Funders › Wisconsin

Gussel Foundation Inc

Madison, WI · EIN 46-1063817. Reported 194 grants totalling $823,000 to 85 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$823,000granted, 2021-2025
85recipients, as named on its returns
72%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,542,945assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Gussel Foundation Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $25,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
121 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
51 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
17 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Agrace Foundation IncMadison, WI$61,000552025
Junior Diabetes Research FundMenasha, WI$53,000332024
Kilbourn Fire DepartmentWisconsin Dells, WI$43,000652025
Tim Tebow FoundationJacksonville, FL$37,000432025
Breakthrough T1DHagerstown, MD$30,000212025
Girls on the Run MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN$27,000222025
Beyond Blessed PantryWisconsin Dells, WI$25,000112025
K9S for WarriorsPonta Verde, FL$25,000432025
Leukemia Research FoundationNorthfield, IL$25,000112025
Wisconsin Dells American LegionWisconsin Dells, WI$25,000222023
Wi Dells Area United FundWisconsin Dells, WI$22,000222022
Briggsville American LegionBriggsville, WI$20,000442025
Briggsville Volunteer Fire DepartmBriggsville, WI$20,000442025
Dells Area United FundWisconsin Dells, WI$20,000332025
Oxford Fire DepartmentOxford, WI$20,000442025
School District of Wi DellsWisconsin Dells, WI$16,000332023
American Legion Post 187Wisconsin Dells, WI$15,000222025
Little Eagle Arts FoundationWisconsin Dells, WI$13,000332024
Wisconsin Dells Soccer Booster ClubWisconsin Dells, WI$12,500222025
Girls on the Run InternationalCharlotte, NC$12,000322023
Junior Diabetes Research FoundationMenasha, WI$12,000112021
Madison Reading ProjectMount Horeb, WI$12,000222025
Joan Hanson FoundationVerona, WI$10,500332025
World Orphan FundRandolph, WI$10,500442025
Alzheimers & Dementia AllianceMadison, WI$10,000222023
Columbia County Humane SocietyPortage, WI$9,000552025
Boys and Girls Club West Central WiTomah, WI$8,000222023
Pheasants Forever IncBaraboo, WI$8,000442025
Badger Prairie Needs NetworkVerona, WI$7,500332025
Samaritans PurseBoone, NC$7,500222025
Lake Delton Police AssociationLake Delton, WI$7,000442025
Hope Against InfertilityAppleton, WI$6,500332024
Dempsey CenterLewiston, ME$6,000112025
Friends of Kilbourn LibraryWisconsin Dells, WI$6,000332024
Greater Chicago Food DepositoryChicago, IL$6,000112025
JrdfMenasha, WI$6,000222023
Marquette Cty Crime StoppersMontello, WI$6,000442025
Cal Center Presents IncReedsburg, WI$5,500332024
Endometriosis AssociationMilwaukee, WI$5,500222024
Marquette Cty EmsMontello, WI$5,500332025
Badger History GroupPrairie Du Sac, WI$5,000552025
Friends of Wisconsin State ParksHartford, WI$5,000222024
JdrfMenasha, WI$5,000112024
Mentoring PositivesMadison, WI$5,000112023
Oxford Grade School PTOOxford, WI$5,000112024
ResolveMclean, VA$5,000112025
Sauk County Boys & Girls ClubTomah, WI$5,000112024
Sauk County Historical SocietyBaraboo, WI$5,000112023
Special Olympics-WiMadison, WI$5,000112025
Wisconsin Lions FoundationRosholt, WI$5,000112025
Girls on the Run of Southcentral WiMadison, WI$4,500222025
Marquette Cty FairWestfield, WI$4,500222024
BreatheBaraboo, WI$4,000442025
New Haven Helping Hands 4-HWisconsin Dells, WI$4,000442025
Oxford Lions ClubOxford, WI$4,000222025
Oxford VFW Post 6003Oxford, WI$4,000222025
River Haven ShelterPortage, WI$4,000332025
Wisconsin Dells School DistrictWisconsin Dells, WI$4,000222025
Lavalle Team Penning AssocLa Valle, WI$3,500112025
Adams Cty Crime StoppersAdams, WI$3,000332025
Columbia Cty Crime StoppersPortage, WI$3,000332025
Dells Area Veterans & SupportersWisconsin Dells, WI$3,000332024
Douglas Doers 4-HWauwatosa, WI$3,000332025
Gianna Homes Sursum CordaMinnetonka, MN$3,000112025
Lions Club OxfordOxford, WI$3,000222023
Mn Fraternal Order of PoliceDuluth, MN$3,000112025
Prostate Cancer FoundationSanta Monica, CA$3,000112024
Sauk Cty Crime StoppersBaraboo, WI$3,000332025
VFW of WisconsinOxford, WI$3,000222023
Foundation for Dane County ParksMadison, WI$2,500112025
Marquette County 4HMontello, WI$2,500222025
Outdoors Forever IncMauston, WI$2,500112025
Special OlympicsMadison, WI$2,500112023
Sugar Creek ElementaryVerona, WI$2,500112025
Endeavor Fire DepartmentEndeavor, WI$2,000112023
Friendship Presbyterian ChurchChicago, IL$2,000212024
Keep Wisconsin Warmcool FundMadison, WI$2,000222025
Kinship Mentoring of Columbia CtyPortage, WI$2,000222024
Milton College Preservation SocietyMilton, WI$2,000222025
Pheasant's Forever IncBaraboo, WI$2,000112021
Appalachian Trail ConservancyHarpers Ferry, WV$1,500112024
Badger Honor FlightMadison, WI$1,000112022
Midwest Access CoalitionChicago, IL$1,000112024
Plenke's Pond & Outdoor Learning CeReedsburg, WI$1,000112023
Uw System Douglas Doers 4HBriggsville, WI$1,000112022

55 of 85 (65%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 72%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 76 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Arts & Culture
10 grants
Animal Welfare
9 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
8 grants
Youth Development
7 grants
Human Services
7 grants
Public Safety & Disaster Relief
6 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20218$64,000$9,000
202230$97,000$2,000
202353$179,000$2,500
202452$194,500$2,000
202551$288,500$3,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

76% of its giving went to organizations in Wisconsin. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Wisconsin
$629K
Florida
$62K
Illinois
$34K
Minnesota
$33K
Maryland
$30K
North Carolina
$20K
Maine
$6K
Virginia
$5K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund16 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc15 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsPaypal Charitable Giving Fund10 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation10 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program10 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Wisconsin.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Gussel Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 2901 W Beltline Hwy Ste 201, Madison, WI, 53713. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 46-1063817 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.