Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc
The Wisconsin Historical Foundation exists to advance the mission of the Wisconsin historical society: to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories.
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc at a glance
In short: Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc gave $9.4M across 1 grant in 2025 (avg $9.4M), mostly in Wisconsin. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $9,359,586
- -0.6% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 1
- +0.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $9,359,586
- -0.6% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $9,359,586
- Total assets
- $78,694,313
- +19.2% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- Wisconsin (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026.
Who Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top recipient in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Wisconsin Historical Society ($9.4M).
Grant Size Distribution
5 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $1–5M range: 3 grants of 5 (60%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
Grant Distribution by State
Share of the 2025 grant dollars on its one itemized grant.
States
Cities
How Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc gives
- Giving grew 193% from 2022 to 2025. Method
From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $1.5M (2021) to $9.4M (2024). In 2025 it made 1 grant totaling $9.4M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Historical Society Madison, WI | General Support | $9,359,586 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $78,694,313 | $35,049,150 | $14,747,525 | $9,359,586 | 1 | $2,016,239 |
| 2024 | $65,991,536 | $19,561,127 | $14,522,621 | $9,411,559 | 1 | $1,726,565 |
| 2023 | $58,733,158 | $8,488,313 | $7,733,852 | $3,016,386 | 1 | $1,240,621 |
| 2022 | $57,186,900 | $14,378,166 | $7,116,324 | $3,195,367 | 1 | $582,765 |
| 2021 | $42,677,251 | $8,796,089 | $4,607,523 | $1,514,490 | 1 | $273,488 |
| 2020 | $34,546,322 | $8,474,172 | $5,618,168 | $2,685,762 | 1 | $324,372 |
| 2019 | $31,867,454 | $15,767,021 | $5,400,981 | $2,116,993 | 1 | $51,507 |
About Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc
Based on IRS filings
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc is a public charity focused on Arts, Culture & Humanities, based in Madison, WI. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $78.7M in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 1 grant totaling $9.4M. Net investment income was $2.0M.
Focus Areas
Leadership & Key People
Officers and directors from IRS filings
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc is led by Julie Lussier, Executive Director on every filing since 2019; 1 of 24 officers listed in 2025 is compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Julie Lussier
Executive Director
On filings since 2019
39 hrs/week
$107K (2019) → $170K (2025)
Gary Pesicka
Chair
Director → Vice Chair & Treasurer, 2024
Vice Chair & Treasurer → Chair, 2025
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
David Ryder
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Diane Dei Rossi
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jane Villa
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Karl Robe
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Daniel Pfeiffer
Director
Treasurer → Vice Chair & Treasurer, 2023
Vice Chair & Treasurer → Director, 2024
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Conrad Goodkind
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Reed Hall
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Andrea Ruiz
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Joshua Jeffers
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jay Ellingson
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Karla Ashenhurst
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kathleen Burke
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Paul Covaleski
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Danny Tang
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jerome Janiszewski
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Joan Bachleitner
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sandra Cleary
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
William Kraemer
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Angela Bartell
Ex-Officio Voting Member
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Donald Schott
Ex-Officio Voting Member
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jason Adamany
Vice Chair & Treasurer
Director → Vice Chair & Treasurer, 2025
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sandra Anderson
Secretary
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (29)
- Former: Cathi Wiebrecht-Searer (2019–2024) — Secretary
- Former: Patrick Fee (2019–2024) — Chair
- Former: Susan Crane (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Sandy Anderson (2022–2024) — Director
- Former: Theresa Richards (2020–2023) — Director
- Former: Jerry Janiszewski (2022–2023) — Director
- Former: Catherine Orton (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Ellen Langill (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Jack Rhodes (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Linda Prehn (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Gregory Huber (2020–2022) — Ex-Officio Voting Member
- Former: Derek Tyus (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Josh Jeffers (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Stephen Brenton (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Edward Murray (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Jessie Garcia (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Michael Youngman (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Rhona Vogel (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Brian Rude (2019) — Ex-Officio Voting Member
- Former: Chris Her-Xiong (2019) — Director
- Former: Christopher Berry (2019) — Director
- Former: Dan Pfeiffer (2019) — Director
- Former: David Wilder (2019) — Executive Director
- Former: Ed Murray (2019) — Director
- Former: Greg Huber (2019) — Ex-Officio Voting Member
- Former: Rick Reinhart (2019) — Director
- Former: Robert Dohmen (2019) — Director
- Former: Terri Richards (2019) — Vice Chair
- Former: Thomas Hand (2019) — Director
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $170K, to Julie Lussier (Executive Director).
Frequently asked questions about Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc
How much does Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc give each year?
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc gave $9.4M across 1 grant in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $9.4M across 1 grant.
How large is Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc?
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc reported $78.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $35.0M.
What is Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc?
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc is a public charity focused on Arts, Culture & Humanities, based in Madison, WI. It holds $78.7M in total assets as of 2025.
Where does Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc operate?
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc has awarded grants in Wisconsin.
What is Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc's EIN?
Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 39-0921093. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS March 10, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS February 26, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 14, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS March 16, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 3, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS April 15, 2025)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS February 26, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
Live grants for the work Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc funds
Arts, Culture & Humanities Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
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Browse active grant opportunities in Wisconsin Historical Foundation Inc's focus areas in our free grants database
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