Fond Du Lac Festivals Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391387857
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fond Du Lac, WI, USA
Phone
9209236555
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$495,874
Expenses
$490,776
Assets
$132,226
Liabilities
$2,279

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT BIOLO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER WILKE (EXECUTIVE DI): $82,828 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Direct, promote, and support festivals and special events that showcase fond du lac and the surrounding communities, and also provide assistance to other area charitable organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2025, fond du lac festivals helped raise over 250,000 in our fiscal year across four events by partnering with 41 nonprofit organizations. Through community events like bags fest, sturgeon spectacular, walleye weekend and the new fondy falltoberfest fall festival, we have been able to continue fulfilling our mission of creating and hosting free, family- friendly festivals and events and also giving back to other nonprofits in the area. In february 2025, fond du lac festivals hosted our premier winter cornhole tournament known as bags fest. It remains one of the largest winter tournaments in our region. A total of 64 adult teams and 12 children teams participated in this one day event (saturday, february 1st)(february 2nd & 3rd). We partnered with a few nonprofits to offer a free, family-friendly tournament as well and offer food & beverage concessions. For sturgeon spectacular in 2025, we brought winter activities and traditions together in downtown fond du lac once again to offer another free, family- friendly festival. We partnered with another nonprofit (thelma sadoff center for the arts) and also the city of fond du lac and downtown fond du lac partnership to expand activities throughout the downtown district. The festival activities spanned three days (february 7th - 9th) with snow and ice displays remaining for over one week. Events included the Wisconsin state snow sculpting championships, an ice sculpting competition, outdoor floor curling, horse-drawn wagon rides through downtown, as well as indoor programming and live music. In summer, we once again hosted walleye weekend - an event that serves as the largest annual fundraiser for many nonprofit organizations. Through the event, fond du lac festivals and partnering organizations have been able to raise on average 230,000 annually for needed programs and causes in the community since 2010. Over 48,000 people joined us for three days of family-fun, tournaments, live music on three stages, great food, and all that traditions that accompany fond du lac's biggest festival. Attendance was affected by rain on saturday night, but overall the event was successful with many nonprofits reaching or exceeding their fundraising goals. In october of 2025, we hosted our 3rd annual fondy falltoberfest event, which is another free, family-friendly festival that brings family- friendly, fall-themed activities together with oktoberfest and german traditions. We added a giant pumpkin weigh-off and that event was well- received. Overall, the event saw an increase in attendance to 8,000 people in it's 3rd year. Fond du lac festivals offered free exposure to numerous "trunk or treat" nonprofit partners, and our nonprofit food concessionaire also reached their fundraising goal.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 68.7%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 68.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $337K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $83K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.