Wisconsin · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC
FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $130,560 to it, the largest being HENDRICKS FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($72,500). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $315k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $131k
- Net assets
- $941k
What Friends of the Welty Environmental Center Inc does
Mission
Our mission is to provide leadership in environmental education by equitably engaging the diverse residents of the Stateline region with activities that foster an appreciation of nature & promote environmental stewardship
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Weltys main source of program revenue and expenses are field trips for area school districts (Beloit, Turner, Janesville, Milton), preschool programs (Even Start, Head Start, Community Kids) and private and charter school groups(The Lincoln Academy,Rock Co.Montessouri). We also provide programing for service organizations (YMCA, Community Action) funded by local granting agencies (Stateline Community Foundation. Hendricks Family Foundation, Ecolab Foundation). Most of these trips happen at Big Hill Park, where the Welty Center is located, but Welty also leads after school programs that take place in school building (SDBs Todd Elementary). Participants: 7,112
$68,308 spentof which $2,285 as grants$26,970 earned by the program33% of program spendingWelty offers nature-themed public programs at its Big Hill Park location and other sites in the Stateline Area (Nature at the Confluence, Nygren Wetlands, Beckman Mill County Park) for individuals & families. Welty also runs day camps & no-school days during the school year, and weekly during the summer. Thanks to a National Science Foundation GEOPAths grant, Welty hosted high school interns for a semester-long experience, offered summer career exploration camps, and ran a summer day camp for autistic teenagers. Participation: 1,513
$68,308 spentof which $10,906 as grants$35,516 earned by the program33% of program spendingWelty leads environmental education programs on-request for service organizations (Rock Co.Conservationists, Skype-a-Scientist,YWCA) and area libraries. Welty sponsored an intern who brought programs to area service providers funded by a donation from a Welty donor. WElty also host table activities at various community days, farmers markets, and special school expos. Participants: 704
$68,308 spent$9,989 earned by the program33% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $204,924.
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 2022 to 2023, from $617k to $860k (+39%).
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 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Chief executive
Brenda Plakans
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $5k → $43k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER 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
FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
31% 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 FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 62% · 2021 98% · 2022 98% · 2023 82% — 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.
Where its funders are
93% of FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER 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. $39k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER 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
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER 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 FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC?
- FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $130,560 to it, the largest being HENDRICKS FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($72,500). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $130,560 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER INC?
- HENDRICKS FAMILY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $72,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE WELTY ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER 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 Friends of the Welty Environmental Center →
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 6 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