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
2026 Birdathon Report and Bird Protection Fund grants
The 2026 Great Wisconsin Birdathon Report is here! This year, our birders raised a record-breaking amount of funds for bird conservation.
Read MoreMiddle School on the Marsh: Outdoor Experiential Learning
Kohler Middle School science teacher Nicole Nevers organized a class trip to the Sheboygan marsh, thanks to NRF’s Go Outside Fund. There, students learned about wetland ecology, canoeing, and the importance of freshwater ecosystems.
Read MoreUnder Control: Burning Lakeshore State Park
Lakeshore State Park underwent its first-ever prescribed burn in April 2025, a milestone project supported by the Foundation.
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