Wisconsin · Nonprofit
WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC
WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,053,680 to it, the largest being THE ROOTS AND WINGS FOUNDATION INC ($4,600,375). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $25M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Wisconsin Early Childhood Association Inc does
Mission
Advancing comprehensive and transformational support of the early childhood workforce.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Teach - the t.e.a.c.h. Early childhood scholarship and reward stipend program promotes professional development within the child care workforce through scholarships that offer financial support to pay most of the costs of tuition, books, travel, release time, and a bonus after the student successfully completes a scholarship contract, in exchange for a commitment by the student to remain in their job for a specified period of time. Weca administers this program under contract with the wisconsin department of children and families (dcf) with federal funds from the u.s. Department of health and human services child care and development fund (ccdf). During the year, weca served 978 early childhood professionals through the t.e.a.c.h. Program. The r.e.w.a.r.d. Program is a compensation initiative that awards stipends to early childhood professionals based on education already attained and years worked in the field. Weca administers this program under contract with dcf with federal funds from ccdf. Weca provided 12,101 stipends this year through the statewide reward program and 984 stipends through the city of milwaukee workforce stipend program.
$9,839,670 spentof which $7,717,056 as grants$391,780 earned by the program51% of program spendingShared services - the wisconsin early education shared services network (weessn) offers free, comprehensive support to child care providers, including executive business coaching, tech solutions, professional development, the educator assistance program (eap), and food systems information. Providers benefit from customizable templates, tax guides, discounting purchasing, and a digital hiring platform. Weessn also features a substitute teacher pool in selected regions, a statewide listserv, training opportunities, and monthly newsletters. With 2,866 programs enrolled, weessn offers statewide support in english and spanish, helping providers enhance sustainablity, improve quality, and better serve staff and families.
$3,714,094 spentof which $57,500 as grants19% of program spendingChild and adult care food program - the wisconsin early childhood association's (weca) child and adult care food program helps pay for nutritious meals and snacks served to children in regulated family child care home settings. The program pays a fixed amount for each meal and snack served that meets the u.s. Department of agriculture's (usda) standards. Family child care providers are trained in program rules and proper nutrition for children. During the year, weca served 555 family child care providers throughout wisconsin.
$3,146,416 spentof which $2,638,686 as grants16% of program spendingOther direct services - provides a variety of other direct service projects including a farm to early childhood education project in milwaukee geared at supporting sound nutrition at participating programs and other onsite coaching/mentoring services for child care programs.policy and advocacy - provides support for grass roots advocacy cohort, development of an infant/toddler policy platform for the state working with a state collaborative team and advocating for this policy agenda, and efforts to gain workforce feedback to our national association's professional framework called power to the profession. Conference and training - provides continuing education classes and customized trainings and workshops for the early childhood workforce throughout wisconsin. Early head start (ehs) weca received notice of award to provide ehs services to 144 children (0-3) enrolled in 8 partner ehs/child care programs in key zip codes in milwaukee effective 8/1/25. Weca is the ohs grantee and contracts with these 8 programs. The mission of ehs is to promote the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of infants, toddlers, and pregnant women from low-income families. It supports…
$2,658,188 spent$494,734 earned by the program14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $19,358,368.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $9.6M to $14M (+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: 2017 93% · 2018 93% · 2019 87% · 2020 79% · 2021 89% · 2022 87% · 2023 95% · 2024 82% · 2025 72%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Chief executive
Ruth Schmidt
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 8 funders, grant income rose $9k → $2.4M.
4 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION 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
WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
36% 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 WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 49% · 2019 59% · 2020 65% · 2021 57% · 2022 35% · 2023 82% — 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
44% of WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC draws 82% of its grant income from funders outside Wisconsin, across 8 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.
Organizations like WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION 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
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION 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 WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC?
- WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,053,680 to it, the largest being THE ROOTS AND WINGS FOUNDATION INC ($4,600,375). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $11,053,680 in grants to WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION INC?
- THE ROOTS AND WINGS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $4,600,375 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION 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.
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 26 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