The Sand County Foundation Inc
Madison, WI · EIN 39-6089450. Reported 78 grants totalling $8,518,597 to 71 organizations across tax years 2021-2025, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. The IRS has no activity classification on file for this one, so we cannot tell you whether it is a community foundation or a single-institution support fund. The recipient list below is the better guide.
- How spread out its giving is. 71 distinct organizations, with 77% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is extreme concentration. A grantmaker sending three quarters of its money to one organization is in practice a support fund for that organization, whatever its classification says, and an unsolicited request is very unlikely to go anywhere.
- How much its list changes. 9% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $10,000. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $14,746; the smallest was $5,270 and the largest $5,608,876. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Policy Innovation Center | College Park, MD | $6,555,963 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| American Farmland Trust | Washington, DC | $333,630 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Alliance for the Great Lakes | Chicago, IL | $230,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| River Network | Boulder, CO | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Policylink | Oakland, CA | $110,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Dubuque Soil & Water Conservation District | Epworth, IA | $101,340 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Sauk County Lre | Baraboo, WI | $85,924 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin System | Madison, WI | $72,058 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Green County Land and Water Conservation | Monroe, WI | $66,932 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Regents of University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | $63,258 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cdm Smith Inc | Boston, MA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Farmers Edge | Minneapolis, MN | $41,872 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| National Audubon Society Inc | New York, NY | $31,769 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| University of New Mexico | Albuquerque, NM | $26,900 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Level-Vu Acres LLC | Campbellsport, WI | $22,115 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Bartholomay Kattle Kompany LLC | Sheldon, ND | $20,000 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| Stemper Hay & Grain | Plymouth, WI | $17,732 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc | Charlotte, NC | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Gbjf Enterprises LLC | Campbellsport, WI | $14,924 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Pollack-Vu Dairy LLC | Ripon, WI | $14,110 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Moonshot Missions Inc | Bethesda, MD | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| 120 Water Audit Inc | Zionsville, IN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Barney Creek Livestock LLC | Livingston, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Beretta Dairy | Santa Rosa, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bluegreen Alliance Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bowles Farming Company Inc | Los Banos, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Britt Farms Inc | Clifton Hill, MO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Brubaker Farms LLC | Mount Joy, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Neighborhood Technology | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cope Grass Farms LLC | Truxton, MO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Donor Advised Charitable Giving | Lone Tree, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Greenfield Farms | Skaneateles, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hidden Hollow Hideaway Cattle and Guest Ranch | Townsend, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hutchison Brothers | Cordova, MD | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| John Bunker Sands Wetland Center | Dallas, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jones Family Farms Fund | Derby, CT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kerwin Hill Farm LLC | Norwich, VT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ketos Inc | Milpitas, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Levalley Ranch II Ltd Rllp | Hotchkiss, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Little Village Environmental Justice Organization | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Long Green Farms Inc | Rising Sun, MD | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| May Ranch | Lamar, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mm Terry Ranch Ltd | Dallas, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Munns Flying M Ranch | Snowville, UT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Myrin Ranch Inc | Altamont, UT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New Jersey Future Inc | Trenton, NJ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nolls' Dairy Farm LLC | Alma, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Oetting Homestead Farms Inc | Concordia, MO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pankey Ranch LLC | Craig, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Park Farming Organics | Meridian, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| R&s Flinchbaugh LLC | York, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rancho San Pedro Joint Venture | San Antonio, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Regnerative Farmer Inc | Hickory, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Smith Family Farms LLC | Elk City, OK | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sunnyside Farms Inc | Scipio Center, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| T L L Temple Foundation | Lufkin, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Table Rock Farm Inc | Castle, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tomandl Farms | Medford, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Twin Maples Farm | Cashton, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ute Creek Cattle Company Inc | Bueyeros, NM | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Viramontes Farms LLC | Deming, NM | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wheel-View Farm | Shelburne Falls, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wiltse Family Farms LLC | Maple Park, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Yardley Cattle Company | Beaver, UT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Seven Rivers Soil Cooperative Inc | Manitowoc, WI | $8,881 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Driftless Area Land Conservancy Inc | Dodgeville, WI | $8,561 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Lake Effect Farms | Sheboygan Falls, WI | $8,450 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Vernon County Land & Water Conservation Department | Viroqua, WI | $7,623 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Res Great Lakes | Bellaire, TX | $6,222 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Glacierland Resource Conservation & Development | Green Bay, WI | $6,063 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Gehrke Family Farms LLC | Ormo, WI | $5,270 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
5 of 71 (7%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- American Farmland Trust
INVOLVEMENT IN RCPP FARMER LED PROJECT - Alliance for the Great Lakes
CONSERVATION POLICY & INFLUENCE - Level-Vu Acres LLC
INCENTIVE PAYMENT, SCF PROJECT - National Audubon Society
GRANT, INVOLVEMENT IN SCF PROJECT - Greenfield Farms
LEOPOLD CONSERVATION AWARD - Kerwin Hill Farm LLC
LEOPOLD CONSERVATION AWARD RECIPIENT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 14 of 71 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | $86,000 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 23 | $762,686 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 14 | $1,100,209 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 13 | $5,781,546 | $10,000 |
| 2025 | 19 | $788,156 | $10,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
77% of its giving went to organizations in Maryland. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. 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 grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $10,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Maryland.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Sand County Foundation Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 9 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 10 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 44 E Mifflin Street 1005, Madison, WI, 53703.
EIN 39-6089450 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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