Wisconsin · Nonprofit
CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR
CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR (Wisconsin) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,705,086 to it, the largest being CLIMATE EMERGENCY FUND ($406,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $871k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $888k
What Center for the Working Poor does
Mission
To provide community education and empowerment, community space for programs, and to develop programs and initiatives supporting poverty, economic insecurity and mental health issues.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program and a significant change in how it conducts a program.
During FY2025 CWP undertook two significant program services not separately disclosed on the prior Form 990: (1) Whirlwind Institute fiscal sponsorship (November 2024 - October 2025), with $834,015 in FY2025 program expense, concluded in October 2025 upon Whirlwind's achievement of independent 501(c)(3) status - see Line 3 narrative; and (2) 12 Step for Everyone / FSA fiscal sponsorship, an ongoing Model A initiative integrating 12-step recovery practices with contemplative-spiritual formation, addressing addiction, mental health, and economic insecurity, with $109,074 in FY2025 program expense and $335,926 remaining restricted at year-end designated for 2026 program work.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
CWP concluded two program services during FY2025: (1) The Whirlwind Institute fiscal sponsorship was concluded in October 2025 upon Whirlwind's achievement of independent 501(c)(3) status. CWP transferred $705,438 in unexpended Whirlwind-restricted contributions in October 2025, and per a Grant Agreement dated 9/30/2025 Whirlwind contributed $80,000 back to CWP as an unrestricted grant supporting CWP's Executive Director's continued work benefiting both organizations. No Whirlwind-restricted balance remains on CWP's books at 12/31/2025. (2) The Publishing program previously listed on CWP's prior Form 990 - writing and publishing books, articles, and a newspaper - has been consolidated into Whirlwind Institute's program activity as part of the spin-off described in (1). Publishing-related content production now occurs through Whirlwind as an independent 501(c)(3).
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Whirlwind Institute Fiscal Sponsorship (Movement Strategy Resource Project, EIN 99-3107114). CWP served as Model A fiscal sponsor from November 2024 through October 2025, receiving donor-restricted contributions designated for Whirlwind program work, paying direct program expenses on Whirlwind's behalf, and on Whirlwind's spin-off to independent 501(c)(3) status transferring $705,438 in unexpended restricted balances. See line 3 narrative.
$834,015 spentof which $785,438 as grants78% of program spending12 Step for Everyone / False Selves For Everyone Initiative. CWP serves as Model A fiscal sponsor for an initiative integrating 12-step recovery practices with contemplative-spiritual formation, addressing addiction, mental health, and economic insecurity. FY2025 activity included three-day trainings for volunteer meeting leaders, organizational DNA development, and replication-ready curriculum design.
$109,075 spent10% of program spendingEducation & Training the public about poverty, economic insecurity, and mental health issues and providing consulting and technical assistance to nonprofits and individuals working on related charitable activities. Includes program-support grants to peer nonprofits and individuals advancing related charitable purposes.
$102,624 spentof which $50,728 as grants10% of program spendingCommunity House - Providing community space for housing, community building, and offering programs at CWP property.
$20,130 spent2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,065,844.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2023 to 2024, from $501k to $1.1M (+123%).
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.
100% of CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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.
Chief executive
Paul Engler
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $1k → $263k.
4 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 23% 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: $80k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Movement Strategy Resource Project). These are real filings, and they are not money CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR raised.
From the IRS filings of CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR’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
CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
94% 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 CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 63% · 2023 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.
How long its funders stay
20% of CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 36% 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
CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Wisconsin, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $401k 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.
Against its field
CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR has grown faster than three-quarters of the 13,062 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,062 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR
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
98% 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 CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR: 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 CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR?
- CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR (Wisconsin) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,705,086 to it, the largest being CLIMATE EMERGENCY FUND ($406,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $1,705,086 in grants to CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR?
- CLIMATE EMERGENCY FUND is the largest funder on record, with $406,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR 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 2022–2025), and the filings of 11 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