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Wisconsin · Nonprofit

STEM FORWARD INC

STEM FORWARD INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $669,757 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($192,500). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 53% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$344k
Funders on record
24
Grants received
$670k
Net assets
$526k
20/24 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 28%
01What it does

What STEM Forward Inc does

Mission

To promote the advancement of engineering and allied arts and sciences, to promote the professional development of individuals interested therein, and to encourange the application of these arts and sciences to benefit the commuinty interests.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Stem outreach - promote occupations and opportunities within the fields of engineering and science.

    $52,482 spent
    23% of program spending
  2. Education initiative - direct management of stem outreach activities and programs with a special emphasis on connecting students with stem professionals.

    $137,042 spentof which $33,000 as grants$92,226 earned by the program
    60% of program spending
  3. Events - organizing and hosting various competitions in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, including regional and national rube goldberg competitions and future city competition.

    $39,429 spent
    17% of program spending
  4. Various other stem programs

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $228,953.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($301k) Expenses 100 ($273k) Net assets 100 ($147k)2018 Revenue 101 ($305k) Expenses 98 ($266k) Net assets 127 ($186k)2019 Revenue 111 ($334k) Expenses 101 ($275k) Net assets 167 ($246k)2020 Revenue 102 ($308k) Expenses 99 ($271k) Net assets 222 ($326k)2021 Revenue 102 ($308k) Expenses 99 ($271k) Net assets 241 ($353k)2022 Revenue 106 ($320k) Expenses 98 ($267k) Net assets 269 ($395k)2023 Revenue 100 ($300k) Expenses 107 ($293k) Net assets 304 ($447k)2024 Revenue 118 ($354k) Expenses 109 ($296k) Net assets 337 ($494k)2025 Revenue 114 ($344k) Expenses 114 ($312k) Net assets 358 ($526k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (114)Expenses (114)Net assets (358)

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 $257k to $337k (+31%).

$211k
$257k
$337k
$367k
$399k
$436k
$492k
$548k
$584k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$28k
’17
$39k
’18
$60k
’19
$38k
’20
$38k
’21
$52k
’22
$7k
’23
$58k
’24
$32k
’25
22
months of
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

Rich Merkel

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed302729282727272523
Joined·+7+2+1+7+7+3+2+1
No longer listed·100287343
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $45k → $83k.

5 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 53% 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 STEM FORWARD 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

STEM FORWARD INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% 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

53% 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 STEM FORWARD INC.

29%
largest funder
57%
top three
~7
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 79% · 2019 79% · 2020 38% · 2021 51% · 2022 38% · 2023 36% — 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

67% of STEM FORWARD INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 83% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

53% of STEM FORWARD 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 $314k that is directly attributable, 79% of it comes from Wisconsin funders.

MN
IL
WI
NJ
CT
MO

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Wisconsin out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $356k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like STEM FORWARD 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

73% of spending goes to programs.

Program 73%Management 21%Fundraising 5%

Governance

22
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

68%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

WI

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STEM FORWARD 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 STEM FORWARD INC?
STEM FORWARD INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $669,757 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($192,500). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 53% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does STEM FORWARD INC have?
IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $669,757 in grants to STEM FORWARD INC, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of STEM FORWARD INC?
DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $192,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like STEM FORWARD 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 STEM Forward →

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 24 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