Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$32,890,401

Total expenses

$32,218,789

Contributions and grants received

$64,011

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$32,125,638

Investment income

$566,867

Other revenue

$133,885

Total assets, end of year

$29,916,527

Total liabilities, end of year

$4,058,558

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$25,857,969

Program services expenses (Part IX)

— not reported

Management and general expenses

— not reported

Fundraising expenses

— not reported

Program service expenses (Part III)

— not reported

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS:DAIRY FARMERS OF WISCONSIN (DFW) EXISTS TO BE A TIRELESS ADVOCATE FOR OUR STATE'S DAIRY FARMERS AND IS FOCUSED ON INCREASING DEMAND FOR THE MILK PRODUCED IN OUR STATE. BECAUSE 90% OF THE MILK PRODUCED IN WISCONSIN GOES INTO MAKING CHEESE AND 90% OF THAT CHEESE IS SOLD OUTSIDE OF OUR STATE, WE SPEND THE LARGEST PORTION OF OUR RESOURCES ON ACTIVITIES TO DRIVE DEMAND FOR WISCONSIN CHEESE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL. WE CONTINUE TO ELEVATE PERCEPTIONS OF WISCONSIN CHEESE WITH AN INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY THAT INCLUDES PUBLIC RELATIONS, DIGITAL ADVERTISING, EVENTS, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO), SOCIAL MEDIA, PARTNERSHIPS, AND OUR NATIONAL BRAND AMBASSADOR COMMUNITY FOR CHEESE LOVERS.WE REACHED MILLIONS OF OUR TARGETED CONSUMERS - IDENTIFIED THROUGH OUR RESEARCH AS FOOD FANATICS - THROUGH MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS. THE MOST NOTABLE OF THESE PARTNERSHIPS IN 2024 WAS BRAVO'S TOP CHEF, WHERE WE SPONSORED AN ELIMINATION CHALLENGE FEATURING WISCONSIN CHEESE IN ADDITION TO NATIONAL TV ADS AND THE TOP CHEF PANTRY SHOWCASING WISCONSIN CHEESE EACH WEEK, REACHING MILLIONS OF VIEWERS WITH OUR BRAND STORY. SOME OF THE FEATURED CHEESE COMPANIES SAW SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN ORDERS DURING THE SHOW AND BEYOND. THE DELISH CUSTOM CONTENT REACHED MORE THAN 8 MILLION CONSUMERS WITH WISCONSIN CHEESE VIDEOS VIA SOCIAL CHANNELS. THROUGH AN EATER DIGITAL PARTNERSHIP, OUR CUSTOM CHEESEMAKER VIDEOS LED TO OVER 3.7M IMPRESSIONS. WE COMPLETED A HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN WITH FOOD NETWORK, WARNER BROS DISCOVERY AND SAVEUR. WE ALSO CONTINUED TO TELL THE WISCONSIN CHEESE BRAND STORY THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH WISCONSIN FOODIE TELEVISION REACHING 1 MILLION MIDWEST VIEWERS PER EPISODE (14 EPISODES PER SEASON) AND HERITAGE RADIO NETWORK REACHING A NICHE AUDIENCE THROUGH FOOD FOCUSED CONTENT ACHIEVING OVER 1 MILLION IMPRESSIONS MONTHLY. THROUGH THESE KEY MEDIA OUTLETS, WE FEATURED ORIGINAL CONTENT AND TARGETED ADS TO MILLIONS OF CONSUMERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.OUR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY FOCUSES ON REACHING OUR TARGET AUDIENCE, THE FOOD FANATICS. THESE ARE CONSUMERS WHO FEEL FOOD IS CORE TO THEIR IDENTITY, WHO LOVE TO TRY NEW FOODS AND RESTAURANTS AND SEEK THEM OUT. FOR FOOD FANATICS, IT ISN'T JUST ABOUT THE TASTE, THEY SEEK OUT THE STORIES BEHIND THE PRODUCTS. IN 2024, WE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF VIDEO AND ILLUSTRATED BRANDED ASSETS TO DELIVER ON OUR GOAL TO EDUCATE, INSPIRE AND TELL THE STORIES ABOUT OUR CHEESES AND CHEESEMAKERS. WE INITIATED A STRONG PAID SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY TO MAINTAIN AN EVERGREEN CONTENT STREAM ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK AND TIKTOK. WE ALSO CREATED IN-HOUSE SOCIAL MEDIA ASSETS TO COMPLEMENT THESE EFFORTS WITH SEASONAL CONTENT AND TO STAY ON-TREND. ACROSS FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK, WE HAD OVER 44 MILLION IMPRESSIONS, 93 MILLION VIEWS AND 621,000 ENGAGEMENTS ON OUR CONTENT. ADDITIONALLY, WE GAINED OVER 16,000 NEW FOLLOWERS ON THOSE PLATFORMS, WHICH IS A 99.7% INCREASE ON FACEBOOK AND NEARLY 1,000% INCREASE ON TIKTOK. WE CONTINUED TO PUBLISH OUR GRATE. PAIR. SHARE. DIGITAL MAGAZINE - WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, HARVEST AND HOLIDAY ISSUES - AND A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER. THE NEWSLETTER AVERAGED A 23% OPEN RATE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WE CONVERTED THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE TO INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES ON WISCONSINCHEESE.COM TO PROVIDE RELEVANT CONTENT TO SUPPLEMENT OUR ONGOING SEO TACTICS. DURING 2024, OUR SEO EFFORTS ASSISTED IN DRIVING 3.1 MILLION VISITS TO WISCONSINCHEESE.COM.DFW'S BRAND ADVOCATE PROGRAM CALLED CHEESELANDIA GREW ANOTHER 25%, ADDING 734 NEW MEMBERS IN 2024. WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING HAS BECOME AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR STRATEGY AS WE CONTINUE TO LEVERAGE CHEESELANDIANS THROUGHOUT THE U.S. TO ADVOCATE FOR WISCONSIN CHEESE. WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND AND DEEPEN THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF WISCONSIN CHEESES THROUGH VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON EVENTS, EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS, SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE MEMBERS-ONLY APP. WE ALSO INCREASED DAILY AND WEEKLY ACTIVE USERS IN THE APP BY OVER 15%. THESE COMBINED EFFORTS GENERATED AN ADDITIONAL 25,000 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WISCONSIN CHEESE IN THE LAST YEAR.IN FY2024, DFW EARNED NEARLY $70 MILLION IN EARNED PUBLICITY, INDICATING OUR RETURN ON OUR INVESTMENTS WAS AT LEAST 70:1. WE SECURED PLACEMENTS IN SOME WIDELY VIEWED PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING USA TODAY, ALL RECIPES, MASHED, MIDWEST LIVING, PARADE, TASTING TABLE, EAT THIS, NOT THAT!, FOOD & WINE AND MORE! PUBLIC RELATIONS SUPPORTED MAJOR CAMPAIGNS AND DROVE $11.8 MILLION IN ADVERTISING VALUE EQUIVALENCY FOR THE BRAVO'S TOP CHEF SEASON 21, EPISODE 3 "WISCONSIN CHEESE FESTIVAL" CAMPAIGN ALONE. THE PUBLIC RELATIONS TEAM ALSO LED A CONTEST CAMPAIGN TO OWN THE NATIONAL CHEESE LOVER'S DAY HOLIDAY WITH "WISCONSIN CHEESE DREAMS," GARNERING NATIONAL BRAND ATTENTION WITH A 489 MILLION POTENTIAL AUDIENCE, DRIVING $4.53 MILLION IN ADVERTISING VALUE EQUIVALENCY. LOCAL BROADCAST COVERAGE CONTINUED TO ACHIEVE PLACEMENTS IN 16 IDENTIFIED KEY RETAIL MARKETS, REACHING MORE THAN 9.5 MILLION CONSUMERS, HELPING DRIVE PURCHASE AT LOCAL RETAILERS.THROUGH OUR RESEARCH EFFORTS, WE KNOW WISCONSIN IS OUTPACING OTHER ORIGINS SUCH AS CALIFORNIA AND VERMONT ON CONSIDERATION AND PURCHASE AND HAS EMERGED AS THE #1 TOP-OF-MIND U.S. ORIGIN FOR SPECIALTY CHEESE. CONSUMERS ARE SPENDING THEIR DOLLARS ACCORDINGLY, WITH GROWTH OF WISCONSIN SPECIALTY CHEESE RETAIL SALES OUTPACING GROWTH OF THE ENTIRE CHEESE CATEGORY. ALL OF THIS MEANS THAT CONSUMERS RECOGNIZE WISCONSIN FOR ITS AWARD-WINNING CHEESE AND SPECIFICALLY LOOK FOR IT WHEN BUYING CHEESE.

• CHANNEL PROMOTIONS:DAIRY FARMERS OF WISCONSIN'S (DFW) CHANNEL PROMOTIONS AREA PROVIDES SUPPORT TO SUPERMARKET RETAILERS, FOODSERVICE OPERATORS, WHOLESALERS AND DISTRIBUTORS THROUGH A VARIETY OF PROMOTIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS TO DRIVE DISTRIBUTION, SALES AND AWARENESS OF WISCONSIN ARTISAN AND SPECIALTY CHEESE BOTH DOMESTICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY. IN FY2024 CHANNEL PROMOTIONS CONTINUED TO ADAPT OUR TACTICS TO THE MARKETPLACE WITH ADDITIONAL FOCUS ON PRIVATE LABEL (STORE BRANDS), GAINING NEW AUTHORIZATIONS WITH EIGHT RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTOR PARTNERS. WE SUCCESSFULLY HOSTED 25 MURRAY'S (KROGER) ASSOCIATES FOR A WEEK OF TRAINING AT THE CENTER FOR DAIRY RESEARCH BUILDING ON OUR RELATIONSHIP AND ELEVATING THE PERCEPTION OF WISCONSIN ARTISAN AND SPECIALTY CHEESE.BUYER MISSIONS, BOTH LIVE IN-STATE AND VIRTUAL, CONTINUE TO BE ONE OF OUR BEST TACTICS FOR CONNECTING WISCONSIN CHEESE COMPANIES AND CHEESE MAKERS WITH KEY TRADE DECISION MAKERS LEADING TO NEW AUTHORIZATIONS AND STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS. WE COMPLETED A TOTAL OF 42 BUYER MISSIONS SUPPORTING RETAIL, FOODSERVICE AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS. IN ADDITION, WE CONDUCTED 10 VIRTUAL BUYER MEETINGS TO SUPPORT OUR WISCONSIN DAIRY COMPANIES. THE BUYER MISSIONS AND VIRTUAL BUYER MEETINGS HELPED SUPPORT OVER 360 NEW ITEM AUTHORIZATIONS. WE WERE ABLE TO BRING THE WHOLE FOODS TEAM BACK FOR TWO SEPARATE WEEKS OF TRAINING AT THE CENTER FOR DAIRY RESEARCH TO PREPARE THEIR CHEESE MONGERS FOR THE CERTIFIED CHEESE PROFESSIONAL TEST ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN CHEESE SOCIETY. WE ALSO SUPPORTED 15 KEY TRADE DECISION MAKERS AT THE CENTER FOR DAIRY RESEARCH "WORLD OF CHEESE FROM PASTURE TO PLATE" SHORT COURSE.DURING FY2024 DFW PARTICIPATED IN FIVE NATIONAL TRADE SHOWS INCLUDING WINTER FANCY FOODS, INTERNATIONAL DAIRY-DELI-BAKERY ASSOCIATION, SUMMER FANCY FOODS, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, PRIVATE LABEL MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION SHOW. PLANS ARE IN PLACE TO REPEAT THESE MAJOR INDUSTRY EVENTS FOR FY2025 WHERE WE WILL SUPPORT BRINGING INDUSTRY BUYERS TO OUR PARTICIPATING CHEESE COMPANIES.THE REGIONAL MARKETING MANAGERS COMBINED FOR 681 CAMPAIGNS UTILIZING MULTIPLE TACTICS WITH 128 TARGETED RETAIL AND FOODSERVICE ACCOUNTS. WHILE RETAILER PRINT ADS CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE CATEGORY WITH 189 CAMPAIGNS, THE TEAM ALSO EXECUTED 155 DIGITAL, E-COMMERCE AND SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS. THE CHANNEL PROMOTIONS TEAM SUPPORTED OVER 32 DISPLAY CONTESTS WITH AVERAGE SALES INCREASES FROM 30% TO 50%. THE REGIONAL MARKETING MANAGERS COMBINED FOR 300+ SEPARATE CAMPAIGNS SUPPORTING OUR TWO MAJOR NATIONAL MARKETING EVENTS - "WONDERS OF WISCONSIN AND "THE MORE THE MERRIER" - IMPACTING OVER 10,000 RETAIL OUTLETS. THE CHANNEL PROGRAMS TEAM HELPED EXECUTE OVER 68 DEMO-SAMPLING EVENTS, DRIVING ADDITIONAL RETAIL SALES. WE CONTINUE TO PARTNER WITH OUR RETAIL TRADE ACCOUNTS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS AND STORE TRAFFIC BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES FUELING CATEGORY GROWTH AND EXCITEMENT.

• FOOD SAFETY, QUALITY AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE:DAIRY FARMERS OF WISCONSIN'S (DFW) FOOD SAFETY, QUALITY AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE (FSQR) PROGRAM PROVIDES SUPPORT TO THE WISCONSIN DAIRY INDUSTRY PRIMARILY THROUGH OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CENTER FOR DAIRY RESEARCH (CDR) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON. THROUGH THIS PARTNERSHIP, THE WISCONSIN DAIRY INDUSTRY IS PROVIDED NEEDED SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE IN BOTH FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED DAIRY RESEARCH, TECHNICAL SUPPORT, TROUBLESHOOTING, AND EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS.IN FY2024, CDR SUPPORTED 107 DIFFERENT WISCONSIN DAIRY PROCESSORS WITH FOOD SAFETY, QUALITY, PROCESSING, MICROBIOLOGY, AND REGULATORY EXPERTISE. THEY CONDUCTED FIVE WEEK-LONG, IN-DEPTH CHEESE TRAINING SESSIONS WHERE APPROXIMATELY 120 RETAIL CHEESE PROFESSIONALS BROUGHT IN BY DFW LEARNED ALL ASPECTS OF CHEESE MAKING, SAFE FOOD HANDLING, AND DAIRY PRODUCT QUALITY.OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH CDR ALSO INCLUDES THE MASTER CHEESEMAKER PROGRAM WHICH PROVIDES A FORMAL SEQUENCE OF COURSES THAT LEADS TO THE TITLE OF WISCONSIN MASTER CHEESEMAKER AND EQUIPS WISCONSIN CHEESEMAKERS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO BE COMPETITIVE IN BOTH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETS. TO DATE, 112 WISCONSIN CHEESEMAKERS HAVE RECEIVED 312 CERTIFICATIONS IN 51 DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF CHEESE. IN FY2024, SEVEN NEW CHEESEMAKERS RECEIVED MASTER CERTIFICATIONS, AND TWO RETURNING MASTERS RECEIVED ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATIONS.IN ADDITION TO CDR SUPPORT, FSQR CONDUCTED HAZARD ANALYSIS CRITICAL CONTROL POINT (HACCP) TRAINING IN FY2024. HACCP IS A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN WHICH FOOD SAFETY IS ADDRESSED THROUGH THE ANALYSIS AND CONTROL OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, AND PHYSICAL HAZARDS FROM RAW MATERIAL PRODUCTION, PROCUREMENT AND HANDLING, TO MANUFACTURING, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT. DFW CONDUCTED PREREQUISITE HACCP, HACCP FOR PROCESSORS, AND ADVANCED HAACP TRAINING SESSIONS. THIS PROVIDED CRITICAL, REQUIRED FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY TRAINING FOR 26 QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGERS ACROSS 18 DIFFERENT DAIRY PROCESSORS.

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

18 March 2025

IRS schema version

2023v6.0

Source object

202540779349301134

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