Wisconsin · Nonprofit
GATHERING WATERS INC
GATHERING WATERS INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,022,204 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,053,935). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 50% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 57
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $1.9M
What Gathering Waters Inc does
Mission
Gathering waters (wisconsin's alliance for land trusts) strengthens land trusts to protect wisconsin's special places and grow healthy, vibrant communities. The stronger the alliance between gathering waters' staff and board members, land trust leaders, and the broader conservation community, the more successful we are in protecting the lands that provide so much value to all of us.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education and public outreach: educate the general public, professionals, and private landowners about the importance of land conservation and the voluntary tools available to permanently set aside private lands for conservation. Gathering waters maintains an interactive website and publishes paper and electronic newsletters throughout the year. During 2025, gathering waters held a statewide conference for land trusts and other conservation organizations with 130 participants in attendance; held "land trust days", to promote opportunities for nearly 2,000 people to participate in activities organized by wisconsin's land trusts on land that they have protected; and held various award events honoring significant contributions made by leaders in land conservation.
$391,249 spent$18,874 earned by the program40% of program spendingPolicy and government relations: work with decision makers at all levels of government to promote state, local, and federal policies that support and encourage the work of land trusts and the conservation of private land. Specifically, gathering waters advocates for continuation of funding for the knowles nelson stewardship program, a program of public financial support for the preservation of land in wisconsin. In 2025, gathering waters continued its efforts to connect elected officials with their local constituents and worked with lawmakers and the governor to improve how the knowles-nelson stewardship program functions and is administered and advocated against legislation that would have weakened protections for protected land in wisconsin.
$362,164 spent37% of program spendingTechnical training and assistance: increased the capacity of more than forty wisconsin land trusts and conservation organizations through one-on-one mentorship and technical assistance, peer learning, and workshops. Gathering waters works closely with the land trust alliance, a national association of land trusts, to offer training opportunities and support services to wisconsin land trusts. During 2025, gathering waters continued to provide legal services directly to wisconsin land trusts through the land conservation law program.
$197,466 spent20% of program spendingProgram development: planning for the future of land and water conservation in wisconsin, through consultation with land trusts and other conservation leaders and strategic planning activities.
$28,964 spent3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $979,843.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.2M to $1.6M (+37%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 9% · 2021 10% · 2022 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of GATHERING WATERS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Michael Carlson
Executive director
Board chair
Carol Abrahamzon
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 26 funders, grant income rose $193k → $446k.
10 of 57 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 50% 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 GATHERING WATERS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 57 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
GATHERING WATERS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 35% 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
62% 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 GATHERING WATERS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 64% · 2019 45% · 2020 31% · 2021 47% · 2022 38% · 2023 32% — 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
45% of GATHERING WATERS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
50% of GATHERING WATERS INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.5M that is directly attributable, 55% of it comes from funders outside Wisconsin, across 11 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
GATHERING WATERS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,209 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,209 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like GATHERING WATERS 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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GATHERING WATERS 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 GATHERING WATERS INC?
- GATHERING WATERS INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,022,204 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,053,935). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 50% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does GATHERING WATERS INC have?
- IRS filings report 57 organizations giving $3,022,204 in grants to GATHERING WATERS INC, 38 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GATHERING WATERS INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,053,935 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GATHERING WATERS 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 57 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