Children's Wisconsin
Legal name: Children's Service Society of Wisconsin
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 390806380
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Milwaukee, WI, US
- Phone
- (414) 266-2000
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $66,885,265
- Expenses
- $67,286,038
- Assets
- $15,668,560
- Liabilities
- $15,668,560
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARGARET TROYTHROUGH AUG 2024 (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT & CEO CHHS)
- GIL PERIBEGINNING AUG 2024 (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT & CEO CHHS)
- MARK RAKOWSKI (DIRECTOR/SVP & PRESIDENT CCHP)
- KAREN TIMBERLAKE (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT CSSW & SVP CHHS)
Highest reported compensation
- MARGARET TROYTHROUGH AUG 2024 (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT & CEO CHHS): $2,658,331 total reported compensation
- SCOTT TURNER (DIRECTOR/PRES CHW & EVP CHHS): $1,984,619 total reported compensation
- MARC CADIEUX (DIRECTOR/TREASURER/SVP & CFO): $1,272,574 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Kids deserve the best.
What it reported doing in 2024
Family preservation and support - education, support, and empowerment of parents and caregivers to enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of their children.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 42
- Sustainability: 19
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.2%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 78.2% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $52.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $2.7M · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.8M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 10 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.