Wisconsin · Public charity
The Sand County Foundation Inc
Sand county foundation's mission is to inspire and empower a growing number of land owners and managers to ethically care for the land to sustain water resources, build healthy soil, enhance wildlife habitat, and support outdoor recreation.
- $1.1M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 19
- Itemized grants FY2025
- 12
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 92%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Itemized, FY2025
- $788k
- The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
- Median grant, FY2025
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $333,630
- Organizations funded a year
- 5 to 23
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 9
- Total assets, FY2025
- $14M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 92% of the organizations The Sand County Foundation Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 3% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $163k went to new ones.
RenewedFirst-time
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
EnvironmentCommunity ImprovementRecreation & SportsOther
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.
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 19 | $788k | 84% |
| FY2024 | 12 | $5.8M | 92% |
| FY2023 | 13 | $1.1M | 92% |
| FY2022 | 23 | $763k | 96% |
| FY2021 | 9 | $86k | 100% |
| FY2020 | 6 | $60k | 100% |
| FY2019 | 5 | $50k | 100% |
| FY2018 | 5 | $50k | 100% |
100% classified
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Environment$7.6MAnimals$185kEducation$99kFood & Nutrition$82kCommunity Improvement$10k
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
WY
SD
IN
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
MD
NM
KS
NC
OK
TX
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Policy Innovation Center | $6,555,963 | 3 | 66% |
| American Farmland Trust | $333,630 | 1 | n/a |
| Alliance for the Great Lakes | $230,000 | 1 | 5% |
| River Network | $150,000 | 1 | 3% |
| Policylink | $110,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Dubuque Swcd | $101,340 | 1 | n/a |
| Adrc of Sauk County | $85,924 | 1 | n/a |
| University of Wisconsin Madison | $72,058 | 2 | n/a |
| Adrc of Green County | $66,932 | 1 | n/a |
| University of Minnesota | $63,258 | 1 | n/a |
Show all 90 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Policy Innovation Center | $6,555,963 | 3 | 66% |
| American Farmland Trust | $333,630 | 1 | n/a |
| Alliance for the Great Lakes | $230,000 | 1 | 5% |
| River Network | $150,000 | 1 | 3% |
| Policylink | $110,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Dubuque Swcd | $101,340 | 1 | n/a |
| Adrc of Sauk County | $85,924 | 1 | n/a |
| University of Wisconsin Madison | $72,058 | 2 | n/a |
| Adrc of Green County | $66,932 | 1 | n/a |
| University of Minnesota | $63,258 | 1 | n/a |
| Cdm Smith Inc | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Farmers Edge | $41,872 | 1 | n/a |
| National Audubon Society Inc | $31,769 | 2 | 0% |
| University of New Mexico | $26,900 | 1 | n/a |
| Level-Vu Acres LLC | $22,115 | 1 | n/a |
| Bartholomay Kattle Kompany LLC | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Stemper Hay & Grain | $17,732 | 2 | n/a |
| Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc | $16,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Gbjf Enterprises LLC | $14,924 | 1 | n/a |
| Pollack-Vu Dairy LLC | $14,110 | 1 | n/a |
| Moonshot Missions Inc | $13,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Mike and Julie Livingston Farm | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ute Creek Cattle Company Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Center for Neighborhood Technology | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Cope Grass Farms LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ketos Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Table Rock Farm Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Sunnyside Farms Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Dockter-Jensen Ranch Partnership LLP | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Hoeme Ranch & Cattle LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| 120 Water Audit Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Mm Terry Ranch Ltd | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wheel-View Farm | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Greenfield Farms | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| May Ranch | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wiltse Fam Farms | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Hutchison Brothers | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Beatty Canyon Ranch | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Yardley Cattle Company | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Viramontes Farms LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Garrett Ranch Company | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Texas A&M University Kingsville | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Regnerative Farmer Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| R&S Flinchbaugh LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Hidden Hollow Hideaway Cattle and Guest Ranch | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Park Farming Organics | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Mt-Glen Farm | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| BlueGreen Alliance Foundation | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Munns Flying M Ranch | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Blair Brothers LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| K & W Farms | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wehah Farm Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Kerwin Hill Farm LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Brinker Farms Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Tll Temple Foundation | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Little Village Environmental Justice Org | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Slate Ridge Dairy Farm Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| New Jersey Future Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Nolls' Dairy Farm LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Brickstead Dairy LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Tomandl Farms | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Brubaker Farms LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Britt Farms Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Half Circle Cross Ranch LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| John Bunker Sands Wetland Center Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Harvest Home Farms | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Twin Maples Farm | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Double C Cattle Co LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Smith Family Farms LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Dixon Water Foundation | $10,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Barney Creek Livestock LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Long Green Farms Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Pankey Ranch LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Bowles Farming Co | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Beretta Dairy | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Collins Ranch Co Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Jones Family Farms Fund | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Levalley Ranch II Ltd Rllp | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Rancho San Pedro Joint Venture | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Oetting Homestead Farms Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Myrin Ranch Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Texas Parks & Wildlife Department | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Sang Lee Farms Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Seven Rivers Soil Cooperative Inc | $8,881 | 1 | n/a |
| Driftless Area Land Conservancy Inc | $8,561 | 1 | 0% |
| Lake Effect Farms | $8,450 | 1 | n/a |
| Vernon County Department of Human Services | $7,623 | 1 | n/a |
| Res Great Lakes | $6,222 | 1 | n/a |
| Glacierland Resource Conservation & Development Councile Inc | $6,063 | 1 | 0% |
| Gehrke Family Farms LLC | $5,270 | 1 | n/a |
Where it is load-bearing
The Sand County Foundation Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 15 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 15.
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.
National Fish and Wildlife FoundationDC11.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →
Open a dossier: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · The Kresge Foundation · The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · 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.
About The Sand County Foundation Inc
- How much does The Sand County Foundation Inc give?
- The Sand County Foundation Inc reported 19 itemized grants totaling $788,156, out of $1,126,059 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 5 and 23 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does The Sand County Foundation Inc fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (95%), Animals (2%), Education (1%).
- Who are The Sand County Foundation Inc's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Environmental Policy Innovation Center ($6.6M), American Farmland Trust ($334k), Alliance for the Great Lakes ($230k).
- Does The Sand County Foundation Inc fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 92% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Sand County Foundation Inc?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
- Where is The Sand County Foundation Inc based?
- The Sand County Foundation Inc is based in WI.
Play a game based on Sand County’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