…MARSHFIELD CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · HealthMARSHFIELD CLIN…ROGERS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · Health+3 more: $2,775 · HealthROLLING HILLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $548,800 · EducationROLLING HILLS…LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $85,000 · EducationLEWIS & CLARK…WISCONSIN AUTOMOTIVE AND TRUCK EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INC: $37,000 · EducationWISCONSIN AUT…+3 more: $22,500 · EducationCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN INC: $600,594 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FO…K-TECH CHARITIES INC: $48,000 · PhilanthropyK-TECH CHARI…+4 more: $18,000 · PhilanthropyPERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $156,500 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S IMAGINARIUM INC: $120,000 · Arts & CultureOREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION INC: $27,640 · Arts & CultureBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE ROGUE VALLEY: $95,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS OF THE NORTHWESTERN GREAT LAKES INC: $14,500 · Youth Development+1 more: $3,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMUNITY PARTNERS CAMPUS INC: $100,000 · Public Benefit
Other$3,152,675Health$785,220Education$693,300Philanthropy$666,594Arts & Culture$304,140Youth Development$112,500Public Benefit$100,000

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 budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN INC: $600,594 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetROLLING HILLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $548,800 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetMARSHFIELD CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $287,479 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetASPIRUS HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $212,466 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $192,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOMEN'S COMMUNITY INC: $157,500 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetPERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $156,500 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetNEIGHBORS PLACE INC THE: $153,500 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S IMAGINARIUM INC: $120,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin Inc: $120,000 over 6y, 5.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS CAMPUS INC: $100,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE ROGUE VALLEY: $95,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $85,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREEN COUNTY INC: $60,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetK-TECH CHARITIES INC: $48,000 over 9y, 9.9% of budgetKeep Area Teens Safe Inc: $42,125 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetROGERS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetASHLAND EMERGENCY FOOD BANK: $37,000 over 8y, 2.2% of budgetWAUSAU YOUTH BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL INC: $37,000 over 6y, 7.8% of budgetWISCONSIN AUTOMOTIVE AND TRUCK EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INC: $37,000 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY CENTER OF HOPE: $34,500 over 7y, 6.7% of budgetCALIFORNIA INDIAN MANPOWER CONSORTIUM INC: $32,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK: $28,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetOREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION INC: $27,640 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WISCONSIN INC: $24,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWOODSON YMCA INC: $22,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBOYSCOUTS OF AMERICA 627 SAMOSET COUNCIL: $19,850 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF THE NORTHWESTERN GREAT LAKES INC: $14,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY NORTHWOODS INC: $12,500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetDREAM FLIGHT USA FOUNDATION INC: $12,000 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetCHATTERBOX CHARITIES INC: $11,000 over 5y, 9.7% of budgetCOVANTAGE CARES FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $9,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN OREGON LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $9,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY DEV COUNCIL INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWAUSAU PILOT AND REVIEW CORPORATION: $6,500 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetFORREST GOETSCH CHARITIES INC: $6,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetOPPORTUNITIES FOR HOUSING RESOURCES AND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROGUE VALLEY FARM TO SCHOOL: $4,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR TRANSPLANTS INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEVEREST FASTPITCH INC: $3,250 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMARATHON COUNTY 4-H LEADERS FEDERATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS WISCONSIN INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $2,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMOSINEE YOUTH BASEBALL INC: $2,250 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetIDAHO FOODBANK WAREHOUSE: $2,000 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.

  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN INC ↗
  • Who funds ROLLING HILLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MARSHFIELD CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM INC ↗
  • Who funds ASPIRUS HEALTH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D ↗
  • Who funds THE WOMEN'S COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORS PLACE INC THE ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S IMAGINARIUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin Inc ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY PARTNERS CAMPUS INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE ROGUE VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREEN COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds MARSHFIELD CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds K-TECH CHARITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Keep Area Teens Safe Inc ↗
  • Who funds ROGERS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ASHLAND EMERGENCY FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds WAUSAU YOUTH BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL INC ↗
  • Who funds WISCONSIN AUTOMOTIVE AND TRUCK EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INC ↗

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.

Ba & Esther Greenheck FoundationWI53.3× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation · Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin Inc · Incrediblebank Foundation Inc · Judd S Alexander Foundation · Church Mutual Insurance Company Foundation Inc · Dudley Foundation Inc · Dwight and Linda Davis Foundation · Abbybank Foundation Inc · George Kress Foundation Inc · Lewitzke Foundation Inc · Bell Family Charitable Foundation I · Green Bay Packers 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 The Macdonald Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Macdonald Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Rogue Valley Farm to School: 17% of income from government
  • Lewis & Clark College: 2% of income from government
  • Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
15report 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 The Macdonald Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Macdonald Foundation 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 123 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

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