Wisconsin · Nonprofit
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 94 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,547,558 to it, the largest being KOHLER TRUST FOR PRESERVATION ($4,270,800). 59 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $35M
- Funders on record
- 94
- Grants received
- $21M
- Net assets
- $78M
What Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc does
Mission
The wisconsin historical foundation exists to advance the mission of the wisconsin historical society: to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
History center campaign: to raise funds to support the planning, design, and construction of a new history center.
$5,858,280 spentof which $5,602,056 as grants57% of program spendingMuseums and historic sites: the division of museums and historic sites collects and preserves the material culture of wisconsin and interprets the state's history and prehistory for the public. The division fulfills its educational role through exhibitions, tours and a variety of public programs conducted at the wisconsin historical museum in madison, and at historic sites and other venues throughout the state.
$1,938,724 spentof which $1,868,842 as grants19% of program spendingWhf support for society: whf manages funds that support the society's operations. These funds include endowments, spend-down funds, funds without donor restrictions, and a board designated quasi-endowment. Expenditures from endowments and spend-down funds restricted to the society's programs and operations are managed through the society's annual budget planning process. Whf informs the society of available fund balances, and the society's leadership determines funds to be transferred. Depending on the fund type, whf charges fees for the management of funds. These fees help offset whf operating cost.
$1,179,040 spentof which $1,168,847 as grants$7,185 earned by the program11% of program spendingLibrary and archives: the division of library, archives and museum collections acquires, preserves and provides access to documentary and artifactual evidence about the history of wisconsin, the united states, and canada. With over 4 million items, its genealogy and history collections are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world documenting north american history. The society's library and archives is also the american history library for the university of wisconsin, an official depository for local, state and federal government publications, and the state archives which preserves state and local government records of historical importance. The area research center network, a unique alliance between the historical society and the four-year campuses of the uw system, makes most of the archival collections available within easy driving distance of all state residents.
$586,190 spentof which $491,215 as grants6% of program spendingWhf operations: whf was founded in 1954 and its operations are focused on the support of the society's mission by providing philanthropic, financial, and operational services to the society. As a supporting foundation, whf must support financially its own operations while at the same time fulfill its mission to support the society. Like other supporting foundations, whf utilizes a number of revenue streams to support operating costs, including contributions, fees on the funds it holds, endowment distributions, and service revenue. Whf operations generate financial support for the society initiatives and operations and provides other support to the society.
$447,448 spent$2,953,260 earned by the program4% of program spendingOutreach and engagement: the office of programs and outreach helps people connect with their past by publishing books and magazines, providing expert professional advice to local historians, and supporting k-12 students and teachers. It also offers travelling exhibits and speakers to community centers, libraries, schools, and other organizations around the state, visiting hundreds of communities each year.
$161,552 spentof which $156,596 as grants2% of program spendingHistoric preservation and public history: the society is the federally-designated state historic preservation office (shpo). In partnership with communities, organizations and individuals, the shpo works to identify, interpret and preserve historic places for the benefit of present and future generations.
$105,601 spentof which $72,030 as grants1% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,276,835.
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 2021 to 2022, from $43M to $57M (+34%).
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: 2020 3% · 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% 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.
Chief executive
Julie Lussier
Executive director
Board chair
Gary Pesicka
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 40 funders, grant income rose $698k → $1.5M.
21 of 94 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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: $158k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Wisconsin Historical Real Estate Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC raised.
From the IRS filings of WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 94 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
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% 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
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 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 42% · 2019 52% · 2020 27% · 2021 48% · 2022 35% · 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
42% of WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
93% of WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION 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. $7.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION 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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Wisconsin Historical Real Estate Foundation Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION 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 HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC?
- WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 94 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,547,558 to it, the largest being KOHLER TRUST FOR PRESERVATION ($4,270,800). 59 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 94 organizations giving $20,547,558 in grants to WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC, 59 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC?
- KOHLER TRUST FOR PRESERVATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,270,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION 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 94 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