Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510141794
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Phone
6088190150
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$246,763
Expenses
$229,329
Assets
$586,493
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Peter Welch (Executive Director)
  • Jim Sehloff (President)
  • Ryan Duckart (President-Elect)

People named in this filing

  • Peter Welch (Executive Director)
  • Jim Sehloff (President)
  • Ryan Duckart (President-Elect)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors is a Statewide Organization Representing the majority of the land surveyors licensed to practice in Wisconsin. WSLS was founded in 1952 as a Professional Organization

What it reported doing in 2025

Annual institute providing continuing education opportunities to land surveys, both members and non-members.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.8%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 59.8%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.1%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.56; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.8% of revenue deployed · 59.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.