Best Wisconsin Grants for Nonprofits

There is a wide variety of funding sources for nonprofits available in Wisconsin. Currently, there are more than 200+ individual open grants available, totaling $8,747,880 in funding. For organizations interested in pursuing grant funding in Wisconsin, the median grant size is $20,000. However, there are currently 58 grant opportunities that are over $25,000 for those looking for a bit more lucrative funding options. In addition, we have 43 grants that support general operating expenses, while more than 200+ grants fund programs and projects. More specifically, over 1,000+ grants focus on health care access & delivery and more than 3,000+ grant opportunities are focused on education.

More than half of the more than 200+ grants that are currently available in Wisconsin come from private foundations, followed by a vast amount of funding opportunities on the state and local government level. There are also a few grants being offered by federal government agencies and corporate sponsors for a variety of fields. Here’s a breakdown of where you'll find the most grants available:

• Private Foundations: Currently there are 83 available from private foundations. Many private grants focus on environmental issues, from habitat and ecosystem restoration to fisheries, marine/ocean conservation, environmental conservation, environmental justice and advocacy, and land/habitat restoration. Private grantors who focus on these environmental issues include the Fish America Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation, and the Frank L. Weyenberg Charitable Trust.
• Federal, State & Local Government: There are 64 grant opportunities available at the state and local level, with agencies like the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources focusing on environmental issues like parks and public places, water resource management, freshwater conservation, and habitat and ecosystem restoration. There are also a few grants available on the federal level from the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the North Central Region SARE that focus on everything from agriculture and rural development to entrepreneurship, disaster preparedness, and sanitation and clean drinking water.
• Corporate Funders: There are 17 grants available from corporations, with more than a few corporations that have funding opportunities for environmental education, community services, and food access and hunger, like La Roche, Inc., Huntington National Bank, and Ameriprise Financial.

You should do your research on the many funding opportunities available in Wisconsin on not only the amount of funding being offered by these grantors but also their focus. Keep in mind that government grants often have larger awards than those on the corporate level, but they also have equally large compliance requirements.

Based on the data we have now, the best time to apply for grants in Wisconsin is in Q3, which is when about 29.7% of deadlines for grants land. This period offers nonprofits the most opportunities to secure funding. We also found that Q2 has a similar amount of grant deadlines, with 26.0%. Comparatively, Q1 is the grant period with the least activity, coming in at only 21.8%. To maximize your odds of winning grant funding, be aware of the peak fundraising periods.

The nonprofit funding landscape throughout Wisconsin has seen significant activity across the past several years. Based on the funding reports sent to the IRS, overall grant funding reached nearly $3.07 billion in 2021 and then rose to $3.681 billion in 2022. The largest area for funding was single-organization support. Likewise, the top counties that received the most funding were Milwaukee County, Dane County, and Marathon County.