Alliance for Early Success Fka Birth to Five Policy Alliance
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262797011
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 7037692772
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Children's, Youth Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $18,912,608
- Expenses
- $15,068,472
- Assets
- $30,468,790
- Liabilities
- $361,858
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HELENE STEBBINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- HELENE STEBBINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $326,131 total reported compensation
- COURTNEY LEE (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $238,580 total reported compensation
- STUART LILES (COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR): $221,379 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization is a catalyst for putting vulnerable young children on a path to success. Our goal is to advance state policies that lead to improved health, learning, and family support outcomes for young children ages birth through eight. We create and enhance partnerships by bringing leaders together in new and innovative ways, with the goal of achieving results faster and better than anyone could do alone. The birth through eight state policy framework is a tool, or roadmap, that anyone can use to guide policy in ways that will improve the health, learning, and economic outcomes for vulnerable young children. The framework outlines three policy priority areas essential for the healthy growth and development of young children: health, family support, and learning. Evidence-based and innovative best practice policy options are provided in each of the policy areas.
What it reported doing in 2025
The alliance achieves scale and permanency for essential programs for young children by investing in organizations advocating for better policies and increased state funding for early childhood programs. We make grants in all 50 states, plus the district of columbia from a pooled fund created by more than a dozen private investors. We also fund a best-in-class technical assistance network of organizations, who provide the research and consultation states need to achieve the highest sustained impact. Our long-standing relationships in both state and national organizations allow us to combine hands-on advising, access to experts, funding, just-in-time conversation between grantees, and tools for building in-state coalitions. All combined, that makes unexpected gains possible.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 83% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 91
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 66
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.5%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: $85.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 20.3%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.02; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.5% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $14.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $326K · 12 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 126 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 112 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.