Wisconsin · Nonprofit
OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC
OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,003,223 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($196,500). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.7M
- Funders on record
- 36
- Grants received
- $1.0M
- Net assets
- $5.2M
What Olbrich Botanical Society Inc does
Mission
Olbrich botanical gardens enriches lives and inspires people to live in harmony with the natural world. Olbrich botanical gardens is dedicated to the creation, conservation, and interpretation of gardens and plant collections hardy to the american midwest or native to the world's tropical forests for study, enjoyment, and public benefit. The public-private partnership of olbrich botanical society and the city of madison parks division makes the mission possible.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Programs and exhibitions: olbrich offers a number of free and low-cost programs to members and the general public that have educational components relating to the plant and garden collections. Programming at olbrich botanical gardens is generally mission-related, are traditional activities held within the gardens, and provide educational opportunities for families or pure enjoyment within the gardens for all audiences.
$1,458,784 spentof which $545,575 as grants$1,381,325 earned by the program53% of program spendingGarden and conservatory maintenance and enhancement: olbrich botanical society assists the city of madison parks division to maintain andenhance olbrich's 16 acres of outdoor gardens and the 10,000 square foot tropical bolz conservatory.
$559,731 spent20% of program spendingEducation programs: programming offered in 2024 impacted more than 155,000 guests, including programs for adults, families, youth, and schools. More than 4,000 k-5 students from seven counties and three states receive quality, immersive plant science education through explorer programs.
$409,376 spent$173,285 earned by the program15% of program spendingPublic relations: letting the public know about the robust slate of programming, services, and opportunities available year-round at olbrich and how the gardens are making a difference at olbrich and throughout the community.
$325,895 spent12% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,753,786.
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 2018 to 2019, from $6.1M to $3.9M (−36%).
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: 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY 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. 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.
Chief executive
Tanya Zastrow
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 16 funders, grant income fell $100k → $83k.
10 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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: $2.2M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Olbrich Botanical Society Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC raised.
From the IRS filings of OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 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
OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
70% 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 OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 22% · 2019 38% · 2020 32% · 2021 22% · 2022 18% · 2023 28% — 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 OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY 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
59% of OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY 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 $412k that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $591k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY 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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
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
- Olbrich Botanical Society Foundation Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY 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 OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC?
- OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,003,223 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($196,500). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $1,003,223 in grants to OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $196,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OLBRICH BOTANICAL SOCIETY 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 36 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