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Widen Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Widen Family Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$512k
Granted FY2024still arriving
45
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$30k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Human Services$460kHealth$247kYouth Development$233kFood & Nutrition$218kHousing & Shelter$110kEducation$99kCrime & Legal$80kCivil Rights$80kOther$0
02FY2024 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k19 grants · $85k
  • $10k–50k26 grants · $428k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$9.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOGAN'S HEART AND SMILES$30,000
RIVER FOOD PANTRY INC$30,000
GIGI'S PLAYHOUSE MADISON$30,000
BADGER PRAIRIE NEEDS NETWORK INC$25,000
SPECIALTY CARE FREE CLINIC$25,000
EAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC$25,000
WAYFORWARD RESOURCES$25,000
YADA PROJECT$25,000
BLACK MAN COALITION FOUNDATION$20,000
SUNSHINE PLACE INC$20,000
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK$15,000
REAP FOOD GROUP INC$15,000
LOV INC$12,000
CORNERSTONES OF GRACE INC$10,800
TIME ON THE WATER$10,000
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 (FY21–24, $514k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%DOGS IN VESTS: $9k → 8%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $5k → 15%DOGS IN VESTS: $4k → 8%GATHERING OF SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN: $5k → 17%CORNERSTONE OF GRACE INC: $10k → 8%CREATIVE COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICES INC: $4k → 8%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 10%EAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25k → 10%PATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $5k → 17%COMMON THREADS FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $10k → 10%IRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $5k → 10%SUNSHINE PLACE INC: $20k → 10%SUNSHINE PLACE INC: $10k → 10%ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY: $80k → 10%ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY: $10k → 10%MENTORING POSITIVES: $10k → 10%YWCA MADISON: $25k → 10%YWCA MADISON: $7k → 10%YMCA OF DANE COUNTY: $3k → 10%YMCA OF DANE COUNTY: $3k → 10%CENTRO HISPANO: $100k → 10%CATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF MADISON: $10k → 10%FAMILY WORKS PROGRAMS INC: $5k → 10%MIDDLETON OUTREACH MINISTRY: $50k → 10%WAYFORWARD RESOURCES: $50k → 10%WAYFORWARD RESOURCES: $25k → 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.
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.
$879k · 28 repeat orgs$851k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +15% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

28 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
33

Total granted

$879k
$613k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+12%

Still filing today

79%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 53% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $238k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesHealthYouth DevelopmentFood & NutritionEducationCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • WR
    WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $125k · revenue +118%
  • TR
    THE ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $90k · revenue +5%
  • SC
    SPECIALTY CARE FREE CLINIC INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $67k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • CH
    CENTRO HISPANO INC
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue -32%
  • UL
    URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER MADISON INC
    one grant, 2022 · $70k · revenue -43%
  • MU
    MADISON-AREA URBAN MINISTRY INC (DBA JUST DANE)
    one grant, 2022 · $70k
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
Dane County Parent Council Inc

Dane county parent council changes the lives of underserved children and families through education and supportive services.

Education
2
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.

—
3
Pathways of Wisconsin Inc

Pathways of wisconsin provides supported employment opportunities and empowerment through quality, person-centered programming for individuals of all abilities.

Human Services
4
Goodwill Industries of South Central Wisconsin Inc

Goodwill of south central wisconsin's mission is to help people in our community to live, work and thrive through housing, employment and supportive services. see schedule o for continuationsupported employment and job skills training are…

Employment
5
Disability Rights Wisconsin Inc

Legal protection and advocacy to protect the rights of people with disabilities in wisconsin.

—
6
NourishMKE Inc

We're a network of community food centers that specializes in food, love, and community. Hunger is a real problem, and access to food should be a fundamental right. No one should be made to feel they're not deserving of nourishment when…

Food & Nutrition
7
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
8
Madison Community Cooperative

Madison community cooperative's mission is to improve the madison community by providing low-cost, not-for-profit cooperative housing for very low to moderate income people and to be inclusive of underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Education
9
United Way of Dane County Inc

Unite the community to achieve measurable results that change lives.

—
10
Madison Development Corporation

Madison development corporation (mdc)'s mission is to help create jobs by providing gap financing to small businesses and to develop and finance quality, affordable workforce housing units in madison and the dane county area.

Community Improvement
11
Renew Wisconsin Inc

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

Environment
12
Rooted Wi Inc

We envision collaborations rooted in food, land and learning so that people can grow and thrive in healthy, equitable and sustainable neighborhoods.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Irwin a and Robert D Goodman Community Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Sol Relief. 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

64 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. 64 of the 82 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
64/64
Grantees still filing
30/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER MADISON INC: $70,000 · OtherURBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER MADISON INCMADISON-AREA URBAN MINISTRY INC (DBA JUST DANE): $70,000 · OtherMADISON-AREA URBAN MINISTRY INC (DBA JUST DANE)DANE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES: $58,100 · OtherDANE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICESLOGAN'S HEART AND SMILES: $55,000 · OtherLOGAN'S HEART AND SMILESGIGIS PLAYHOUSE: $40,000 · OtherGIGIS PLAYHOUSEMAYDM INC: $35,000 · OtherCORNERSTONES OF GRACE INC: $30,800 · OtherYADA PROJECT: $25,000 · OtherBREAST CANCER RECOVERY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · OtherTIME ON THE WATER: $30,000 · Other+32 more: $297,946 · Other+32 moreWAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC: $125,000 · Human ServicesWAYFORWARD RESOURCES INCCENTRO HISPANO INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesCENTRO HISPANO INCTHE ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY INC: $90,000 · Human ServicesTHE ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY INCYWCA MADISON INC: $32,200 · Human ServicesYWCA MADISON INCIRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesIRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMM…SUNSHINE PLACE INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesSUNSHINE PLACE INCEAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25,000 · Human Services+11 more: $81,900 · Human Services+11 moreSECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF SOUTHERN WI: $45,000 · Food & NutritionSECOND HA…THE RIVER FOOD PANTRY INC: $30,000 · Food & NutritionTHE RIVER…MUSICALLY FED: $30,000 · Food & NutritionMUSICALLY…BADGER PRAIRIE NEEDS NETWORK INC: $25,000 · Food & NutritionBADGER PR…REAP FOOD GROUP INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionREAP FOOD…SPECIALTY CARE FREE CLINIC INC: $67,400 · HealthLIVING OUR VISIONS INC dba LOV Inc: $25,000 · HealthEASTER SEALS WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF MADISON INC: $10,000 · HealthCENTER FOR DEAF-BLIND PERSONS INC: $5,000 · Health+2 more: $5,000 · HealthFORT LITTLEGREEN GARDENS INC: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentMADISON READING PROJECT INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentBLACK GIRL MAGIC EDUCATIONAL SERVICES IN: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentBIKES FOR KIDS WISCONSIN INC: $15,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $2,000 · Youth DevelopmentOPERATION FRESH START INC: $35,000 · EmploymentBLACK MEN COALITION FOUNDATION CORPORATION: $20,000 · EmploymentCOMMUNITY SUPPORT NETWORK INC: $15,000 · EmploymentTHE ALY WOLFF FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyMADISON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Philanthropy
Other$736,846Human Services$514,100Food & Nutrition$145,000Health$122,400Youth Development$92,000Employment$70,000Philanthropy$52,500

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 budgetWAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC: $125,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetCENTRO HISPANO INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHE ROAD HOME DANE COUNTY INC: $90,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetURBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER MADISON INC: $70,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSPECIALTY CARE FREE CLINIC INC: $67,400 over 3y, 6.5% of budgetTHE ALY WOLFF FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF SOUTHERN WI: $45,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMAYDM INC: $35,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetOPERATION FRESH START INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetYWCA MADISON INC: $32,200 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE RIVER FOOD PANTRY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFORT LITTLEGREEN GARDENS INC: $30,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetIRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMUSICALLY FED: $30,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetSUNSHINE PLACE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTIME ON THE WATER: $30,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetEAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetBREAST CANCER RECOVERY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetBADGER PRAIRIE NEEDS NETWORK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLIVING OUR VISIONS INC dba LOV Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetMADISON READING PROJECT INC: $25,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetBLACK MEN COALITION FOUNDATION CORPORATION: $20,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetBLACK GIRL MAGIC EDUCATIONAL SERVICES IN: $20,000 over 2y, 9.7% of budgetWISCONSIN YOUTH COMPANY INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBIKES FOR KIDS WISCONSIN INC: $15,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY SUPPORT NETWORK INC: $15,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetREAP FOOD GROUP INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMONONA GROVE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $13,700 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetDOGSINVESTS INC: $12,900 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetCornerstone of Grace: $10,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetDANE ARTS MURAL ARTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetEASTER SEALS WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PLAYING FIELD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetASHE COUNTY ADVANTAGE PROJECT: $10,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetCOMMON THREADS FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLITERACY NETWORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOL RELIEF: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetMentoring Positives Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetMADISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES INC DIOCESE OF MADISON: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF MADISON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOTTAGE GROVE VOL FIRE DEPARTMENT: $10,000 over 1y, 9.6% of budgetWISCONSIN WOMEN'S NETWORK: $10,000 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF DANE COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDO GOOD WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetKENNEDY HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION INC: $9,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION COALITION FOR SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN INC: $7,938 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMADISON NORTHSIDE PLANNING COUNCIL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% 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 Gas and Elect…Madison Community Fou…The Evjue Foundation …United Way of Dane Co…Alliant Energy Founda…Endres Manufacturing …Trustage Foundation I…The Roots and Wings F…Green Bay Packers Fou…Sub-Zero Group Founda…Veridian Foundation I…Herbert H Kohl Charit…
Madison Gas and Electric Foundation IncWI76× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    26report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Widen Family Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Widen Family Foundation Inc 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 82 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 Widen 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