Raibrook Foundation Inc.

Raibrook Foundation operates as a tightly focused community endowment serving one of Wisconsin's most distinctive regions — Door County — with an unwavering geographic mandate. Founded in 1990 by a local philanthropist and now in its 35th year, the foundation has never expanded beyond its original three-focus mission of Education, History, and Recreation. This stability is deliberate: the foundation's ~$27M in assets are managed as a pure endowment funded entirely by investment returns, with zero external contributions received in any year from 2012 through 2024. That independence insulates it from donor pressure to shift priorities.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on project partnership, not sole sponsorship. Its guidelines explicitly state it will not fund 100% of any project cost, meaning every competitive application must demonstrate that co-funders have been confirmed or allocated. Organizations that approach Raibrook expecting full project coverage will be declined regardless of merit. This co-funding expectation signals a preference for applicants with demonstrated community relationships and the organizational capacity to manage multi-funder projects.

First-time applicants have a meaningful built-in advantage in how the foundation structures intake: Julie LaLuzerne, the full-time Secretary and Grants Manager (~$108,000 annual compensation in 2024), actively encourages pre-submission phone calls. This is not performative hospitality — it reflects the foundation's small-community operating culture, where personal relationships with program staff carry real weight in the evaluation process. Organizations that invest in a preliminary call to discuss project alignment typically receive substantive guidance that strengthens their eventual application.

Board governance is lean: Thomas O. Wulf (President), Michael L. Madden (Vice President), Amy J. Stephens (Treasurer), and Roger L. Wood (Board Member) each receive $6,000/year in nominal compensation. LaLuzerne is the sole full-time employee and the operational anchor of all grantmaking activity. Because she manages every stage of the process — intake, review support, communications, and award administration — building and maintaining a direct relationship with her is strategically important for any applicant seeking multi-year engagement with this funder.

Raibrook Foundation distributes between $1.1M and $1.9M annually, sustained entirely from investment income on a $26-27M endowment. The foundation received zero external contributions from 2012 through 2024, relying exclusively on dividends, capital gains, and interest. In fiscal year 2024, the foundation disbursed approximately $1.57M in charitable grants from $1.85M in total revenue (63.5% from asset sales, 30.6% from dividends, 1.1% from interest, 4.7% other income).

Historical annual giving trend: - 2024: ~$1.57M disbursed (FY2024 990-PF data) - 2023: $1.70M total giving, $1.25M grants paid - 2022: $1.75M total giving, $1.26M grants paid - 2021: $1.91M total giving, $1.44M grants paid (decade high) - 2020: $1.62M total giving, $1.11M grants paid - 2019: $1.69M total giving, $1.12M grants paid, 41 grants made - 2015: $1.63M total giving, $1.07M grants paid

With 41 grants reported in 2019 and $1.12M in grants paid that year, the implied average grant size is approximately $27,000-$41,000. The publicly stated range is $1,000 to $100,000+, with Mini Grants capped at $500 and General Grants handling all amounts above that floor. No formal maximum is published; $100,000 appears to be the practical upper bound based on third-party aggregator data.

The three focus areas — Education, History, and Recreation — receive consideration without a published percentage breakdown by category. Given Door County's character as both a permanent community and a regional visitor destination, typical grantees likely include public library enrichment programs, school after-school or summer programming, historic site preservation and interpretation projects, trail and park infrastructure, waterfront access improvements, and recreational programming for residents and visitors alike.

Geographic concentration is strict and enforced: all giving flows to Door County, with the highest priority for Sturgeon Bay and the townships of Nasewaupee, Sevastopol, and Sturgeon Bay. Giving has moderated from the 2021 peak (driven by a $2.78M net investment income year) to a stable $1.5-1.7M annual range, consistent with broader endowment normalization since 2022.

No peer foundations were returned from the grants database for Raibrook Foundation. The table below benchmarks Raibrook against comparable Wisconsin community funders using publicly available data from ProPublica, Candid, and third-party aggregators. Figures marked est. are approximations and should be verified against current 990 filings before citing.

Raibrook's defining distinction among Wisconsin community funders is its intentional single-county constraint — a founding donor decision, not a resource limitation. With $27.1M in verified assets, Raibrook is larger than many single-county funders in the state yet deliberately concentrates every grant dollar within one county's borders. This intensity of focus means that Door County nonprofits face less competition from regional organizations than they would at larger Wisconsin foundations. Applicants with deep community roots in Sturgeon Bay, Nasewaupee, Sevastopol, or the broader Door County peninsula have a structural competitive advantage here that does not exist at the larger regional funders listed above.

No major news announcements, leadership transitions, or new program initiatives were found from web research for 2025 or 2026. The foundation maintains an intentionally low public profile consistent with its community-relationship-based operating style — there is no active social media presence, press office, or regular newsletter cited in any publicly available source.

The most recent third-party data updates confirm active operations: Instrumentl updated the foundation's profile on June 9, 2025, and lists a September 2, 2025 deadline as an upcoming General Grant date, confirming the monthly cycle continues uninterrupted. Julie LaLuzerne has held the Secretary/Grants Manager role continuously through at least 2019-2024 based on IRS Form 990-PF filings, representing one of the most stable grants administration arrangements among foundations of this size in Wisconsin.

Fiscal year 2024 IRS data shows total charitable disbursements of $1.57M against $1.85M in total revenue — a net asset draw of approximately $47,000, within the normal variation of investment-supported endowments. Board compensation remained consistent at $6,000 annually for core officers, indicating no structural governance changes. Officer compensation for LaLuzerne increased modestly from ~$97,000 in 2020 to ~$108,000 in 2024, suggesting standard cost-of-living adjustments rather than an organizational expansion.

The 2021 peak in annual giving ($1.91M, driven by $2.78M in net investment income that year) has since normalized to $1.57-1.75M, a range consistent with market-linked endowment income trends. No signs of programmatic contraction or expansion were identified.

Start with a phone call, not a portal login. Julie LaLuzerne (920-746-2995 ext. 102, julie@raibrookfoundation.com) is the foundation's sole program officer and the most important relationship you can build. The foundation explicitly encourages pre-application calls from first-time applicants, and this step often surfaces eligibility issues, budget questions, or timing considerations before they become problems in the formal review. Do not skip this step.

Frame every request as a discrete project, not organizational support. Raibrook does not fund general operations, annual appeals, sponsorships, debt retirement, or endowments. Every competitive application must describe a specific project with a defined scope, timeline, deliverables, and budget. Write "install ADA-accessible trail signage at Potawatomi State Park" rather than "support our conservation programs." The more concretely you can articulate what will be built, installed, taught, or delivered, the stronger your application.

Lead with confirmed co-funding. The foundation's co-funder requirement is firm: your budget must show that other funding sources are confirmed or allocated, not merely pending. A line reading "$10,000 confirmed from Door County Community Foundation" is significantly more credible than "$10,000 — in progress." Applications where Raibrook's grant is framed as the enabling piece of a larger confirmed funding picture consistently outperform single-funder requests.

Align explicitly to Education, History, or Recreation — or all three. These three areas are the founding mandate and the lens through which every grant is evaluated. Projects that genuinely bridge multiple areas (a historical maritime interpretive exhibit that also serves school field trips and recreational tourism) should frame this integration explicitly. The foundation's mission language includes benefit to both year-round residents and seasonal visitors — a framing that opens the door for projects tied to Door County's tourism and cultural heritage economy.

Optimize your submission timing. General Grants are due by midnight on the 1st of each month. For a project launching in June, submit no later than May 1 to allow the four-week review window. For first-time applicants, March or April submissions avoid the compressed summer schedule and give LaLuzerne time to discuss your project in advance.

Never purchase materials early. The foundation is explicit: it will not reimburse items purchased before grant approval. Do not order supplies, sign contracts, or begin any project expenditure until you receive the official award letter.