Business Forum Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 391646203
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2010
- Location
- Madison, WI, USA
- Phone
- 6088381019
- Rating
- 89
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $27,506
- Expenses
- $26,387
- Assets
- $98,755
- Liabilities
- $12,427
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Shyla Gorham Martin (President)
- Carrie Waters Schmidt (Past President)
People named in this filing
- Shyla Gorham Martin (President)
- Carrie Waters Schmidt (Past President)
- Cora Decorah (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To organization raises funds through special events and contributions to provide scholarships to new and returning adult women college students on an annual basis.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization holds various fundraising events throughout the year to raise funds to provide scholarships to new and returning adult women college students. The student must reside in Dane County, Wisconsin, be planning or have begun to continue their education in a four-year, two-year, or adult education extension curriculum or technical or vocational program in Wisconsin. Online coursework must be done through an accredited licensed institution with a physical presence in Wisconsin. The student must be pursuing higher education in preparation for a professional, business, or entrepreneurial career. The student must have a record of academic performance balanced with community involvement, outside interests, and experiences. Finally, the student must demonstrate financial need. A total of four scholarships to four students were awarded during the year ended June 30, 2025, and ranged in amount from $1,500 to $3,500. No revenue is derived from this activity.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.74; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -8.2% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $33K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.