Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation
The Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation concentrates its giving locally in Wausau/Marathon County, favoring large, one-off capital gifts that build community infrastructure and public services. Recent grants show a strong interest in facility capital campaigns for nonprofit campus development and investments in county-level public safety/forensic infrastructure. The foundation appears to prioritize lasting, bricks-and-mortar projects that serve broad local needs rather than many small programmatic grants.
Focus Areas
Nonprofit campus capital projects in Wausau (Community Partners Campus)County-level forensic science and public safety infrastructure (Marathon County Regional Forensic Science Center)Local civic infrastructure and community facilities in Marathon County
Who They Fund
young children and families (including school-ready children)low-income or uninsured residents accessing free clinic serviceschildren who are abuse victims and their familiesyouth and adolescents (including scouts and teens)
About Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation
A $600,000 grant for the Community Partners Campus new facility capital campaign stands out in the foundation’s recent history and points to a clear preference for place-based projects with lasting physical impact. The Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation directs most of its support to North Central Wisconsin, especially Wausau and Marathon County, and its recent awards favor capital campaigns, facility upgrades, and civic infrastructure over broad, multi-site programming. That pattern appears in grants to County of Marathon for the Marathon County Regional Forensic Science Center and to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum for both operations and the Glass Box Studio. The foundation also backs community-serving institutions that anchor local life, including the DC Everest Education Foundation for the Greenheck Turner Community Center and the Wausau School Foundation for the Wausau School Forest Environmental Learning Center. Across its grant list, the foundation’s choices point toward durable projects that expand shared facilities, public services, and community access in Marathon County and nearby communities.
What Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation Funds
The Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation funds a mix of arts, education, health, and economic and social development work, but the strongest thread is support for projects tied to community infrastructure. In health access, it gave $125,000 to Healthfirst Network for the Healthfirst Network Mental Health Clinic and $115,000 to Aspirus Health Foundation Inc for NICU upgrades, including NicView camera kits and a transporter. In early childhood support, it awarded $100,000 to Children's Service Society of Wisconsin Dba Children's Hospital of Wisconsin for Start Right: Developing Safe, Healthy, School-Ready Children in Marathon County. The foundation also backs food and farm education, including $100,000 to Farming for the Future Foundation Inc for Cultivating Connections - Building the Food + Farm Exploration Center, and child-focused services such as $112,500 to Achieve Center for treatment focused childcare.
How Ba & Esther Greenheck Foundation Gives
Typical grant sizes cluster around mid-sized awards: p25 is $7,000, the median is $20,000, and p75 is $30,000. Recent grants also show repeated support to some recipients across multiple years, including Childcaring Inc for Good Start Grants in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and Children's Service Society of Wisconsin for Start Right in 2023 and 2024, which suggests some ongoing relationships alongside large one-time capital gifts. The foundation makes grants through competitive general grant programs and accepts unsolicited applications through its online portal and GrantInterface portal. It funds individuals and is not a program-related investment funder.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3.2M
Total Assets
$72.7M
Total Revenue
$5.3M
Total Expenses
$4.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $7K and $30K, with a median of $20K.
25th Percentile
$7K
Median
$20K
75th Percentile
$30K
Geographic Reach
Local4 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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