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

· Public charity

Wisconsin Voices Inc

Wisconsin voices provides technical assistance and resources to build capacity and leadership to 501(c)(3) organizations in support of commonly held values of equal opportunity, freedom, progress, and a government that works for all.

$288k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$72k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Public Benefit$2.7MCommunity Improvement$296kPhilanthropy$271kCivil Rights$222kEducation$206kEnvironment$206kEmployment$176kHuman Services$102kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $149k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $126k
$35,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SHARE THE LOVE INC$72,000
METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES$54,000
SHERMAN PARK COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION$45,000
VIA CDC$36,000
VOCES DE LA FRONTERA$35,000
UNITING GARDEN HOMES INCORPORATION$23,000
CITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN EDUCATION FUND INC$10,000
MKE BLACK INC$6,500
MILWAUKEE TURNERS$6,000
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 (FY17–24, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 87% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%HMONG AMERICAN WOMEN'S ASSOC: $61k → 17%HMONG AMERICAN WOMEN'S ASSOC: $38k → 17%HMONG AMERICAN WOMENS ASSOC: $19k → 17%FREEDOM INC: $129k → 10%FREEDOM INC: $15k → 10%FREEDOM INC: $6k → 10%METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES: $183k → 17%METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES: $54k → 17%MILWAUKEE BLOCK (THE BELIEVERS FOR CHANGE): $50k → 17%METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES: $14k → 17%METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES: $13k → 17%METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES: $12k → 17%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $302k → 17%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $53k → 17%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $35k → 17%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $35k → 17%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $10k → 17%FOUNDATIONS FOR FREEDOM INC: $15k → 17%VOCES DE LA FRONTERA: $10k → 17%FATHERS MAKING PROGRESS: $52k → 17%MILWAKEE LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25k → 17%FATHERS MAKING PROGRESS: $15k → 17%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.
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 12% of Wisconsin Voices Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 92% of the giving stays in WI; by stated purpose, 81%.

Wisconsin Voices Inclessmore 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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 21 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +182% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
30

Total granted

$3.1M
$1.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+182%
0%

Still filing today

95%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesPublic BenefitEnvironmentCrime & LegalCivil RightsEducationOther
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

  • WI
    WISDOM INC
    3× · 2018–2020 · $487k · revenue +182%
  • VOCES DE LA FRONTERA INC
    6× · 2018–2024 · $445k · revenue +381%
  • METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC
    5× · 2019–2024 · $276k · revenue +390% · 48% of their budget

Funded once

  • CA
    CITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN INC
    one grant, 2020 · $163k · revenue -37%
  • PE
    PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK
    one grant, 2020 · $125k
  • LO
    LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF WISCONSIN ADVOCACY NETWORK INC
    one grant, 2020 · $123k
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 Progress Inc

Wisconsin progress recruits, trains, elects, and develops progressive candidates and leaders at the local and state legislative levels.

Civil Rights
2
Wisconsin Progress Institute Inc

Wisconsin progress institute exists to empower wisconsin's locally elected leaders with the tools, training, and support they need to be effective, values-driven public servants.

Education
3
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
4
Milwaukee Women Inc

Milwaukee women inc is an organization of executives determined to change the quality and composition of corporate boards to maximize the performance of public and private companies with a focus on women and women of color.

Education
5
Groundwork Milwaukee Inc

Bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social…

Environment
6
League of Women Voters of Milwaukee Co Sub League of Women Voters of Wisconsin

The league of women voters is a nonpartisan organization that empowers voters and defends democracy by supporting and educating voters and promoting active civic engagement.

Civil Rights
7
Freedom Action Now

Freedom action now, inc. (fan) is a radical queer black and southeast asian feminist organization creating change for the most impacted communities in wisconsin through voter education, leadership development, community organizing, and…

Civil Rights
8
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Inc

The league of women voters of wisconsin (lwvwi) is a nonpartisan political organization. we encourage informed, active participation in government and work to increase understanding of major public policy issues. we influence public policy…

Civil Rights
9
Wisconsin Principles Inc

Wisconsin principles (wp) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization dedicated to preserving conservative values in the state of wisconsin. committed to fiscal conservatism, educational choice, and individual liberty, we strive to empower…

Civil Rights
10
Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc

To advocate for progressive change in the wisconsin justice system by educating the public about its real-life impacts and partnering with other organizations to achieve more just outcomes.

Crime & Legal
11
Wisconsin Opportunity Coalition Inc

We are organized to support public policy that protects public education, the environment, the rights of all citizens and expands economic opportunity and fairness for everyone.

Civil Rights
12
Together Wisconsin Acts Inc

Together wisconsin acts, inc. (twa) advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to maintain and improve the common good, quality of life, and social welfare of the people in the state of wisconsin. twa activities include…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wisconsin Conservation Voices Inc; the most unlike its peers is Innovative Educational Solutions Institute Inc. 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

45 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. 45 of the 54 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/45
Grantees still filing
30/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Southside Organizing Committee Inc: $213,750 · OtherSouthside Organizing Committee Inc9TO5 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN INC: $176,141 · Other9TO5 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN INCCITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN INC: $162,600 · OtherCITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN INCLAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEIGHBORS INC DBA VIA CDC: $139,000 · OtherLAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEIGHBORS INC DBA VIA CD…PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK: $125,250 · OtherPUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORKLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF WISCONSIN ADVOCACY NETWORK INC: $123,000 · OtherLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF WISCONSIN ADVOCACY N…LEADERS IGNITING TRANSFORMATION ACTION FUND INC: $114,330 · OtherLEADERS IGNITING TRANSFORMATION ACTION FUND IN…SHARE THE LOVE INC: $107,000 · OtherSHARE THE LOVE INCSHERMAN PARK COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $83,900 · OtherMILWAUKEE TURNERS INC: $79,300 · OtherCOMMON GROUND INC: $91,000 · Other+21 more: $392,015 · Other+21 moreVOCES DE LA FRONTERA INC: $444,850 · Human ServicesVOCES DE LA FRONTERA INCMETCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC: $276,110 · Human ServicesMETCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDG…FREEDOM INC: $150,000 · Human ServicesFREEDOM INCHmong American Womens Association Inc: $117,000 · Human ServicesHmong American Womens Associa…FATHERS MAKING PROGRESS INC: $66,500 · Human ServicesFATHERS MAKING PROGRESS INCMILWAUKEE BLOCK INC: $50,000 · Human Services+2 more: $40,000 · Human ServicesWISDOM INC: $487,400 · PhilanthropyWISDOM INCTIDES FOUNDATION: $118,750 · PhilanthropyTIDES FOUNDATIO…GOODPOWER EDUCATION FUND INC: $196,000 · EnvironmentWISCONSIN CONSERVATION VOICES INC: $127,020 · Environment+1 more: $10,000 · EnvironmentWAVE EDUCATIONAL FUND INC: $140,000 · Crime & LegalEXPO of Wisconsin Inc: $38,000 · Crime & LegalBLACK & BROWN WOMYN POWER COALITION INC: $19,500 · Crime & LegalALLIANCE FOR YOUTH ORGANIZING: $67,770 · Civil RightsWISCONSIN VOICES INC: $60,250 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $23,850 · Civil RightsWISCONSIN ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT SCHOOLS INC: $59,000 · EducationWISCONSIN FARMERS UNION FOUNDATION: $40,000 · EducationInnovative Educational Solutions Institute Inc: $20,000 · Education
Other$1,807,286Human Services$1,144,460Philanthropy$606,150Environment$333,020Crime & Legal$197,500Civil Rights$151,870Education$119,000

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 budgetWISDOM INC: $487,400 over 3y, 9.4% of budgetVOCES DE LA FRONTERA INC: $444,850 over 6y, 10% of budgetMETCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC: $276,110 over 5y, 48% of budgetSouthside Organizing Committee Inc: $213,750 over 4y, 17% of budgetGOODPOWER EDUCATION FUND INC: $196,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budget9TO5 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN INC: $176,141 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN INC: $162,600 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetFREEDOM INC: $150,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetWAVE EDUCATIONAL FUND INC: $140,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetLAYTON BOULEVARD WEST NEIGHBORS INC DBA VIA CDC: $139,000 over 4y, 5.9% of budgetWISCONSIN CONSERVATION VOICES INC: $127,020 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $118,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHmong American Womens Association Inc: $117,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetLEADERS IGNITING TRANSFORMATION ACTION FUND INC: $114,330 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetCOMMON GROUND INC: $91,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetSHERMAN PARK COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $83,900 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetMILWAUKEE TURNERS INC: $79,300 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetALLIANCE FOR YOUTH ORGANIZING: $67,770 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetWISCONSIN VOICES INC: $60,250 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN EDUCATION FUND INC: $56,300 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetMILWAUKEE BLOCK INC: $50,000 over 1y, 84% of budgetWISCONSIN FARMERS UNION FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetEXPO of Wisconsin Inc: $38,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetPASTORS UNITED COMMUNITY ADVOCACY INC: $34,500 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetMILWAUKEE HEALTH SERVICES INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $23,850 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetDOMINICAN CENTER FOR WOMEN INC: $22,500 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetSOUTHEAST ASIAN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF WISCONSIN INC: $21,795 over 1y, 9.5% of budgetTAKEACTION MN EDUCATION FUND: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetInnovative Educational Solutions Institute Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 53% of budgetBLACK & BROWN WOMYN POWER COALITION INC: $19,500 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetWISCONSIN PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP INC: $17,720 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetFoundations For Freedom Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetTRUE SKOOL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetLAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITING GARDEN HOMES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetONE WISCONSIN NOW INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetWALNUT WAY CONSERVATION CORPORATION: $7,700 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWISCONSIN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN INC: $7,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMKE BLACK INC: $6,500 over 1y, 8.3% 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.

Greater Milwaukee Fou…State VoicesState Power FundTides FoundationHerbert H Kohl Charit…United Way of Greater…New Venture FundAll Hands on Deck Net…Windward FundAmalgamated Charitabl…NEO Philanthropy IncJoseph and Vera Zilbe…
Greater Milwaukee Foundation IncWI50.4× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · State Voices · State Power Fund · Tides Foundation · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · New Venture Fund · All Hands on Deck Network Inc · Windward Fund · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · NEO Philanthropy Inc · Joseph and Vera Zilber Family Foundation 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 Wisconsin Voices Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wisconsin Voices Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get 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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Voices Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Wisconsin Voices 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 54 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Wisconsin Voices’ 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