Couillard Solar Foundation Inc.

Couillard Solar Foundation Inc. is a small, founder-run family foundation (Cal Couillard, Treasurer; Laurie Couillard, President; Elise Couillard, Director; Claire Lindstrom, Secretary — all uncompensated) based in Deerfield, WI, with roughly $4.3M in assets. It does not fund general operating support or unrestricted cash grants; it funds one thing — solar access — through two structured, program-branded channels: Solar for Good (administered jointly with RENEW Wisconsin, for non-school nonprofits and houses of worship) and Solar on Schools (direct to public K-12/college institutions). This is not a foundation where you pitch an open-ended concept; it is an in-kind-plus-cash panel/technical-assistance program with a defined award structure (up to 50% of a project's panels, capped at 75 panels/~$12,500 for systems under 75kW or 150 panels/~$25,000 for larger systems, plus a newer Solar Canopy cash tier starting at $6,000 for the first 20kW). First-time applicants should know three things: (1) you need an installer-prepared bid before you apply — awards are sized against an actual system design, not a concept; (2) mission alignment matters as much as the technical ask — CSF's grantee list (Solar For Good, Solar On Schools, Midwest Renewable Energy Association, Renew Wisconsin, Owen-Withee High School, Deerfield Fire Department) shows a strong preference for organizations serving low-income, rural, elderly, veteran, or historically underserved communities; and (3) relationships run through RENEW Wisconsin's Solar for Good portal and the Foundation's own Executive Director (Jackie Harrison-Jewell) rather than a formal LOI-to-board pipeline — there is no multi-stage site-visit courtship process typical of larger funders. Given the November 2025 board vote to dissolve the Foundation over the next one to two years, applicants should treat every remaining cycle as time-sensitive: apply in the next scheduled window rather than waiting, since committed grantees will be honored but new capacity will shrink as the wind-down progresses and programs transition to partner organizations (chiefly RENEW Wisconsin).

CSF's total giving has been volatile and program-driven rather than steadily growing: $548,404 (2019) → $1,184,466 (2020) → $872,873 (2021) → $1,034,935 (2022) → $817,477 (2023), against grants-paid figures of $412,964 / $779,199 / $727,595 / $733,406 / $439,707 in the same years — a pattern consistent with a foundation funding discrete panel/canopy installations rather than multi-year pledges. Total assets have declined from $6.34M (2019) to $4.31M (2024), consistent with a foundation that is spending down rather than endowing growth, which lines up with the dissolution announcement. The foundation's own published typical-grant data shows a median of $90,000 (average $122,234) across a range of $36,725–$287,684 for six recorded grants; platform data separately cites a $60,088 typical grant with a $18,981–$143,171 range across 28 grants to 15 organizations, 2020-2023, totaling $2.7M. In our database, 18 Wisconsin-based grants total $1,900,708 at an average of $105,595, with all recorded activity concentrated in-state (100% WI). The top recipients by cumulative dollars are Solar For Good itself ($702,821 across 3 grants — the RENEW Wisconsin-administered pass-through), Solar On Schools ($313,579/3 grants), Midwest Renewable Energy Association ($310,176/3 grants), Renew Wisconsin ($234,026/3 grants for advocacy/education/collaborative initiatives), Owen-Withee High School ($158,516/3 grants), Chippewa Valley Technical College ($114,200/1 grant), and Deerfield Fire Department ($67,390/2 grants). This concentration — five recipients capturing over 90% of tracked dollars — shows CSF operates largely as a program funder and infrastructure funder (funding the delivery mechanisms: RENEW Wisconsin and MREA) rather than a broad small-grants funder, even though downstream, dozens of individual nonprofits and schools receive panels through those programs each cycle (18 nonprofits shared roughly $100K–$280K per round in 2025).

Couillard sits squarely in the middle of a cluster of small, single-state environment-focused family foundations all holding $4.2M-$4.4M in assets — none of the identified peers publish grantee lists, asset detail, or open-application signals as transparently as CSF, which runs a genuinely open, branded, dual-track application process (Solar for Good / Solar on Schools) rather than an invitation-only model. That transparency and structure — plus its narrow, single-issue (solar) focus versus peers' broader unspecified 'Environment' mandate — make CSF unusually accessible for a foundation this size, though its impending dissolution (2026-2027 wind-down) means it will not remain a viable long-term prospect the way size-matched peers might.

The dominant recent development is organizational: in mid-November 2025 the Couillard Solar Foundation's board voted to dissolve the Foundation, with a wind-down of one to two years. Current grantees and canopy orders already in the pipeline will still be honored, and the Foundation's programs — chiefly Solar for Good — are transitioning to partner organizations, with RENEW Wisconsin positioned to continue administering the program. Just weeks before that vote, on October 28, 2025, the Foundation funded the 13th round of Solar for Good, distributing over $100,000 in cash and panel donations to 11 organizations across Wisconsin — four public libraries (Mondovi, Elroy, Alma, Independence), the Social Justice Center in Madison, Wonewoc Area Lions Club and Fire Department, two houses of worship/camps (Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society, Luther Park Bible Camp), and two affordable-housing developments (Sunny Side Development, Hope Village) — enabling 911 panels and roughly 500 kW of new capacity. Executive Director Jackie Harrison-Jewell has been the public voice of the program in 2025, explicitly citing the withdrawal of other clean-energy grant support and the pending elimination of federal solar tax credits as reasons nonprofits should apply now. Earlier in 2025 (January 24), manufacturer Trinasolar US donated over 1,200 high-performance PERC modules (479 kW) to support the Foundation's rural Wisconsin work, an example of the in-kind manufacturer partnerships that supplement CSF's own cash giving. No leadership changes among the Couillard family board (Cal, Laurie, Elise Couillard; Claire Lindstrom) were identified in 2025-2026 reporting.

Apply now, not later: with the Foundation's board having voted in November 2025 to dissolve over the following one to two years, the number of remaining Solar for Good and Solar on Schools cycles is finite — target the next scheduled window (historically spring/April and fall/October) rather than treating this as an evergreen funder. Come with a contractor bid, not a concept: CSF sizes awards (up to 50% of needed panels, capped at 75 panels/~$12,500 under 75kW or 150 panels/~$25,000 at 75kW+, or the newer Solar Canopy cash tier starting at $6,000 for the first 20kW plus $3,000/10kW) against an actual installer-prepared system design, so get quotes locked in before applying. Apply as close to your intended installation date as the Foundation's own FAQ recommends — timing your ask to actual procurement, not a hypothetical future project, appears to improve panel-availability odds. Match your framing to CSF's stated priority populations: proposals should explicitly connect the solar project to underserved constituencies — low-income communities, rural areas, elderly or veteran populations, communities of color, or houses of worship/service nonprofits — since the Foundation and RENEW Wisconsin's published criteria name these groups directly, and the FY2025 grantee list (libraries, affordable housing, a social justice center, fire departments) reflects that emphasis in practice. Route the right program: public schools (K-12 through college) apply via Solar on Schools; every other nonprofit type (libraries, houses of worship, service clubs, VFWs, food banks, senior housing) applies via Solar for Good, administered through RENEW Wisconsin's portal, not directly through CSF's own website. A common mistake is applying to CSF directly for Solar for Good — the actual application intake sits on RENEW Wisconsin's Solar for Good page, and CSF's own site simply funds and co-brands it. Since the review process is lean (a founder-run, uncompensated four-person board with an Executive Director as the operational point of contact — Jackie Harrison-Jewell), there is no multi-stage LOI/site-visit courtship to manage; a complete, well-documented application with a real bid is the main lever. Also worth leveraging: the Foundation actively promotes funded projects (ribbon cuttings, press releases, presentations), so applicants who can offer a strong local story or media hook may stand out given CSF's evident interest in visible community impact.