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The Wisner Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Wisner Family Foundation

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.

$197k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$331kPhilanthropy$125kHuman Services$100kHousing & Shelter$55kFood & Nutrition$13kEnvironment$3kCommunity Improvement$2kArts & Culture$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $3k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $94k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$25,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$5.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREATER BUTTE COMMUNITY CO-ORDINATED CHILD CHILD C$100,000
SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC$31,680
FRIENDS OF THE WHITEHALL COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC$27,500
CHILDRENS HOUSE OF NORMAN INC$25,000
BUTTE SPIRIT CENTER$10,000
JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$2,000
GOLD JUNCTION PRESENTS$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 62% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GVR FOUNDATION: $1k → 15%SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $50k → 19%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 8%GREATER BUTTE COMMUNITY CO-ORDINATED CHILD CHILD C: $100k → 16%CHILDRENS HOUSE OF NORMAN INC: $25k → 13%SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $32k → 15%SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $50k → 19%BUTTE SPIRIT CENTER: $35k → 8%MONTANA TECH FOUNDATION: $50k → 16%CHILDRENS HOUSE OF NORMAN INC: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $10k → 15%SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $10k → 19%WHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT: $30k → 8%BUTTE SPIRIT CENTER: $10k → 16%CHILDRENS HOUSE OF NORMAN INC: $1k → 13%SANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $10k → 19%FRIENDS OF THE WHITEHALL COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC: $28k → 8%BUTTE SPIRIT CENTER: $10k → 16%BORDER COMMUNITY ALLIANCE INC: $1k → 19%WHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT: $22k → 8%BUTTE EMERGENCY FOOD BANK: $8k → 16%BORDER COMMUNITY ALLIANCE INC: $500 → 19%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%BUTTE EMERGENCY FOOD BANK: $4k → 16%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE WHITEHALL COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC: $2k → 8%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE WHITEHALL COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC: $2k → 8%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%WHITEHALL AREA FOOD PANTRY: $1k → 8%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%GOLD JUNCTION PRESENTS: $1k → 8%TOWN OF WHITEHALL: $500 → 8%JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $500 → 8%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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$460k · 8 repeat orgs$156k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 5 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

8
5

Total granted

$460k
$55k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+58%

Still filing today

75%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 49% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $101k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyArts & CultureHealthRecreation & 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.

Backed again, and grew

  • BS
    BUTTE SPIRIT CENTER
    3× · 2019–2024 · $55k · revenue +465%
  • CH
    Children's House of Norman Inc
    3× · 2022–2024 · $36k · revenue +16%
  • BE
    Butte Emergency Food Bank
    2× · 2020–2021 · $12k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • MT
    MONTANA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +58%
  • MT
    MONTANA TROUT UNLIMITEDgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $3k · revenue +196%
  • WA
    WHITEHALL AREA FOOD PANTRY
    one grant, 2020 · $1k
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
Scenic Montana Trails
—
2
Missoula Community Foundation

To enhance community vitality by inspiring community giving and strengthening nonprofits

Community Improvement
3
Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund

The montana conservation voters education fund educates, engages, and empowers all montanans to protect our clean air, clean water, public lands, and democracy.

Environment
4
Blackfoot Charter Community Learning Center

Public Education.

Education
5
Park County Environmental Council

PCEC works with our community to safeguard the land, water, wildlife, and people of Yellowstone's northern gateway through grassroots organizing and community advocacy.

Environment
6
Montana Healthcare Foundation
Philanthropy
7
Butte Environmental Council

Butte Environmental Council's Mission is to protect and defend the land, air, and water of Butte County and the surrounding region through action, advocacy, and education.

Environment
8
Montana Conservation Elders
Environment
9
Gallatin Valley Foundation for Economic Development Inc Dba Prospera Foundation

The foundation works to strengthen the economy of gallatin county, montana through local business development activities in an effort to attract, retain and grow jobs and businesses throughout gallatin county.

Community Improvement
10
Montana Center for the Arts

Montana center for the arts purpose is to nurture, promote and expand cultural engagement and opportunity in our region. through collaboration with the community at large, and in partnership with the area's diverse cultural and educational…

Arts & Culture
11
Butte Silver Bow Primary Health Care Clinic Inc

Southwest Montana Community Health Center is guided by its Mission to "Inspire Hope and Empower Wellness by Providing Access to Comprehensive Healthcare".

Health
12
Butte Falls Community School Partnership

Promoting community affiliation and civic responsiblilty for people of all ages.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Montana Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Santa Cruz Valley Opportunities in Education 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

12 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. 12 of the 16 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER BUTTE COMMUNITY COORDINATED CHILD CARE SERVICE: $100,000 · OtherGREATER BUTTE COMMUNITY COORDINATED CHILD…WHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT: $51,900 · OtherWHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTChildren's House of Norman Inc: $36,000 · OtherChildren's House of Norman IncFRIENDS OF THE WHITEHALL COMMUNITY LIBRARY INC: $31,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE WHITEHALL COMMUNITY LIBRAR…Butte Emergency Food Bank: $12,000 · Other+2 more: $1,500 · OtherSANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $161,680 · EducationSANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDU…MONTANA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationMONTANA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY FOUND…JEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $111,000 · PhilanthropyJEFFERSON VALLEY COMMU…MONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 · PhilanthropyMONTANA COMMUNITY FOUN…BUTTE SPIRIT CENTER: $55,000 · Housing & ShelterBUTTE SPI…MONTANA TROUT UNLIMITED: $2,500 · Recreation & SportsBorder Community Alliance Inc: $1,500 · Community ImprovementGVR Foundation Inc: $1,000 · HealthGold Junction Presents Association Inc: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$232,400Education$211,680Philanthropy$123,500Housing & Shelter$55,000Recreation & Sports$2,500Community Improvement$1,500Health$1,000Arts & Culture$1,000

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 budgetSANTA CRUZ VALLEY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION INC: $161,680 over 6y, 4.3% of budgetJEFFERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $111,000 over 6y, 5.5% of budgetGREATER BUTTE COMMUNITY COORDINATED CHILD CARE SERVICE: $100,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetBUTTE SPIRIT CENTER: $55,000 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetMONTANA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetChildren's House of Norman Inc: $36,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetMONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetButte Emergency Food Bank: $12,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMONTANA TROUT UNLIMITED: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBorder Community Alliance Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGVR Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% 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.

Dennis & Phyllis Wash…Gianforte Family Char…Town Pump Charitable …The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Dennis & Phyllis Washington FoundationMT17.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation · Gianforte Family Charitable Trust · Town Pump Charitable Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 The Wisner Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Wisner Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%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
    1get no government money at all
    2report 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 Wisner Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Wisner Family 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 16 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 Wisner Family’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