The Foundation of the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391719902
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Phone
6082515577
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,808,957
Expenses
$1,218,017
Assets
$9,879,537
Liabilities
$115,555

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIAM SEPIC (PRESIDENT)
  • MATTHEW LAVOLD (VICE PRESIDENT/CFO/CONTROLLER)
  • BRENT KINDRED (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • WILLIAM SEPIC (PRESIDENT): $424,402 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW LAVOLD (VICE PRESIDENT/CFO/CONTROLLER): $191,853 total reported compensation
  • BRENT KINDRED (VICE PRESIDENT): $158,963 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The foundation's mission is to support educational initiatives that help ensure Wisconsin maintains a highly skilled transportation workforce.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education initiatives and career awareness activities help students explore a wide range of opportunities within the automotive, collision, and diesel industries. These programs provide clear pathways for education and training required for success while equipping students with essential job search and interview skills. Career fairs and transportation career showcase events introduce students and their families to career opportunities in the automotive and transportation industries. These events offer practical guidance on the training required for success and provide students with professional tools they can use throughout their employment journey. Teacher professional development activities are designed to ensure high classroom standards. The foundation facilitates certification institutes for transportation instructors, allowing educators to earn professional credits and stay current with evolving industry trends, technologies, and standards. Ase accreditation and program support activities include ase accreditation which the foundation has championed since 1997 to prepare students for long-term career success. The foundation supports 10 ase accredited high schools serving approximately 1,400 students, 33 accredited technical college programs serving approximately 1,400 students, and more than 115 non-accredited transportation programs, reaching over 11,000 students statewide. Middle school summer camp activities include partnerships with technical colleges and dealerships to host hands-on, weeklong camps. These experiences introduce middle school students to automotive, collision and diesel career pathways and spark early interest in the industry. Student competition activities include supporting the annual skillsusa Wisconsin automotive championships through technical committee participation and industry volunteer involvement. The foundation also assists with a variety of transportation-related competitions across Wisconsin, helping to celebrate student talent.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.7%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 98.9%; rating input score 99; 51st 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.7%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.11; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.7% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $424K · 21 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.