Wisys Technology Foundation Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
SUPPORTING UNIVERSITIES OF WISCONSIN FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS, AND ALUMNI TO INNOVATE FOR IMPACT.
- Income
- $2.6 million
- Spending
- $3.1 million
- Spent on programs
- 75%
- Reserves
- 9 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 88%
- Employees
- 30
- Volunteers
- 11
- Highest pay
- $342,102, president
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 74 out of 100. Higher than 58% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 9.0 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 27% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 20% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 27% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1575% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 74% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2512 of 13 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (7)
- $735,694 spent. WISCONSIN FORWARD AGRICULTURE:AS A RECIPIENT OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION'S REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINE DEVELOPMENT AWARD, WISYS LAUNCHED THE WISCONSIN FORWARD AGRICULTURE INITIATIVE. IT IS FOCUSED ON BUILDING A CONNECTED ECOSYSTEM TO MAKE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS MORE RESILIENT BY FOCUSING ON INNOVATIONS THAT ADVANCE A CIRCULAR BIOECONOMY IN THE SECTOR. THE INITIATIVE ENGAGES CROSS-SECTOR STAKEHOLDERS FROM ACROSS WISCONSIN LEVERAGING THE UW SCHOOLS, INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS, AND THE WISYS VENTUREHOME NETWORK. IT IS AN INNOVATION ENGINE FOR FARMERS DEDICATED TO GENERATING NEW REVENUE STREAMS INCLUDING CONVERTING 'WASTE TO WORTH' IN AGRICULTURE. THROUGH THESE EFFORTS, WISCONSIN FORWARD AGRICULTURE HAS CREATED A COALITION OF 60+ PARTNERS FROM ACROSS ACADEMIA, INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT, NONPROFITS, INVESTORS, AND FARMERS. IN ADDITION, AN INDUSTRY ADVISORY BOARD WAS ESTABLISHED TO IDENTIFY AND SUPPORT USE-INSPIRED R&D PROJECTS. THIS COALITION WAS A SEMI-FINALIST IN THE NSF ENGINES PROGRAM, REPRESENTING THE TOP 29 PROPOSALS FROM OVER 300 APPLICANTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
- $700,371 spent. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & LICENSING:WISYS IS THE DESIGNATED TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICE PROVIDING SERVICES TO 10 REGIONAL AND ONE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITIES OF WISCONSIN (UW) CAMPUSES, EXCLUDING THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON AND UW-MILWAUKEE. DURING FISCAL 2024-25, WISYS REVIEWED 53 NEW INVENTION DISCLOSURES RECEIVED FROM UW FACULTY AND STUDENTS AND ACCEPTED 9 OF THE DISCLOSURES FOR FURTHER STUDY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION. DURING FISCAL 2024-25, WISYS APPLIED FOR 18 PATENTS, OF WHICH 3 WERE NEW FOREIGN APPLICATIONS. IN ADDITION, WISYS RECEIVED 6 U.S. ISSUED PATENTS. WISYS COMPLETED 1 NEW MATERIAL TRANSFER AGREEMENT. WISYS OPERATES ITS OFFICES LOCATED AT 614 WALNUT STREET, 13TH FLOOR, MADISON, WISCONSIN WITH 12 PROFESSIONAL STAFF. IN ADDITION, AT JUNE 30, 2025, WISYS HAD 2 AMBASSADORS WORKING THROUGH THE VARIOUS UW CAMPUSES ALONG WITH 4 STUDENT INTERNS.
- $443,539 spent. INNOVATIVE VENTURES:THE INNOVATIVE VENTURES TEAM SUPPORTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW VENTURES FROM UWS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. THEY ALSO RUN THE WISYS VENTUREHOME INITIATIVE A NETWORK OF STARTUP HUBS. IN FY25, 3 NEW COMMUNITIES WERE ADDED TO THIS NETWORK, GROWING TO INCLUDE NINE COMMUNITIES IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN. THE PROGRAM CONNECTS STATEWIDE RESOURCES WITH LOCAL INITIATIVES TO PROVIDE ENTREPRENEURS WITH ACCESS TO A FULL MENU OF STARTUP RESOURCES IN THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES. SOME OF THE CENTRALIZED SERVICES THAT VENTUREHOME OFFERS ARE CONCIERGE ACCESS TO THE LARGER STATE-WIDE ECOSYSTEM, ENTREPRENEUR TOOLKITS, ACCESS TO RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGIES COMING OUT OF THE UNIVERSITIES OF WISCONSIN, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND LEGAL STRATEGY ASSISTANCE, AND PRE-SEED FUNDING. IN ADDITION, CONNECT WISCONSIN IS A DIGITAL COMMUNITY TO PROVIDE ONLINE SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURS, INCLUDING CONNECTIONS TO MENTORS STATE-WIDE. LEVEL UP! LAUNCH PAD AND LEVEL UP! PRE-SEED ACCELERATOR WERE THE TWO MARQUEE PROGRAMS THAT WERE OFFERED, IN ADDITION TO OTHER ENTREPRENEURSHIP EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS. THESE PROGRAMS TOGETHER SERVED OVER 86 ENTREPRENEURS IN FY25.
- $274,392 spent. RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT:THE WISYS RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM PROVIDES GRANT PREPARATION AND WRITING SUPPORT TO THE UNIVERSITIES OF WISCONSIN AND OTHER PARTNERS. GRANT SEEKERS CAN ACCESS MULTIPLE SERVICES, INCLUDING EXPERT ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT WITH DRAFTING PROPOSALS, PROPOSAL REVIEWS, AND FUNDING SEARCHES. REGULAR VIRTUAL AND IN PERSON GRANT WRITING WORKSHOPS INCLUDE GRANT WRITING ACADEMY, A VIRTUAL WORKSHOP AIMED AT NEWCOMERS TO GRANT WRITING THAT IS HELD ACROSS FOUR TWO-HOUR SESSIONS EACH FALL. WISYS ALSO ANNUALLY SPONSORS THE COUNCIL ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TO RUN AN INTENSIVE 6-DAY WORKSHOP IN WHICH FACULTY WORK WITH EXPERT MENTORS TO PREPARE A COMPETITIVE PROPOSAL. FINALLY, WISYS RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROVIDES LIVE AND ON-DEMAND WEBINARS ABOUT A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS FOR GRANTSEEKERS AT ALL LEVELS. IN FY2025, WISYS RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT SERVED 169 PEOPLE ACROSS ALL THE UWS CAMPUSES, WITH MORE THAN A QUARTER OF THESE PEOPLE ACCESSING MULTIPLE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES THAT YEAR.
- $156,173 spent. INNOVATION EVENTS:WISYS ORGANIZES SEVERAL EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS GEARED TOWARDS HONING INNOVATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND RESEARCH SKILLS AMONG UW STUDENTS, STAFF, FACULTY, AND ALUMNI. THIS INCLUDES FOUR KEY PROGRAMS THAT LEVERAGE EXPERTISE FROM ACROSS THE STATE: 1) THE WISYS BIG IDEA TOURNAMENT HELPS EXTEND THE WISCONSIN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM TO UW STUDENTS, WITH A GOAL TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL QUALITY OF BUSINESS STARTUP PERFORMANCE. 2) INNOVATION ON-RAMP, A 5-WEEK HYBRID COURSE, HELPS UW STUDENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE THINKING MINDSET AND LEARN HOW TO EVALUATE THE MARKET NEED AND POTENTIAL OF AN IDEA. 3) WISYS QUICK PITCH IS A RESEARCH-FOCUSED STUDENT PITCH COMPETITION THAT INSPIRES UW STUDENTS TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF THEIR RESEARCH AND LEARN HOW TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE IT TO A GENERAL AUDIENCE IN THREE MINUTES. 4) THE ANNUAL WISYS SPARK SYMPOSIUM (SPARK) WAS JOINTLY HOSTED BY WISYS AND UW-SUPERIOR IN 2024 TO BRING TOGETHER INNOVATIVE RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITIES OF WISCONSIN AND OTHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS. SPARK ALLOWS UW INSTITUTIONS TO SHOWCASE THEIR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AS WELL AS ENGAGE IN DISCUSSIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER UW CAMPUS RESEARCHERS, STUDENTS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS FROM AROUND THE STATE. THIS YEAR'S IN-PERSON ENGAGEMENT INCLUDED 160 ATTENDEES AND 56 PROJECTS PRESENTED DURING THE TWO-DAY SYMPOSIUM. ACROSS ALL THE INNOVATION PROGRAMS, WISYS ENGAGED 625 STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS IN FY25.
- $13,943 spent. MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
- $7,616 spent. GRANTS ADMINISTRATION
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since September 2001.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.