The Lori and David Nicholas
Mequon, WI · EIN 87-1448344. Reported 78 grants totalling $7,457,350 to 44 recipients across tax years 2022-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. The Lori and David Nicholas did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $50,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $20,000 and $120,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $600,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Door County Community Foundation Inc | Sturgeon Bay, WI | $1,320,000 | 6 | 3 | 2025 |
| Nativity Jesuit Academy | Milwaukee, WI | $1,170,634 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The Ridges Sanctuary Inc | Baileys Harbor, WI | $835,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Friends of Peninsula State Park Inc | Fish Creek, WI | $620,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Afar Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $550,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Uwm Foundation Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Dcmc | Sturgeon Bay, WI | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Domes Inc - Milwaukee Domes Alliance | Milwaukee, WI | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Grand Avenue Club Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $185,706 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Reflo Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $175,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Door County Bookmobile | Egg Harbor, WI | $160,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $156,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Peninsula School of Art Inc | Fish Creek, WI | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| South Central Library System Foundation | Madison, WI | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Village of Egg Harbor Peg Egan Pac | Egg Harbor, WI | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Friends of Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $115,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Friends of the Domes Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Radio Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | $95,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Egg Harbor Historical Society Inc | Egg Harbor, WI | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Gathering Waters Inc | Madison, WI | $70,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Door Shakespeare Inc | Baileys Harbor, WI | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| St Jude the Apostle School | Milwaukee, WI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Medical College of Wisconsin Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Write on Door County Inc | Fish Creek, WI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tall Pines Conservancy Inc | Nashotah, WI | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Northwoods Land Trust Inc | Eagle River, WI | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Ozaukee Washington Land Trust Inc | West Bend, WI | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Village of Egg Harbor | Egg Harbor, WI | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay | Green Bay, WI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Boys and Girls Club of the Blr | Green Bay, WI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias | Fairview Heights, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Gumbo Limbo Costal Stewards Inc | Boca Raton, FL | $23,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Aemilian Preschool Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $22,010 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Breckenridge Outdoor Education Ctr | Breckenridge, CO | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Crossroads at Big Creek Inc | Sturgeon Bay, WI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Door Community Auditorium Corp | Fish Creek, WI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tosa Tonight | Wauwatosa, WI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Educational Foundation Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Congregation of Holy Angels | West Bend, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| University of Wisconsin Green Bay Foundation Inc | Green Bay, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Kipsongo Project Inc | Heartland, WI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wheels for Winners Inc | Madison, WI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
22 of 44 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 61%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Nativity Jesuit Academy
DESIGNATED FOR THE NICHOLAS FAMILY FIELD - Afar Inc
TO SUPPORT THE UNIVERSAL PARK PROJECT. - Door County Community Foundation Inc
DESIGNATED FOR THE HSB FARM PRESERVATION FUND. - The Ridges Sanctuary Inc
TO SUPPORT CORE MISSION INITIATIVES; TO PROTECT THE NATURAL AREAS IN DOOR COUNTY KNOW AS 'THE RIDGES SANTUARY AND INSPIRE STEWARDSHIP OF NATURAL AREAS THROUGH PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION, OUTREACH AND RESEARCH. - Friends of Peninsula State Park Inc
DESIGNATED FOR THE MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL PROJECT. - Door County Community Foundation
TO SUPPORT DOOR COUNTY WORKFORCE HOUSING NEEDS. ELLIE HELM FOUNDATION & WILLIES CORNERSTONE FOUNDATION.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 57 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| 2023 | 26 | $2,142,340 | $40,000 |
| 2024 | 24 | $2,487,010 | $87,500 |
| 2025 | 27 | $2,798,000 | $50,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in Wisconsin. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $50,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Wisconsin.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Lori and David Nicholas's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 11501 N Port Washington Rd 220, Mequon, WI, 53092. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 87-1448344 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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