Wisconsin · Nonprofit
THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC
THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $165,526 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($57,150). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $184k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $166k
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology Inc does
Mission
The mission of wso is to promote the enjoyment, study and conservation of birds.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Publish 11-issue newsletter and journal, sent to 1,100 member email and traditional addresses; publish checklists and other items of interest to citizen scientists and birder hobbyists. Furthering the purpose for which the organization received its nonprofit status, the journal routinely features articles on academic research and citizen-based science. It also presents reports from the bird records committee and seasonal sightings of rare birds. Objective: to disseminate information about the birds of wisconsin and activities related to the exempt purpose of the organization.
$33,290 spent$1,973 earned by the program68% of program spendingWso gave nine (9) $500 grants and one (1) $1000 grant in 2024. Grants went to northeastern wisconsin audubon society, inc., cedar grove ornithological research station, friends of beaver creek reserve, victoria piaskowski, brad bumgardner and riveredge nature center for financial administration. (1) project soar (snowy owl airport rescue program); (2) tracking the phantoms (red-shouldered hawk monitoring program); and (3) bird monitoring at restoration sites on the oneidan nation reservation; (4) kestrel monitoring program; (5) bluebird restoration project; (6) northern saw-whet owl banding; (7) bird banding at riveredge nature center.
$5,500 spentof which $5,500 as grants11% of program spendingWso programming includes activities to promote the enjoyment, study and conservation of wisconsin's birds. These activities include, but are not limited to, wso sponsored birding field trips throughout the year, offers research grants, and serves as an informational resource center on bird-related issues.
$5,482 spent$68,440 earned by the program11% of program spendingContinue work on preparation for publishing an updated edition of atlas of the breeding birds of wisconsin. Objective: to document breeding activity of wisconsin's birds, thereby increasing basic understanding of the importance of bird habitat and emphasizing the impact of habitat change on bird populations and nesting success.
$4,505 spent9% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $48,777.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.1M to $1.2M (+10%).
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 56% · 2018 8% · 2019 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (79% 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
Jennifer Lazewski
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $48k → $4k.
5 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% 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 THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY 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
THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 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 THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 100% · 2019 90% · 2020 41% · 2021 97% · 2022 48% · 2023 72% — growing more concentrated.
“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
60% of THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
70% of THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY 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 $49k that is directly attributable, 80% of it comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $116k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 793 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Government funding THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $39k on record.
- Department of the Interior$39k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY 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
32% 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
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY 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 THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC?
- THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $165,526 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($57,150). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $165,526 in grants to THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY INC?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $57,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY 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 Wisconsin Society for Ornithology →
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 11 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