Wisconsin · Nonprofit
5 LAKES INSTITUTE
5 LAKES INSTITUTE (Wisconsin) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $120,000 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($100,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 88% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2026
- $26k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $120k
- Net assets
- $51k
What 5 Lakes Institute does
Mission
5 Lakes Institute is a curated network of entrepreneurs, research organizations, investors, and business and government leaders that drives and amplifies diverse and inclusive tech-enabled gdp growth in the midwest and great lakes region.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Program
Successfully organized in partnership with midwest research university network (mrun)six virtual programs that: faacilitated nearly 600 one-on-one meetings between regional research organizations and investors. Attracted over 325 key people from companies, venture capital firms, universities,and government to learn from our programming. Educated our coalition members about innovation resources at 11 organizations from ten different areas of our region. Produced three newsletters to update/educate our coalition about regional innovation in the food & ag tech, energy-industrial and human health areas. Supported the executive directors columns for the milwaukee journal sentinel to educate about technology and innovation issues in the great lakes region. Supported season 5 and 5 of the executive directors midwest moxie program (available at wuwm and podcast platforms), which highlights successful founders in the region and provides educational opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs. Developed and deployed educational and ecosystem-building initiatives around the region's strength in fusion energy: formeed the wisconsin fusion energy coalition partnered with fusionx to hold a one-day…
$87,508 spent$26,471 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $87,508.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $220k to $65k (−70%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 29% · 2021 28% · 2022 43% · 2024 43%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
83% of 5 LAKES INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (89% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Mark Ehrmann
Chairman
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2020: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $100k → $20k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 88% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of 5 LAKES INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
5 LAKES INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
92% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund 5 LAKES INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 50% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
88% of 5 LAKES INSTITUTE's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $15k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Wisconsin funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $105k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
5 LAKES INSTITUTE's revenue fell 95% between 2020 and 2026.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 14 science & tech nonprofits under $100k, FY2026
Organizations like 5 LAKES INSTITUTE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Wisconsin
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for 5 LAKES INSTITUTE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds 5 LAKES INSTITUTE?
- 5 LAKES INSTITUTE (Wisconsin) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $120,000 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($100,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 88% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does 5 LAKES INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $120,000 in grants to 5 LAKES INSTITUTE.
- Who is the largest funder of 5 LAKES INSTITUTE?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like 5 LAKES INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2020–2026), and the filings of 4 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing