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Wisconsin VFW Foundation Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Wisconsin VFW Foundation Inc

To facilitate the charitable, patriotic and educational activities of the membership of the veterans of foreign wars-department of wisconsin.

$263k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$50k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Human Services$2.3MAnimals$630kPublic Benefit$447kArts & Culture$31kEducation$30kEmployment$30kHousing & Shelter$27kRecreation & Sports$16kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 10 grants below total $207,641, the rows itemized in this filing. The $263,423 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $55,782 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $141k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$16,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$772k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE US DEPT OF WISCONSIN 2260$50,000
WM SONNY SIMON VFW POST 8216$35,000
VFW POST 1318$34,757
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN$25,000
MT HOREB VFW POST 9511$16,000
WISCONSIN VETERANS NETWORK INC$10,000
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN$10,000
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE US DEPT OF WISCONSIN$10,000
DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE US$9,884
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN$7,000
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 (FY23–24, $31k) 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%SIERRA DELTA INC: $18k → 9%WALKIN IN MY SHOES INC: $6k → 10%STABLE HANDS INC: $7k → 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.
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.0M · 8 repeat orgs$499k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against -11% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
14

Total granted

$3.0M
$397k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
-11%

Still filing today

63%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 51% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $102k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesRecreation & SportsPublic BenefitEducationHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • VO
    veterans of foreign wars of the 1318 marion c
    6× · 2019–2025 · $176k · revenue ×36 · 58% of their budget
  • DO
    DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES
    4× · 2019–2025 · $148k · revenue +19%
  • VO
    VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN
    5× · 2020–2025 · $75k · revenue +125% · 42% of their budget

Funded once

  • VO
    VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN
    one grant, 2021 · $125k
  • VO
    VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN
    one grant, 2023 · $80k
  • VO
    VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS-POST 10818
    one grant, 2023 · $51k · revenue -91%
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
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the 6461

Veterans affairs

—
2
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12205
Public Benefit
3
Veterans Foreign Wars

To support Veterans of Foreign Wats per national charter

—
4
Veterans of Foreign Wars

The vfw has been supporting and honoring the military veterans and their families since 1914.

—
5
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4562

Fraternal, patriotic, historical

—
6
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the Us Dept of Mt

Service officers for filing and managing va claims. to assist the posts in providing services to members and their families for veterans of foreign wars.

Public Benefit
7
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Department of Ohio

Support of veterans

—
8
Veterans of Foreign Wars Department

To support all veterans and the community

—
9
N Las Vegas Memorial Post Number 10047 Veterans of

To provide a meeting place for veterans

—
10
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3213

Veteran organization dedicated to servering local community needs and veterans needs through volunteer grants donations and scholarships

—
11
American Legion Post 181 Gustav L Handegaard

To serve veterans and our community Sponsor and asist with activities of a "patriotic nature" Sponsor and assist with Youth programs

—
12
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1672

Veterans of all our armed services a place to congregate

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Department of Wisconsin of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States; the most unlike its peers is Walkin in My Shoes 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

16 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 16 of the 27 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
4/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES: $1,835,463 · OtherVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATESVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN: $662,775 · OtherVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSINveterans of foreign wars of the 1318 marion c: $176,450 · OtherDEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES: $148,370 · OtherVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN: $124,609 · Other+15 more: $490,978 · Other+15 moreSIERRA DELTA INC: $18,179 · Human ServicesSTABLE HANDS INC: $6,719 · Human ServicesWALKIN IN MY SHOES INC: $6,150 · Human ServicesUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $30,363 · EducationCenter for Veterans Issues Inc: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterWISCONSIN VETERANS NETWORK INC: $10,000 · Public BenefitTRINITY EQUESTRIAN CENTER KIDS KAMP INC: $6,719 · Recreation & Sports
Other$3,438,645Human Services$31,048Education$30,363Housing & Shelter$15,000Public Benefit$10,000Recreation & Sports$6,719

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 budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES: $1,835,463 over 2y, 86% of budgetveterans of foreign wars of the 1318 marion c: $176,450 over 6y, 58% of budgetDEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES: $148,370 over 4y, 5.8% of budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPT OF WISCONSIN: $75,000 over 5y, 42% of budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS-POST 10818: $50,725 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetVeterans of Foreign Wars 2260: $50,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetMT HOREB VFW POST 9511: $44,000 over 4y, 32% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $30,363 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 6375: $25,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetVETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 328: $25,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetSIERRA DELTA INC: $18,179 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCenter for Veterans Issues Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWISCONSIN VETERANS NETWORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSTABLE HANDS INC: $6,719 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTRINITY EQUESTRIAN CENTER KIDS KAMP INC: $6,719 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWALKIN IN MY SHOES INC: $6,150 over 1y, 6.9% 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Amazonsmile Foundation
Amazonsmile FoundationWA0.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Wisconsin VFW Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wisconsin VFW Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%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
    0get no government money at all
    5report 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 Wisconsin VFW Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Wisconsin VFW 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 27 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 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

    Play a game based on Wisconsin VFW’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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    The regranting layer
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