Wisconsin · Nonprofit
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION (Wisconsin) receives grants from 917 organizations whose IRS filings report $788,059,099 to it, the largest being University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation Inc ($170,194,959). 565 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $681M
- Funders on record
- 917
- Grants received
- $788M
- Net assets
- $5.9B
What University of Wisconsin Foundation does
Mission
To promote the welfare of and advance the objectives of the university of wisconsin-madison by encouraging the interest, engagement, and financial support of alumni, donors, and friends in the life of the university and with each other.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Capital additions and facilities - the uw foundation provided $197 million to the university of wisconsin in support of new building construction, renovation, maintenance, and equipment needs. State-of-the-art facilities help the university attract high-caliber faculty and students. These facilities and grounds provide space, environments, and technologies that promote the highest levels of teaching, learning, and research.
$196,895,770 spentof which $196,895,770 as grants34% of program spendingDiscretionary support - the uw foundation provides critical funding to senior university officials granting them the needed flexibility to respond to both existing and unforeseen opportunities. This discretionary support helps further the mission of the university by fulfilling the greatest needs and top priorities of the university.
$125,029,315 spentof which $125,029,315 as grants21% of program spendingFaculty support and research - with $95 million from the uw foundation, university of wisconsin faculty and staff received critical financial support allowing for increased research opportunities and improved classroom experiences for students. Private gift support helps the university attract and retain world-class faculty, which ultimately attracts the best and brightest students, and improves the university's reputation as a leading university. At the end of fiscal year 2025, the number of endowed funds supporting faculty totaled 765 with an additional 339 funds specifically designated for research and research equipment.
$94,853,881 spentof which $94,853,881 as grants16% of program spendingAcademic, patient, and student program support - the uw foundation provided $73 million to the university of wisconsin to support its academic, patient, and student support programs. These funds enable students to develop skills and knowledge for growth and success by offering high-quality and responsive programs by employing best practices in teaching, learning, and patient care, influencing people's lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
$73,120,316 spentof which $73,120,316 as grants13% of program spendingStudent scholarship and financial aid support - university of wisconsin undergraduate, graduate, and professional students received $59 million in scholarships, fellowships and awards from private gift support. Students across all schools and colleges, centers, and programs of the university have the opportunity to receive support. Private gift support is critical to ensuring all students are able to explore their educational opportunities, experience college life, and manage tuition costs. In fiscal year 2025, uw foundation managed over 4,900 gift funds that provide support to university of wisconsin students.
$58,852,497 spentof which $58,852,497 as grants10% of program spendingInvestment management - the uw foundation investments team works very closely with an appointed investment committee of the board of directors while helping to both create and manage to a comprehensive investment policy statement, to build pooled portfolios designed to achieve stated objectives, and to help position board-driven policies that are fundamental to the foundation's operational business model.
$35,906,630 spent6% of program spendingPublications - "on wisconsin" is a quarterly publication, mailed to approximately 400,000 alumni, faculty, donors, waa members, and other stakeholders, serving as the official university of wisconsin alumni magazine. "awards" is an annual publication, mailed to approximately 90,000 alumni, waa members, and other stakeholders. "badger insider" is sent to waa members only (approximately 25,000 households) semiannually, serving as the member forum. "digital badger insider", an email companion to the badger insider magazine is sent monthly to approximately 16,000 waa members via email. "flamingle" is a weekly email, sent to approximately 80,000 alumni, containing various articles of interest. "badger vibes" is a monthly email sent to approximately 48,000 waa members and alumni of color. "the uw now weekly" is a weekly email, sent to approximately 130,000 alumni and donors.
$1,163,609 earned by the program
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $584,658,409.
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 $4.4B to $5.7B (+28%).
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: 2019 3% · 2020 9% · 2021 6% · 2022 4% · 2023 10% · 2024 6% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
51% of UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Paul S Shain
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 238 funders to 392 funders, grant income rose $50M → $140M.
121 of 917 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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: $2.0M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer Inc); $427k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Uw-Madison Supporting Organization Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 917 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
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% 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
56% 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 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 52% · 2019 64% · 2020 23% · 2021 46% · 2022 23% · 2023 18% — 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
47% of UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
54% of UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $224M arriving through sponsors registered in 32 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
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION's funding base is broadening — from 238 funders to 392 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Organizations like UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION
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
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 40 states
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- The Evjue Foundation Inc · exempt
- Terry Family Foundation Inc · exempt
- Pooled Income Fund B - 2 Participants · corp_trust
- Pooled Income Fund a - 3 Participants · corp_trust
- Charitable Remainder Unitrust - 86 · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: 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 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION?
- UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION (Wisconsin) receives grants from 917 organizations whose IRS filings report $788,059,099 to it, the largest being University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation Inc ($170,194,959). 565 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 917 organizations giving $788,059,099 in grants to UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION, 565 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION?
- University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $170,194,959 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION 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 917 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