Wisconsin · Nonprofit
WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC
WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 84 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,217,714 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF DANE COUNTY INC ($962,990). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.1M
- Funders on record
- 84
- Grants received
- $5.2M
- Net assets
- $4.5M
What Wayforward Resources Inc does
Mission
Wayforward resources, inc. Brings our community together to create food and housing security through action and advocacy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
During 2024 wayforward resources, inc. Started tracking its connections program as a separate program. Connections - the connections housing program serves households in doubled-up living arrangements. Doubling-up is when an individual or family lives with another household temporarily or shuffles indefinitely between homes because of economic need. The connections program supports individuals through case management and funds to ensure households have a place of their own to call home.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Food security (pantry and clothing center) - the in-person food pantry operates five days a week,including evening hours, and serves all of dane county. Guests can visit as often as they need. Deliveries and mobile pantries provide access to food for those who struggle with transportation. The food pantry provides access to nutritious food such as produce, protein sources, and dairy year-round. The clothing center provides free clothing. On our busiest day of the week about 800 people access food. Wayforward distributed 1.6 million pounds of food.
$4,238,234 spentof which $3,680,104 as grants74% of program spendingHousing stability - through the housing stability program, case managers assess and provide support to households, including financial housing assistance to help prevent eviction and maintain long-term stable housing. Families can receive assistance with rent, security deposits, utilities, and other small emergency grants. In addition, an outreach case manager works with area organizations to facilitate broader access to services for our community. 662 households received housing stability funds in the most recent fiscal year. 98% of participants in the housing stability program maintained housing and avoided eviction for a year or longer.
$854,699 spentof which $443,964 as grants15% of program spendingConnections - the connections housing program serves households in doubled-up living arrangements. Doubling-up is when an individual or family lives with another household temporarily or shuffles indefinitely between homes because of economic need. The connections program supports individuals through case management and funds to ensure households have a place of their own to call home.
$567,694 spentof which $407,819 as grants10% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$89,966 spentof which $40,134 as grants2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,750,593.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 $2.3M to $3.3M (+43%).
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 3% · 2022 1% · 2023 1% · 2024 5% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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
Ellen Carlson
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 42 funders, grant income rose $163k → $942k.
15 of 84 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 43% 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 WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 84 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
WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% 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
69% 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 WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 52% · 2019 45% · 2020 16% · 2021 17% · 2022 20% · 2023 19% — 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
61% of WAYFORWARD RESOURCES 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
67% of WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 7,349 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,349 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like WAYFORWARD RESOURCES 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
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 WAYFORWARD RESOURCES 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 WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC?
- WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 84 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,217,714 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF DANE COUNTY INC ($962,990). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC have?
- IRS filings report 84 organizations giving $5,217,714 in grants to WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC, 54 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WAYFORWARD RESOURCES INC?
- UNITED WAY OF DANE COUNTY INC is the largest funder on record, with $962,990 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WAYFORWARD RESOURCES 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 Wayforward Resources →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 84 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