Wisconsin · Nonprofit
EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC
EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $231,553 to it, the largest being DONALD E WEIG CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ($187,568). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $865k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $232k
- Net assets
- $3.4M
What East Troy Railroad Museum Inc does
Mission
A not-for-profit educational corporation dedicated to engaging visitors in the heritage of electric interurban railways and trolley systems through restoration, preservation and operation of historic equipment.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Our mission is to engage visitors in the heritage of electric interurban railways and trolley systems through restoration, preservation and operation of historic equipment. We deliver this mission by providing educational train rides staffed by conductors or car hosts who explain the history of our railroad line, the benefits this line brought to the communities along the line, and the major role that railroads and electric interurban systems played in the development of the united states of america. Passengers travel in historic railroad cars and streetcars, restored to their period appearance, and experience what it would have been like to ride these same cars 90 to 100 years ago. Just under 25,000 passengers rode our trains in 2024.
$552,224 spent$493,860 earned by the program100% of program spendingWe offer fun and educational experiences for elementary students. Field trips aboard our historic railroad cars provide a unique environment in which students can experience and discuss a wide range of science, electrical, and social lessons. We have established a school transportation endowment fund that offers subsidies to help pay for school buses to bring students to the railroad. We hosted 436 children on field trips in 2024.
$3,600 earned by the programWe provide stem-based educational programming that caters to the lower elementary grades k-2 or to the upper elementary grades 3-5. Our stem curriculum was developed by educators in accordance with state of wisconsin standards. A program is presented at themuseum depot in east troy and involves a short talk on the subject of electricity and motion, a gradeappropriate hands-on activity, and a 30 minute ride on one of our historic trolleys or electric railroad cars, including the history of the trolleyline. This program can also be delivered in a school setting, without the actual train ride. Approximately 150 students participated in these programs in 2024.
$900 earned by the program
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $552,224.
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 $3.3M to $3.5M (+6%).
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.
36% of EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Ryan Jonas
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $31k → $14k.
3 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM 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
EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 81% of grant income and the top three 90%; 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 97% · 2018 99% · 2019 95% · 2020 95% · 2021 48% · 2022 48% · 2023 72% — 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
100% of EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 63% 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
90% of EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $19k 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
EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM 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
80% 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
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- East Troy Railway Company Inc · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM 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 EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC?
- EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $231,553 to it, the largest being DONALD E WEIG CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ($187,568). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $231,553 in grants to EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM INC?
- DONALD E WEIG CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $187,568 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EAST TROY RAILROAD MUSEUM 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.
Play a game about who funds East Troy Railroad Museum →
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 8 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