Wisconsin · Nonprofit
WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC
WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,376,585 to it, the largest being RUTH ST JOHN & JOHN DUNHAM WEST FOUNDATION INC ($861,343). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $4.9M
What Wisconsin Maritime Museum Inc does
Mission
The wisconsin maritime museum connects all people with wisconsin's waterways, by engaging and educating the public about wisconsin's maritime history, wisconsin's world war ii submarines, uss cobia, and the great lakes. The wisconsin maritime museum shares this rich heritage by collecting and preserving artifacts and archival materials, creating interactive exhibits, promoting research, and presenting educational programs. A forum for information about the great lakes, this privately funded museum is one of the leading maritime museums on the great lakes.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The wmm collections department was busy in 2024. Standing bi-monthly collections committee meetings took place and numerous artifacts were accepted into the permanent collection. Exterior and interior building renovations at the museum's maritime heritage center continue, with over $500,000 invested thus far. In the years to come, this center will house a museum-quality storage facility, conservation lab, teaching space, and boat restoration lab, and enhanced museum behind the scenes responsibilities. Partnerships with educational institutions are increasing along with fundraising efforts to complete the renovation phases of the 25,000 square foot facility. Several new and updated exhibits were designed and installed in 2024 using artifacts from the museum's collection, along with loaned objects. These temporary and permanent exhibits included: wisconsin's shipwreck coasts, turning the tide of wwii, water dance: plein air art, iceboating: a wisconsin tradition, tiny art show.
$522,756 spent$506,687 earned by the program72% of program spendingIn-person museum education programs saw strong demand in 2024, serving 3,137 youth and adults from across wisconsin and the midwest. Informal education programs were also in high demand with our group overnight programs, thursday "think n' drink" series, dive into the archives, and adult group tours reached 6,097 people. Outreach events increased over 2023 and reached 6,543 people with direct interactions. In total, our educational programs and outreach efforts reached a total of 16,587 youth and adults, nearly 2,000 more people than 2023.
$20,875 spent$20,233 earned by the program3% of program spending2024 was a big year for uss cobia to begin the preparation of the submarine for dry docking in sturgeon bay. The museum staff, cobia committee, and volunteers met regularly to plan the restoration of the submarine in dry dock at fincantieri bay shipbuilding in sturgeon bay in september-october 2025. The overnight program aboard cobia continues to grow, particular with the subbnb program. In total, 3,035 youth and adults experienced first hand what it is like to sleep on a wwii submarine. Approximately 30,000 people accessed our daily tours through the submarine in 2024.
$183,596 spent$177,952 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $727,227.
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 $5.2M to $5.5M (+7%).
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 30% · 2021 33% · 2022 1% · 2023 6% · 2024 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
42% of WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Kevin Cullen
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019, and between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $80k → $180k.
3 of 15 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.
From the IRS filings of WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM 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 MARITIME MUSEUM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
31% 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 MARITIME MUSEUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 85% · 2019 65% · 2020 79% · 2021 51% · 2022 84% · 2023 56% — 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
30% of WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
96% of WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM 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. $387k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 MARITIME MUSEUM INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $865k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$792k
- Department of Commerce$73k
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 WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM 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
51% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
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 MARITIME MUSEUM 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 MARITIME MUSEUM INC?
- WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,376,585 to it, the largest being RUTH ST JOHN & JOHN DUNHAM WEST FOUNDATION INC ($861,343). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $1,376,585 in grants to WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM INC?
- RUTH ST JOHN & JOHN DUNHAM WEST FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $861,343 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM 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 Maritime Museum →
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 15 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