Capacity Building
Helping our partners do more for Wisconsin
As a hub for conservation funding in Wisconsin, we provide financial support and other services to hundreds of conservation and education organizations across Wisconsin. By investing in our partners, we hope to ensure you are effective, sustainable, and able to address the most important needs for Wisconsin’s natural resources, now and into the future.
Agency Endowment Funds
As a nonprofit organization we understand that operational support can be the most difficult to raise, but is just as critical to your mission as project and program funding. We are here to work with your organization to help you raise sustainable funding. Through our Wisconsin Conservation Endowment, we hold agency endowment funds for tax-exempt organizations that provides permanent, sustainable support for conservation and education work in Wisconsin.
We work with organizations including Trout Unlimited, River Alliance of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, Friends of Wisconsin State Parks, and many others to further those organizations’ conservation missions.
Capacity-building Grants
Through our CD Besadny Conservation Fund we accept applications for capacity-building investments such as internships, website development, educational materials, and other needs that help further your conservation mission.
Dollars invested from Besadny Grants
Organizations supported
Agency endowments held
Impact in Action
Battling Buckthorn at Bibon Swamp: Bayfield County’s Largest Wetland
Bibon Swamp State Natural Area’s high-quality habitat is threatened by invasive buckthorn, so we’re joining the battle to remove it.
Read MoreBird Photography 101 with Sunil Gopalan
Are you a budding photographer looking for a challenge? Try bird photography—it’s part technique, part timing, and a whole lot of patience.
Read More2025 Birdathon Report and Bird Protection Fund grants
This year’s Great Wisconsin Birdathon saw more than 600 birders come together to raise $127,001 to protect Wisconsin’s birds. These donations support the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s Bird Protection Fund, which supports Wisconsin’s highest-priority bird conservation projects.
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