Start Early

Overview

Mission

Start Early advances quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to help close the opportunity gap. Our Vision. Our story is focused on the idea that starting early and nurturing the attachments between children and adults are essential to a child’s present and future well-being. Decades of research have proven that quality early childhood programs are a smart investment. Our founder, businessman and philanthropist Irving B. Harris, understood that the best hope for leveling the playing field and allowing children to thrive is to invest in the earliest days and create intensive, long-term support for a developing child and their family. In the coming years, we will maintain our substantial presence in Illinois, focused on home visiting and doula services, early learning programs and the research and p.

What it reported doing in 2024

The educare learning network (eln) extends the impact of start early's extensive early childhood knowledge and expertise to states across the country through consultation and technical assistance in program, public policy and systems work; research and evaluation; organizational capacity building; and philanthropic engagement strategies. Eln serves as the national coordinating office (nco) for a multi-state network of educare schools across the country; that provides and promotes high-quality, transformative early learning experiences for children; birth to five; and their families from historically under-resourced communities. The educare nco and its partnership educare schools share expertise with local and national educators, researchers and policymakers so they can elevate quality strengthening early childhood. Start early partners with educare network schools to support the responsible use of private philanthropic investments. Through collaborative planning, reporting and communication. We work to align resources with shared goals and grant commitments fostering transparency and continuous learning across the network. One avenue for sharinge this expertise is through the essential practices of educare professional development and learning opportunities. This professional development series provides practical instruction to help center- and school-based program leaders, teachers and family engagement staff to focus their time and resources on cross-cutting practices that drive improvements at the individual child, classroom, family and program levels. Start early's national policy teams provide consulting, advising, and education services to community, state, and federal leaders. With decades of experience in policy, programs, and research, we support systems leaders and engage families and providers to build high-quality early childhood systems that reach children and families nationwide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 65% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% for grants.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363186328
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Headquarters
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3129223863
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 76th 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: -1.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 83.3% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 34 of 34 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $95.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $429K · 46 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.4M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 62 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 53 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Leadership & pay

46 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH RITTLING (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FFYF): $428,865 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL HOFFMAN (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $385,970 total reported compensation
  • DONNA IWANSKI (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER UNTIL 12/24): $364,829 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.