Children’s Forum

Legal name: Children's Forum Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
650165007
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tallahassee, FL, US
Phone
888-FL-CHILD (888-352-4453)
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Child Day Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,985,072
Expenses
$27,875,003
Assets
$7,471,868
Liabilities
$3,995,358

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIN SMELTZER (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • LILIANA GMURPHY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIN SMELTZER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $196,962 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM KIRCHHOFF (CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER): $127,123 total reported compensation
  • LORI L STEGMEYER (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $121,756 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our focus is connecting educators, children, and families to early learning services and supports, both within and beyond the classroom, to promote positive experiences and outcomes for young children in school and life.

What it reported doing in 2024

The teacher education and compensation helps (teach) early childhood scholarship program: provides scholarships for early care educators and center directors to work towards earning an associate's degree or credentials in early childhood education. The majority of tuition and book costs are paid for and most teach participants receive a per-semester stipend for travel or for internet acccess as well as a bonus for caregivers and directors who complete their scholarship contract. The teach program works with several colleges, universities and vocational technical schools throughout the state as well as several community based training institutions. Under management of the forum, the Florida teach early childhood scholarship program serves as an umbrella for a variety of educational scholarship opportunities for people working in early care and education programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 92% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 64% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.7%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 98.1%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 41st 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 0.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 97.7% of revenue deployed · 98.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $27.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $197K · 20 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.