Nelson & Vera Hicks Charitable Fdn
Madison, WI · EIN 39-1582654. Reported 227 grants totalling $1,299,000 to 52 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Nelson & Vera Hicks Charitable Fdn did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $45,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Ambrose Academy | Madison, WI | $110,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Church Health Services | Beaver Dam, WI | $75,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Moraine Park Technical College | Beaver Dam, WI | $66,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Beaver Dam Scholarship Foundation | Beaver Dam, WI | $58,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Madison Area Technical College | Madison, WI | $56,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Green Valley Enterprises & Alzheimer Unit | Beaver Dam, WI | $52,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Rawhide Boys Ranch | New London, WI | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Vincent Depaul Beaver Dam | Beaver Dam, WI | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre Building Project | Beaver Dam, WI | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pave | Beaver Dam, WI | $45,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| World Orphan Fund | Randolph, WI | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Charish Classical Academy | Madison, WI | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| YMCA of Dodge County | Beaver Dam, WI | $29,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Beaver Dam Public Library | Beaver Dam, WI | $25,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Central Wisconsin Christian School | Waupun, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Dodge County Center for the Arts | Beaver Dam, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Fox Lake Public Library | Fox Lake, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hustiford Public Library | Hustiford, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hutchinson Memorial Library | Randolph, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Iron Ridge Public Library | Iron Ridge, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Juneau Public Library | Juneau, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Lomira Public Library | Lomira, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| New Beginnings Care Center | Wisconsin Dells, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Pediatrics Oncology Research Fund | Madison, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Katharine Drexel Parish School Libraries | Beaver Dam, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Stephens Luthern School Library | Beaver Dam, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Theresa Public Library | Theresa, WI | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Beaver Dam Family Center | Beaver Dam, WI | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Horicon Public Library | Horicon, WI | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Reeseville Public Library | Reeseville, WI | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Waupun Public Library | Waupun, WI | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dodge County Community Concert Association | Beaver Dam, WI | $15,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Gathering Source | Juneau, WI | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Pregnancy Support Center of Dodge County | Beaver Dam, WI | $14,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Salvation Army of Dane County | Madison, WI | $13,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| University of Wisconsin Foundation Cancer Center | Madison, WI | $13,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Arts for All Wisconsin | Madison, WI | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Beaver Dam High School | Beaver Dam, WI | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Dodge County & Watertown Community | Watertown, WI | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Dodge County Toy Bank | Beaver Dam, WI | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Mary's Room - Clothes 4 Kids | Beaver Dam, WI | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Opportunity International | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bridges of Dodge County | Beaver Dam, WI | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| St Mark's Episcopal Church | Beaver Dam, WI | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Dodge County Historical Foundation | Beaver Dam, WI | $5,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Boy Scout Troops 736 724 | Beaver Dam, WI | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Pal - Partners Are Learning | Beaver Dam, WI | $2,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Reach Out and Read - Children's Health Alliance Wi | Beaver Dam, WI | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Arc of Dodge County | Beaver Dam, WI | $2,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Juliette Low Girl Scout Activity Center | Beaver Dam, WI | $2,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Badger Rock Middle School | Madison, WI | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boy Scout Troops 736 724 & 750 | Beaver Dam, WI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
47 of 52 (90%) 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 94%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Church Health Services
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CAMPAIGN - Green Valley Enterprises & Alzheimer Unit
GENERAL FUNDING - ALZHEIMERS UNIT - Bridges of Dodge County
GENERAL FUNDING (HOSPICE CARE)
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 67 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | $280,500 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 47 | $258,500 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 47 | $240,000 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 47 | $261,000 | $5,000 |
| 2025 | 42 | $259,000 | $5,000 |
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
99% 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.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Wisconsin.
- 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.
- 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 Nelson & Vera Hicks Charitable Fdn'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: 5339 Irish Ln, Madison, WI, 53711. 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 39-1582654 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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