Free Wisconsin Llc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 923161907
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Ashland, WI, USA
- Phone
- 7152049573
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Crime, Legal Related N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $579,064
- Expenses
- $543,786
- Assets
- $186,129
- Liabilities
- $110,356
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
At Free Wisconsin, we provide assistance to justice-impacted individuals who are returning to their families and communities to live their best lives. We are a non-profit devoted to supporting those directly affected by the criminal justice system, serving as a stabilizing force to ensure fair, equal opportunities for rehabilitation, reintegration, and a positive path forward.
What it reported doing in 2025
Pathways to Progress Reintegration Center - Chequamegon Bay. Pathways to Progress provides vital reentry assistance and short-term transitional housing to criminal justice-impacted individuals being released from incarceration who face immediate housing instability or homelessness. The program specifically targets Ashland and Bayfield counties, alongside the Bad River and Red Cliff Indian reservations, filling a critical regional safety net vacancy. Operated largely by justice-impacted organizers and volunteers, the center provides residents with safe, temporary lodging (housing 6-8 participants concurrently), individualized stability plans, 1-on-1 peer support, and a part-time Reentry Support Specialist to manage facility operations. Program participants are also supplied with basic needs, supplementary food, a clothing exchange, and municipal transportation passes to facilitate community reintegration. The program serves an estimated 14 to 20 individuals per month, prioritizing veterans, those facing mental health challenges, and vulnerable populations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 85
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.1%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 99.2%; rating input score 99
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: 6.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 93.1% of revenue deployed · 99.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $228K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $6K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 26 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.