Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391273103
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Phone
6088411800
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,502,736
Expenses
$1,885,361
Assets
$7,822,972
Liabilities
$549,068

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANIEL CLANCY (PRESIDENT)
  • EDWARD CHIN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LEAH OSBORN (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • PAUL GABRIEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEAH OSBORN (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $188,316 total reported compensation
  • PAUL GABRIEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $160,943 total reported compensation
  • LORI WERMUTH (CONTROLLER): $147,682 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Wisconsin technical college system (wtcs) foundation, inc., seeks to advance the Wisconsin technical college system, its constituent technical colleges and public and private sector career, technical and workplace education. The foundation focuses on providing products and services, distributing and licensing intellectual property, operating and managing programs and projects and soliciting and accepting gifts in support of its mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Wisconsin technical college system foundation's instructional design and planning program develops and implements curriculum design software and materials and provides curriculum development training and consulting for the Wisconsin technical college system (wtcs), Wisconsin's technical colleges, and other institutions and educational programs.the worldwide instructional design system (wids) combines performance-based curriculum design software and training with professional consulting services to deliver engaging, effective and innovative courses, programs and modules.

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 96% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd 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: -25.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.15; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 40.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $188K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $484K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.