Wisconsin · Nonprofit
ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC
ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,031,286 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN INC ($581,601). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 75% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $1.0M
- Net assets
- $3.4M
What Rotary Botanical Gardens Inc does
Mission
Rotary botanical gardens, inc. Is an internationally themed botanical showcase that provides for the education and appreciation of horticulture for the benefit of all people.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Garden development and maintenance - rotary botanical gardens is home to 26 different dramatic and themed gardens. Some have an international focus such as the japanese (named one of the top 25 japanese gardens in north america), scottish, french formal, italian, and english cottage gardens. Also included are less formally-structured gardens including one of very few fern and moss gardens recognized by the hardy fern foundation in the united states. In addition, rotary botanical gardens is home to a shade, prairie, and woodland garden. On site is an educational center offering a variety of programs for both adults and youth year-round. Rotary botanical gardens is the number 1 tourist destination in rock county welcoming nearly 100,000 visitors each year. Rotary botanical gardens offers educational programs, bus trips, home garden tours, plant sales, and seasonal events to enhance its mission, improve the quality of life for local residents, and increase its recognition in the community and surrounding areas. The gardens puts an emphasis on horticultural programs including therapeutic training, master gardener training, symposia, and workshops. Partnering with local organizations…
$571,527 spent$160,021 earned by the program46% of program spendingVisitor services and public events - rotary botanical gardens offers educational programs, bus trips, home garden tours, plant sales, and seasonal events to enhance its mission, improve the quality of life for local residents, and increase its recognition in the community and surrounding metropolitan area.
$442,870 spent$762,408 earned by the program36% of program spendingFacility usage - rotary botanical gardens offers four individual rooms, each 19' x 31' with separate access, for business meetings, training sessions, or retreats. The rooms expand to create space for conventions, banquets, or sales seminars. The stunning atrium provides natural lighting and a breath-taking view of the gardens, creating a convenient area for reception with a coat room, gift shop, and restroom facilities close at hand. The atmosphere is calming and quiet, with access to 26 internationally themed botanical gardens to stimulate your mind and create an inspiring and productive environment.
$169,545 spent14% of program spendingEducational programs - rotary botanical gardens offers educational programs, children's programs, therapeutic horticulture programs, and topical symposia and workshops. Rotary botanical gardens partners with a variety of local organizations on dynamic and interactive programming, volunteer opportunities, family events, and educational offerings. Examples of these organizations include hedberg public library, rock county education and criminal addictions program, and janesville area convention and visitors bureau.
$56,034 spent$15,396 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,239,976.
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 2023 to 2024, from $3.1M to $3.9M (+24%).
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: 2022 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
17% of ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS 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.
Board chair
Scott Skelly
Chairperson (beg dec)/secretary (thru dec)
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $61k → $62k.
6 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 75% 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 ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS 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
ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
88% 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 ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 82% · 2019 79% · 2020 63% · 2021 41% · 2022 37% · 2023 48% — 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
73% of ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
75% of ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS 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 $254k that is directly attributable, 96% of it comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $778k 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
ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC's revenue grew 19% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS 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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
51%
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 ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS 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 ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC?
- ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,031,286 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN INC ($581,601). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 75% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $1,031,286 in grants to ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS INC?
- COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN INC is the largest funder on record, with $581,601 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ROTARY BOTANICAL GARDENS 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 Rotary Botanical Gardens →
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 22 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