Wisconsin · Nonprofit
DISCOVERY WORLD LTD
DISCOVERY WORLD LTD (Wisconsin) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,241,737 to it, the largest being THE CUDAHY FOUNDATION ($7,077,575). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 95
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $54M
What Discovery World Ltd does
Mission
Discovery World educates, motivates,mobilizes and inspires the innovators and entrepreneurs of the 21st century. We connect innovation, science, and technology with exploration, environment, and our Great Lakes freshwater resources through interactive exhibits and experimental learning programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Discovery World is an extraordinary experience devoted to sharing the wonders of science and igniting a love of endless exploration. We are the spark of joy in a childs eyes when they make a connection with a living creature. We are the sudden and satisfying Aha when you discover something you didnt even know you were looking for. We are the beginning of your lifelong learning adventure. Here at our world-class facility on Lake Michigans shoreline (part of the largest freshwater system in the world!), a new discovery is always just around the corner, from exploring the underwater wonders of the Reiman Aquarium to launching rockets and hopping aboard the semi-truck of the Great Lakes. Bring your whats, whens, and whys; and embark on a path to discovering the answers to all of your curiosities-and unearthing new ones along the way! Our love of science knows no bounds. We empower you to learn virtually anywhere with classroom activities, exciting summer camps, and more. And, as part of the STEM ecosystem, we also touch on disciplines in technology, engineering, and mathematics.
$7,263,905 spentof which $50,000 as grants$4,498,277 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $7,263,905.
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 2024 to 2025, from $48M to $55M (+15%).
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 20% · 2021 49% · 2022 15% · 2023 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
66% of DISCOVERY WORLD LTD’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 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
John Emmerich
CEO and president
Board chair
Bruce Keyes
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 24 funders to 33 funders, grant income fell $613k → $489k.
14 of 95 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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: $744k from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money DISCOVERY WORLD LTD raised.
From the IRS filings of DISCOVERY WORLD LTD’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 95 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
DISCOVERY WORLD LTD leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 39% · 2019 32% · 2020 16% · 2021 17% · 2022 46% · 2023 18% — 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
34% of DISCOVERY WORLD LTD's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
92% of DISCOVERY WORLD LTD's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $605k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
DISCOVERY WORLD LTD runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding DISCOVERY WORLD LTD receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $122k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$122k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like DISCOVERY WORLD LTD
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
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 DISCOVERY WORLD LTD: 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 DISCOVERY WORLD LTD?
- DISCOVERY WORLD LTD (Wisconsin) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,241,737 to it, the largest being THE CUDAHY FOUNDATION ($7,077,575). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DISCOVERY WORLD LTD have?
- IRS filings report 95 organizations giving $12,241,737 in grants to DISCOVERY WORLD LTD, 67 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DISCOVERY WORLD LTD?
- THE CUDAHY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $7,077,575 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DISCOVERY WORLD LTD 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 95 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