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Wisconsin · Nonprofit

Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation

Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation (Wisconsin) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $158,880 to it, the largest being Blue Ribbon Sale of Champions Foundation Inc ($80,150). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$663k
Funders on record
8
Grants received
$159k
Net assets
$1.6M
4/8 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 3%
01What it does

What Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation does

Mission

Preserve and enhance the Wisconsin State Fair Park and support agriculture education and arts programming tied to the fair.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

On its FY2023 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.

  1. Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation continued the Art Show, supported general operations of the Wisconsin State Fair, and planned and executed major fundraising initiatives including the Cream Puff 5K Run, Friend of the Fair membership program and Annual Golf outing. New in 2023 the Foundation opened the Charity Bar in the Central Park Area of WI State Fair Park. The Charity Bar was open from June-September for Wednesday night live events and during WI State Fair and Harvest Fair. The foundation received 30 of all sales from the Charity Bar. The Foundation also sponsored the first Ag Discovery Day which welcomed 1,000 elementary students from Milwaukee, Wauwatosa West Allis for an educational field trip about WI agriculture. The Foundation completed a major capital improvement of Central Park featuring a new fountain that highlights Wisconsin stone and metalwork.

    $398,034 spent$161,657 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $398,034.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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.

100 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($580k) Expenses 100 ($380k) Net assets 100 ($1.4M)2020 Revenue 18 ($102k) Expenses 41 ($157k) Net assets 97 ($1.3M)2021 Revenue 58 ($334k) Expenses 71 ($271k) Net assets 103 ($1.4M)2022 Revenue 61 ($356k) Expenses 68 ($258k) Net assets 109 ($1.5M)2023 Revenue 96 ($557k) Expenses 125 ($475k) Net assets 116 ($1.6M)2024 Revenue 114 ($663k) Expenses 183 ($695k) Net assets 115 ($1.6M)
201920202021202220232024
Revenue (114)Expenses (183)Net assets (115)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $1.5M to $1.6M (+7%).

$1.4M
$1.3M
$1.4M
$1.5M
$1.6M
$1.6M
201920202021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2020 14% · 2021 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

64% of Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (83% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 6,387 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.

$200k
’19
−$55k
’20
$63k
’21
$98k
’22
$82k
’23
−$32k
’24
22
months of
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

Anna DeWeerdt

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

201920202021202220232024
Listed161614151817
Joined·+2+0+2+3+1
No longer listed·22102
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2018 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $11k → $12k.

1 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 State Fair Park Foundation’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 State Fair Park Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

71% 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 State Fair Park Foundation.

50%
largest funder
76%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 55% · 2022 58% · 2023 59% — growing more concentrated.

“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.

Where its funders are

100% of Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.

WI

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’18
’22
’23
Wisconsin out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $20k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 5,688 youth development nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−5% · below the median
Months of reserve22.0mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)3% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,688 youth development nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like Wisconsin State Fair Park 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 9%Fundraising 6%

Governance

15
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

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

WI

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Wisconsin State Fair Park 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 State Fair Park Foundation?
Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation (Wisconsin) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $158,880 to it, the largest being Blue Ribbon Sale of Champions Foundation Inc ($80,150). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation have?
IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $158,880 in grants to Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation?
Blue Ribbon Sale of Champions Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $80,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Wisconsin State Fair Park 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 FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 8 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