Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association
Madison, WI · EIN 39-0712619. Reported 76 grants totalling $5,137,234 to 76 organizations across tax years 2023, 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. 76 distinct organizations, with 9% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $53,276. Half of what it reported fell between $33,459 and $100,000; the smallest was $6,350 and the largest $450,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Wisconsin River Falls Foundation | River Falls, WI | $450,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cedar Grove Cheese Inc | Plain, WI | $172,585 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Alpinage Cheese LLC | Oak Creek, WI | $153,059 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rosewood Dairy Inc | Sturgeon Bay, WI | $137,235 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Specialty Cheese Inc | Reeseville, WI | $119,819 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Holland's Family Cheese | Thorp, WI | $115,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sartori Company | Plymouth, WI | $109,748 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Marcoot Jersey Creamery LLC | Greenville, IL | $105,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Dairy Distillery Alliance | Novi, MI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Dari LLC | Clinton, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Farm Stapels | Cedar Grove, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Gardner's Wisconsin Cheese LLC | Marshfield, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Green Dirt Farm LLC | Weston, MO | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hill Valley Dairy | East Troy, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hinterland Dairy Inc | Donnellson, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kuehnert Milk House | Fort Wayne, IN | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Royal Guernsey Creamery LLC | Columbus, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Wisconsin System | Platteville, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Uplands Cheese | Dodgeville, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wiscon Corporation Dba Caputo Cheese | Melrose Park, IL | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Flying Dog LLC | Grand Rapids, MI | $98,503 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Concept Processing LLC | Melrose, MN | $98,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tulip Tree Creamery Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $97,817 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Two Cows Creamery LLC | Hot Springs, SD | $92,893 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Scream LLC | Fairfield, IA | $92,657 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Goat Milk Stuff LLC | Scottsburg, IN | $90,640 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Smith Brothers Creamery LLC | Mcconnelsville, OH | $84,225 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bold Spoon Creamery LLC | Park Hills, MO | $82,743 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hildebrand Farms Inc | Junction City, KS | $82,547 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Landmark Creamery | Belleville, WI | $82,427 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Semifreddo LLC | Grand Rapids, MI | $80,800 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mct Dairies Inc | Appleton, WI | $80,363 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Copper Crow Distillery Inc | Bayfield, WI | $76,675 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pine River Pre-Pack Inc | Newton, WI | $76,288 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Terrell Creek Farm LLC | Fordland, MO | $73,341 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Mullen Dairy and Creamery LLC | Okeana, OH | $72,446 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Charlevoix Cheese Company Inc | Charlevoix, MI | $53,947 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Protein Pints LLC | East Lansing, MI | $53,308 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Black Raddish Creamery | Alexandria, OH | $53,244 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ozark Mountain Creamery Inc | Mountain Grove, MO | $52,798 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Milk Specialties Global Inc | Eden Prairie, MN | $51,276 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rolling Lawn Farms | Greenville, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Augment LLC | Madison, WI | $48,766 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bobell Cheese Company | Burbank, OH | $46,460 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Snowville Creamery | Pomeroy, OH | $46,103 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rokey Road Creamery LLC | Sabetha, KS | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Happy Cows Creamery | New Vienna, OH | $43,243 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fromage Spa LLC | Green Bay, WI | $41,993 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hemme Dairy LLC | Sweet Springs, MO | $41,067 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Beauty View Dairy Products LLC | Wahoo, NE | $38,099 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Shatto Farms Inc | Osborn, MO | $37,837 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Jisa Farmstead Cheese Inc | Brainard, NE | $36,031 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Redhead Creamery | Brooten, MN | $35,065 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Radiance Dairy | Fairfield, IA | $34,813 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Twin Springs Creamery | Bloomington, IN | $34,752 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Vieira Ventures LLC Swanky Scoops | Oregon, OH | $33,883 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Saltless Sea Creamery LLC | Traverse City, MI | $33,459 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Goodsport Nutrition LLC | Evanston, IL | $31,125 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Troyer Specialty Foods Inc | Millersburg, OH | $29,446 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Freshly Dairy LLC | Crawfordsville, IN | $26,124 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ms J & Company Inc | Monroe, WI | $22,326 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Highfield Farm Creamery | Walworth, WI | $21,107 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Berning Acres Inc | East Dubuque, IL | $18,244 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rolling Hills Dairy Producers Cooperative Inc | Monroe, WI | $17,315 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Prairie Farms Inc | Edwardsville, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Strack View Farms LLC | Adell, WI | $14,665 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Farm Life Creamery LLC | Ethan, SD | $14,165 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Agropur Inc | Appleton, WI | $13,572 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Prairie Homestead Creamery | Cottonwood, MN | $12,287 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Klondike Cheese Co Inc | Monroe, WI | $12,150 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Grison Dairy & Creamery | Ava, MO | $11,587 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hidden Springs Creamery LLC | Westby, WI | $10,440 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nasonville Dairy Inc | Marshfield, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Associated Milk Producers Inc | Portage, WI | $8,100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cannonbelles Cheese Inc | Cannon Falls, MN | $7,276 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cider Farm Brands | Mineral Point, WI | $6,350 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
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.
- University of Wisconsin River Falls Foundation
EXPANSION OF DAIRY PROCESSING FACILITY - Alpinage Cheese LLC
NEW CHEESE AGING FACILITY TO SUPPORTIN GROWTH, REACH SUSTAINABILITY AND DEVELOP BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. INVEST IN CHEESE PACKAGING AND CUTTING SOLUTIONS - Rosewood Dairy Inc
TRIAL VAT AND NEW PRESSES. LABELER MACHINE. EXPORT GROWTH PLAN. - Specialty Cheese Inc
LAYERED BLOCK FORM, IMPROVED SEPARATION OF SOFT/FLOCCULATED CURD FROM WHEY, FRESH CHEESE PACKAGING, EXPORT PANEER - Holland's Family Cheese
SCHOLARSHIP FOR ATTENDING FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY TRADE SHOWS - Dairy Distillery Alliance
WHEY PERMEATE INTO ETHANOL
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 1 of 76 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Where its money goes
49% of its giving went to organizations in Wisconsin. 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.
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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 the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
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 $53,276 -- 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 Wisconsin.
- 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 Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 0 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 77 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: 5117 W Terrace Dr 402, Madison, WI, 53718.
EIN 39-0712619 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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