Children First Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
590968249
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sarasota, FL, USA
Phone
9419533877
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,037,092
Expenses
$14,990,536
Assets
$8,780,997
Liabilities
$2,677,240

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Philip Tavill (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Philip Tavill (President & CEO): $331,662 total reported compensation
  • Jessica Rogers (Highest Compensated Employee): $260,361 total reported compensation
  • Kathleen Sullivan (Highest Compensated Employee): $167,762 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Children Firsts mission is: Strengthening children and families by improving the quality of their lives through a comprehensive approach to development, education, health and well-being.

What it reported doing in 2024

Head Start - Serving at-risk and economically vulnerable families with young children, Head Start is a program tailored for children three to five years of age which provides early education, health, dental, vision, hearing and developmental screenings, and coordination of appropriate therapies to address the individual childs needs. Services also include support for the entire family through family strengthening classes and individual family goal setting to achieve economic self sufficiency. 262 children were served during the 2024 calendar year (for the 2023-24 academic year - 172 children were served from Jan - June; 90 additional children were enrolled from August - December). This is an unduplicated count. Program of Excellence designation renewal obtained in 2024 designating Children First amongst the top 1% of Head Start / Early Head Start programs nationwide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 68% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.3% of revenue deployed · 87.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $13.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $332K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $440K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.