Wisconsin · Nonprofit
American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc
American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc (Wisconsin) receives grants from 59 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,292,619 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,681,074). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 59
- Grants received
- $6.3M
- Net assets
- $25M
What American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc does
Mission
American Players Theatre's mission is to perform timeless, challlenging, poetic texts with Shakespeare at the center to the broadest audience possible. We strive to share our understanding that great poetry and stories, both from our past and from the emerging voices of our future, can
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Theatrical performances and education of the publiv and actor relating to classical theare. The 1089 seat outdoor theater sits in a natural amphitheater on 110 wooded acres near the Wisconsin River, as does the 200 seat indoor Touchstone Theatre. Shakespeare is the foundation of American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc.s (APT) repertoire, although other masters from the past and present are heard from as well. Artistic Director Brenda DeVita and the company of professional actors focus on making the language of these workds understandable and accessible. APTs work is intensely poetic, great stories of love, life and humanity.
$4,520,860 spent$7,442,069 earned by the program96% of program spendingThe theatre annually produces nine plays in rotating repertory. The staff numbers nearly 200 at the height of the season, including an acting company of 47. Each season, APT welcomes more than 100,000 patrons including over 5,000 school students, making it among the most popular outdoor classical theaters in the country.
APT Teaching Artists travel to schools to lead workshops and residencies for students across the state of Wisconsin. Workshops are built built to accompany productions in our Student Matinee Series. All schools that have booked tickets to an APT Student Matinee are eligible for a a Fall Workshop visit. In 2024 22 schools hosted Residencies, serving 1,321 students. APTs Classroom Residencies offer a variety of programming options for students grades K-12 throughout the academic year. Residencies are designed to empower students to explore literature like never before with APTs signature flair. In 2024, 21 schools hosted Residencies, serviing 3,409 students.
$175,631 spent$54,094 earned by the program4% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,696,491.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2020 to 2021, from $19M to $24M (+25%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 2% · 2020 4% · 2021 25% · 2022 13% · 2023 1% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 32 funders, grant income rose $492k → $587k.
21 of 59 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.4M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest American Players Theatre Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 59 funders by total. 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
American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 57%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
75% 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 American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 19% · 2019 27% · 2020 26% · 2021 25% · 2022 26% · 2023 25% — 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.
How long its funders stay
56% of American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
70% of American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc'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 $1.9M that is directly attributable, 56% of it comes from funders outside Wisconsin, across 10 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 5 related entities
- APT Baltimore St Apartments LLC · disregarded
- APT Cole Street Apartments LLC · disregarded
- APT Sunrise Drive Apartments LLC · disregarded
- APT Apartments LLC · disregarded
- American Players Theatre Foundation Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc: 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 American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc?
- American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc (Wisconsin) receives grants from 59 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,292,619 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,681,074). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc have?
- IRS filings report 59 organizations giving $6,292,619 in grants to American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,681,074 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 59 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing