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Wisconsin · Nonprofit

BADGERS UNITED INC

BADGERS UNITED INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $746,750 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY INC ($256,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$92k
Funders on record
12
Grants received
$747k
Net assets
$297k
4/12 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Badgers United Inc does

Mission

Research and compile the ways uw-madison positively impacts the state's economy and the ongoing applicability of the "wisconsin idea". Analyze uw-madison's governance structure and identify cost-effective changes to maintain and strengthen these contributions to the state going forward. Create public relations and education campaigns via digital and traditional media to improve the public's understanding of uw-madison's significant economic impact and how it is impacted by governance structure and policy decisions.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Education - research and compile the ways uw-madison positively impacts the state's economy and the ongoing applicability of the "wisconsin idea and to analyze uw-madison's governance structure and identify cost-effective changes to maintain and strengthen these contributions to the state going forward. It also creates public relations and education campaigns via digital and traditional media to improve the public's understanding of uw-madison's significant economic impact and how it is impacted by governance structure and policy decisions.

    $74,922 spentof which $15,000 as grants
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $74,922.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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.

100 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($1.1M) Expenses 100 ($425k) Net assets 100 ($699k)2020 Revenue 13 ($151k) Expenses 160 ($681k) Net assets 24 ($169k)2021 Revenue 50 ($561k) Expenses 120 ($509k) Net assets 32 ($221k)2022 Revenue 11 ($121k) Expenses 43 ($184k) Net assets 23 ($158k)2023 Revenue 31 ($343k) Expenses 33 ($140k) Net assets 52 ($361k)2024 Revenue 6 ($71k) Expenses 26 ($112k) Net assets 46 ($320k)2025 Revenue 8 ($92k) Expenses 27 ($116k) Net assets 42 ($297k)
2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue (8)Expenses (27)Net assets (42)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $700k to $202k (−71%).

$700k
$202k
$315k
$163k
$361k
$320k
$297k
2019202020212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

96% of BADGERS UNITED INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (95% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 8,549 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$699k
’19
−$530k
’20
$52k
’21
−$63k
’22
$203k
’23
−$41k
’24
−$23k
’25
31
months of
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.

Chief executive

Brian Hellmer

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

201920202021202320242025
Listed1718151444
Joined·+1+1·+0+1
No longer listed·04·101
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2019 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $8k → $1k.

3 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 BADGERS UNITED INC’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

BADGERS UNITED INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

53% 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 BADGERS UNITED INC.

34%
largest funder
76%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 31% · 2021 42% · 2022 54% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.

“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

0% of BADGERS UNITED INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 33% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

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

BADGERS UNITED INC draws 55% of its grant income from funders outside Wisconsin, across 5 states in all.

WI
NY
NJ
CA
DE

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Wisconsin out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $140k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

BADGERS UNITED INC is better cushioned than half of the 4,748 philanthropy nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−25% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve30.7mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−34% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,748 philanthropy nonprofits under $100k, FY2025

Organizations like BADGERS UNITED 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

65% of spending goes to programs.

Program 65%Management 25%Fundraising 10%

Governance

3
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

37%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

WI

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Badger Advocates Inc · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BADGERS UNITED 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 BADGERS UNITED INC?
BADGERS UNITED INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $746,750 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY INC ($256,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does BADGERS UNITED INC have?
IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $746,750 in grants to BADGERS UNITED INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of BADGERS UNITED INC?
UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY INC is the largest funder on record, with $256,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like BADGERS UNITED 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 FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 12 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