Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin: Should You Pursue Their Grants?

The Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin is a private foundation that exists to improve the health and well-being of central Wisconsin’s communities.

Since 2015, the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin has worked with public health organizations, social service agencies, school districts, and health systems to create healthy communities throughout the region.

With such a noble mission, the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin might seem like a great fit to support your organization’s work. However, it’s important to assess funder fit before you invest your valuable time and energy into drafting a proposal for funding.

You’re probably wondering—how do I figure that out? Don’t worry! We will help you.

As you progress through this article, you will be asked to score yourself on several criteria that will lead you to an overall score indicating funder fit. By the end of the article, you’ll be able to confidently say whether submitting a proposal to the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin is a high-ROI opportunity for you!

Let’s go!

The Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin does not have a significant online presence. However, we can infer some information on their mission, background, and giving priorities based on past funding trends and NTEE code data provided by Instrumentl’s 990 tool. We will dive into this in more detail in a later section of the article—but here are the basics.

Youth development is the category most frequently supported by the foundation, including projects that support religious leadership and boys & girls clubs.

The foundation also allocates a significant amount of funding to human services-related projects, including young men's and women's associations, family services projects, advocacy work, and projects supporting professional associations.

Based on this information, you will score yourself on how well your organization or project aligns with the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s giving priorities.

Don’t forget—determining mission fit is a big consideration when it comes to applying for grants!

‍Criterion #1: Add a score in the range of 1-3 to indicate how closely your nonprofit's mission aligns with the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin.
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You can discover if the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin is a good-fit funder for your organization by reviewing some key data from the foundation’s 990 forms.

We know that 990 forms can be difficult to read and analyze; with a clunky layout and confusing structure, it can be overwhelming to look through these documents to say the least. But this is where Instrumentl can help!

Instrumentl analyzes data from funders’ 990 forms and breaks it down for you into easily-digestible charts and graphs. The insights provided by Instrumentl—which can’t be found anywhere else—can help you determine if your project is a good fit for the Legacy Foundation.

You might be wondering—why is it so important to determine fit? Because it’s key to focus your energy on funding opportunities with a high return on investment (ROI). If your project isn’t a good fit for a funder, we don’t want you to waste your time and energy on crafting a compelling proposal since you likely won’t get a return on that upfront investment.

Keep reading to learn the three funding trends that Instrumentl’s 990 tool can show you to help you determine if applying to the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin is a high-ROI opportunity.

#1 General Giving Trends

The first thing you should look at is the foundation’s total giving history. Past giving is the absolute best indicator of future giving!
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Looking at the graph above, you can see that the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s giving amount has remained relatively stable over the last four years. In 2018, the foundation awarded just over $6.8 million in grants. In 2019, that number increased to $7.26 million, but decreased back to $6.8 million in 2020.

Overall, however, the foundation’s total giving has decreased less than 1% in the past 3 years. What does this mean for you? A relatively stable giving trend indicates that you can expect similar giving amounts in the years to come. Good news!

Since the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s giving trend is stable, we’re going to ask you to add points to your score.

Criterion #2: Add 0.5 points to your funder score to reflect the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s stable giving trend for the past 3 years.
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Total giving isn’t the only data point we need to look at, however. Let’s also examine the number of grants the Legacy Foundation awards each year.
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You can see that the number of grants awarded has fluctuated significantly over the past 4 years. In 2018, the foundation awarded only 7 grants. In 2019, that number skyrocketed to 19 grants, and in 2020 it decreased slightly to 14 grants.

We already know that the foundation’s total giving has stayed relatively stable in past years. Layering in the fluctuations of the number of grants, we can infer that the foundation’s average grant amount is likely fluctuating based on how many grants are being awarded.

The implications for the number of grants trend aren’t super straightforward. It’s important to consider this in relation to the total giving trend so that you can see the big picture of this funder’s giving.

Let’s also review giving averages, to see if our theory is correct.
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Overall, the average grant amount awarded by the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin has decreased by 17% since 2018. This means that while the total giving may be stable, individual grant award amounts are decreasing year over year.

Since the foundation’s giving average has decreased, we are going to ask you to deduct one point from your score.

‍Criterion #3: Deduct 1 point from your funder score to reflect the decrease in the average grant amount given by the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin for the past 3 years.
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Let’s summarize! The stable trend in total giving is a good indicator that you can expect the foundation’s total giving amount to remain roughly the same this year. That’s good! However, when you take into account the decrease in average grant amount, that is less positive, as it indicates that your potential award amount is likely going to continue to shrink.

Keep in mind, however, that these are just two of the metrics that we are going to review. We have even more metrics and insights coming up in the following sections!

#2 Funding by NTEE Codes

NTEE code data is by far the most important piece of information that you need to analyze when you are evaluating funder fit.

Most funders tend to unequally split their budget between funding categories. Analyzing this data will give you valuable insight into whether or not your project aligns with how the foundation has allocated its funds in the past. And guess what? You can easily get a breakdown of these codes by using Instrumentl!

The Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s highest-funded NTEE code is Youth Development, with $6.15 million awarded in that category.

Health Care is the category with the highest average grant amount, at $300,000.

Recreation & Sports receives the lowest total amount of funding, with only $100,000 allocated to this category.

The below screenshot shows you more NTEE code details—check it out!
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Each NTEE code is broken into subcategories, which you can view by clicking the “+” sign next to the category name. These subcategories will provide you with useful insights that you can’t discover by just looking at the overall NTEE code data.

For example, take a look at the subcategories under Human Services.
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As you can see, the average grant amount listed by the main NTEE code is $25,000. However, looking at the subcategories, you can see that the average grant amount is as high as $900,000 for Young Mens or Womens Associations. The subcategory Personal Social Services and Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations also have grant awards higher than the average amount, at $150,000 and $43,000 respectively.

You can discover more NTEE code subcategories and their exact grant amounts by creating your free Instrumentl account today!

Criterion #4: Add a score in the range of 0-2 to your funder score to indicate whether the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s funding for your niche is what you desire.
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#3 Openness to New Grantees and Their Average Grant Amounts

Another key piece of data to review is the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s openness to new grantees. This is important information for you to consider—if a foundation is not open to new grantees, and your organization has not received funding from them in the past, then it is not going to be a high-ROI opportunity for you!
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Looking at the information in the above graph, we can see that in the last 3 years, only 18% of the Legacy Foundation’s awards have gone to new grantees. Right off the bat, this isn’t great news.

Digging a little deeper, we can look at the ratio of new versus repeat grantees going back to 2016. In 2020, 100% of grants awarded went to repeat grantees. Yikes!

In 2019, 40% of grants went to new grantees, and 60% to repeat grantees. As you can see below, there are also discrepancies in average grant awards between new and repeat grantees as well.
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The average grant amount in 2019 for new grantees was $167,000, while repeat grantees received an average grant award of $514,285. That’s quite a difference!

What does this mean for you? It means that if you are not a repeat grantee of this foundation, you have a much smaller chance of being funded. And if you are funded, your grant award amount is likely to be much less than that of a repeat grantee.

Criterion #5: If you are a new grantee, add the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s proportion of giving to new grantees to your funder score.

If you are a repeat grantee, add the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s proportion of giving to repeat grantees to your funder score.
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By now, you should be feeling pretty confident in your assessment of whether or not the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin is a good-fit funder for your organization.

If the answer is “yes!”, then that’s great! We are going to give you two action items to add to your to-do list before you begin drafting a proposal to the foundation.

If the answer is “nope!”, don’t panic. We’re also going to provide you with a list of similar funders that may be a better fit for your project in a later section.

Get in Touch with the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s Key People

Networking with the Legacy Foundation’s key people is the best way to bring visibility to your nonprofit’s work and increase your chances of being funded.

Instrumentl can provide you with a list of the foundation’s key people, including their name and title, so that you can immediately direct your outreach efforts to the decision-makers at the foundation. This will save you time and energy!
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Contact the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin’s Past Grantees

There’s no one better equipped to talk you through the ins and outs of getting funded by the Legacy Foundation than their past grantees!

Getting in touch with organizations that have previously received funding from the foundation will help you learn the nitty-gritty details about how to catch the foundation’s attention and navigate the application process. Instrumentl can provide you this information in a super organized chart so you know exactly who to contact! Check it out.
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Don’t forget—you can create your free Instrumentl account today to get in touch with past grantees from other funders you are interested in!

If you have determined that the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin isn’t a good-fit funder for your organization, don’t worry! Here’s a list of similar funders who may better align with your funding needs.

• Hawn Foundation
• The Lynch Foundation
• Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation
• Chanticleer Charitable Trust
• Hargrove Hudson Charitable Trust
• The Eamon Foundation
• Morehead-Cain Foundation
• Vernon F. Dale Charitable Trust

By now, you should be feeling pretty confident in your assessment about whether the Legacy Foundation is a good fit funder for you. However, let’s tally up your scores and see where you fall on our scoring criteria!

Once you have a total, you’ll be able to make a final determination about whether the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin is a good match for your organization and project. Please remember to round your score to the nearest 10th!

• Great fit: 6.5 - 8
• Good fit: 1.8 - 5.8
• Bad fit: <= 0.5

It is so important to evaluate funder fit before you spend your valuable time and energy crafting a proposal for support. A funder’s 990 data is undeniably helpful in making this determination, but we know just how hard those forms are to sift through!

Luckily, Instrumentl is here to do the heavy lifting for you. Using Instrumnetl’s 990 tool, you’ll be able to see critically important funder insights in easy-to-read formats that will help you determine funder fit. On average, Instrumentl saves folks three hours per week, and increases grant application output by 78% within one year!

Don’t forget—you can explore more foundations and their 990 data by starting your free 14-day Instrumentl trial today!