The Bethke Family Foundation concentrates virtually all its grantmaking on a single local public school system, providing very large, multi-grant support to the Augusta Area School District. Its giving is highly place-based and education-focused, suggesting a philanthropic interest in strengthening K–12 public education and related community benefits in the foundation’s region of Wisconsin.
Highly concentrated: very large gifts to one recurring grantee (Augusta Area School District). Few grants overall, repeat funding to the same local public-school recipient rather than distributed or national giving.
Bethke Family Foundation Inc 75001000 has centered nearly all of its recent grantmaking on Augusta Area School District, including two very large charitable grants in consecutive years. That pattern makes the foundation notably place-based and school-focused: its largest recent awards go to district-wide support for a single public school system in central Wisconsin, rather than a broad portfolio of unrelated causes. The recent grant list also shows smaller charitable gifts alongside that core relationship, including support for local and national nonprofits. The foundation’s recurring district support suggests an ongoing commitment to K–12 public education, with funding that can reach both program needs and capital-related priorities. Outside the school district, its gifts include a contribution to Woodlands Church in Plover and modest charitable grants to organizations such as Tunnel to Towers Foundation, American Heart Association, Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin, and National Foundation for Cancer Research. This mix shows a primary emphasis on one local education institution, with a limited set of additional charitable awards in the same year.
The clearest theme in the foundation’s giving is K–12 public education. In 2025, Bethke Family Foundation Inc 75001000 gave $4,824,538 to Augusta Area School District for charitable purposes, following a $4,088,627 grant to the same district in 2024. It also made a smaller $79,235 grant to the district in 2023, reinforcing the recurring nature of that support. A second education-adjacent pattern appears in local community giving tied to central Wisconsin. The foundation awarded $10,000 to Woodlands Church in Plover, which places at least some of its giving within the broader regional community around its school-focused work. Smaller 2025 grants also went to Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin, Tunnel to Towers Foundation, American Heart Association, and National Foundation for Cancer Research, showing that the foundation’s charitable activity extends beyond a single institution while remaining modest in scope outside the district relationship.
Recent grant size varies sharply. The middle of the distribution is small, with a p25 of $3,000 and a median of $6,500, while the p75 rises to $1,081,583 because of the foundation’s very large district awards. The pattern is highly concentrated: Augusta Area School District appears in 2023, 2024, and 2025, indicating recurring support over multiple years rather than one-off giving. The foundation is not making program-related investments and does not fund individuals. Its grants are charitable, with the largest awards tied to the same local public school district and smaller gifts placed around that core relationship.
$9M
$30K
$4M
$4.9M
Most grants fall between $3K and $1.1M, with a median of $7K.
25th Percentile
$3K
Median
$7K
75th Percentile
$1.1M
About 63% of grants go to recipients in WI.
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Notable grantees: Augusta Area School District
Giving is overwhelmingly Wisconsin-centered. Sixty-two percent of grants go to recipients in the foundation’s headquarters state of Wisconsin, and the top state by grant count is also Wisconsin. The recent recipient list includes Augusta, Plover, and Stevens Point in Wisconsin, along with single grants to Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, DC. All recorded grants in the provided data went to US recipients, with no non-US grant destinations shown.
Its recent grantmaking is dominated by Augusta Area School District in Augusta, WI. The foundation has made very large charitable grants to that district in 2024 and 2025, plus a smaller grant in 2023, showing a sustained focus on district-wide public education support in central Wisconsin.
The grant-size profile is polarized. The p25 is $3,000 and the median is $6,500, but the p75 is $1,081,583 because the foundation also makes multi-million-dollar awards to the school district.
Yes. Wisconsin is the top state by grant count, and 62% of grants go to recipients in the foundation’s headquarters state. Recent Wisconsin recipients include Augusta, Plover, and Stevens Point.
Yes. Augusta Area School District appears across three consecutive years in the recent grants list: 2023, 2024, and 2025. That pattern suggests ongoing, repeated support rather than single-year grants.
The recent list includes a church, a community foundation, and national charities. Examples include Woodlands Church in Plover, Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin in Stevens Point, and single $3,000 gifts to Tunnel to Towers Foundation, American Heart Association, and National Foundation for Cancer Research.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta Area School District | Augusta, WI | $4,824,538 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| WOODLANDS CHURCH | PLOVER, WI | $10,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION | PHILADELPHIA, PA | $3,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN | STEVENS POINT, WI | $3,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION | PHOENIX, AZ | $3,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH | WASHINGTON, DC | $3,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| Augusta Area School District | Augusta, WI | $4,088,627 | 2024 | CHARITABLE |
| Augusta Area School District | Augusta, WI | $79,235 | 2023 | CHARITABLE |
Augusta Area School District
$4,824,538CHARITABLE
WOODLANDS CHURCH
$10,000CHARITABLE
TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION
$3,000CHARITABLE
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN
$3,000CHARITABLE
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
$3,000CHARITABLE
NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH
$3,000CHARITABLE
Augusta Area School District
CHARITABLE
Augusta Area School District
$79,235CHARITABLE