Form 990 for tax year 2024

Totals

Total revenue

$35,049,150

Total expenses

$14,747,525

Contributions and grants received

$30,072,466

Grants paid

$9,359,586

Program service revenue

$2,960,445

Investment income

$2,016,239

Other revenue

$0

Total assets, end of year

$78,694,313

Total liabilities, end of year

$970,193

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$77,724,120

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$10,276,835

Management and general expenses

$3,335,229

Fundraising expenses

$1,135,461

Program service expenses (Part III)

$10,276,835

Program services were 69.7% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

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 · 2024

• HISTORY CENTER CAMPAIGN: TO RAISE FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW HISTORY CENTER.

  Expenses $5,858,280 · Grants $5,602,056

• MUSEUMS 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.

  Expenses $1,938,724 · Grants $1,868,842

• WHF 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.

  Expenses $1,179,040 · Grants $1,168,847 · Revenue $7,185

• LIBRARY 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.

  Expenses $586,190 · Grants $491,215

• WHF 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.

  Expenses $447,448 · Revenue $2,953,260

• OUTREACH 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.

  Expenses $161,552 · Grants $156,596

• HISTORIC 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.

  Expenses $105,601 · Grants $72,030

As filed on the 2024 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

• WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

  $9,359,586

  GENERAL SUPPORT

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

• WISCONSIN HISTORICAL REAL ESTATE FOUNDATION INC

  501(C)(3) · FURTHER PURPOSE OF WI HISTORICAL FDN OR STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WI · WI

  Directly controlled by WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2024

Filed

23 February 2026

IRS schema version

2024v5.5

Source object

202610579349300711

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