Early Beginnings

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
743066707
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7043925530
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Family Services
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,886,289
Expenses
$2,548,227
Assets
$2,404,076
Liabilities
$916,659

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rev Thomas W Winstead (President)
  • Tammy C Winstead (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rev Thomas W Winstead (President): $134,477 total reported compensation
  • Tammy C Winstead (Vice President): $95,508 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide an environment in which children can grow emotionally, cognitively and physically all within a Christian atmosphere, and partner with their families and the community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Early Beginnings is a five star Child Development Center located in the heart of the Mountain Island Lake Community. Built in 2005 our facility offers large classrooms, indoor and outdoor recreation areas, live web cameras for parents, and a fun, light environment. We believe that a Child Development Center should be an extension of your family. The goal of our center is not simply to provide child care but to provide an environment in which children can grow emotionally, cognitively, and physically all within a Christian atmosphere.The Preschool Center opened in 2005 and in our years of operation we have become a five star facility ranking seven out of seven in education. At the preschool we have an extensive pre-kindergarten program that encompasses literacy, math, science, arts, music, writing, computers, Spanish and communication.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 51
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.3% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.