First Children's Finance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411694837
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6123383023
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Support N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,273,101
Expenses
$10,010,203
Assets
$6,993,255
Liabilities
$4,358,674

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GERALD CUTTS (PRESIDENT & CEO (FORMER))
  • HEIDI HAGEL-BRAID (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • GERALD CUTTS (PRESIDENT & CEO (FORMER)): $288,495 total reported compensation
  • HEIDI HAGEL-BRAID (PRESIDENT & CEO): $207,862 total reported compensation
  • BEN NICHOLIE (COO): $206,432 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

First children's finance (fcf) grows the supply and sustainability of high-quality child care by strengthening the business and financial foundations of the sector. Founded in 1991, fcf is a national nonprofit headquartered in minneapolis, Minnesota, with state offices in Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, and Vermont. Fcf provides financing, business training, and consulting to child care entrepreneurs, while partnering with public, private, and tribal stakeholders to advance policies and funding strategies that create sustainable child care systems.

What it reported doing in 2024

1. Business support for child care entrepreneursfcf provides tailored business development services to child care entrepreneurs at every stagestart-up, stabilization, growth, and succession. Our staff deliver one-on-one consulting, group training, and access to financing and business tools that improve sustainability and quality. In fy2025, fcf supported 3,367 child care businesses, offering 254 trainings and 53 cohort-based programs across multiple states. In Iowa, 77 business owners completed our business & financial fundamentals series, with 84% reporting measurable improvement in financial and management practices. These efforts strengthen small businesses serving low- and moderate-income families.2. Building local child care capacityfcf partners with communities to increase the supply and stability of child care that meets local workforce and family needs. Through data-driven consultation, financial modeling, and strategic planning, fcf supported 122 communities nationwide in fy2025. Our rural child care innovation program and related initiatives helped more than 45 communities conduct supply-and-demand analyses, identify barriers, and implement local solutionsturning child care deserts into sustainable systems. This work directly contributed to the creation or preservation of 5,743 child care slots across infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age programs.3. Strengthening the child care infrastructurefcf collaborates with state, tribal, and federal partners to design and implement policies and funding strategies that improve the long-term viability of child care businesses. In fy2025, we worked with 11 state or system partners and more than a dozen tribal nations to conduct cost-of-care studies, advise on arpa funding, and develop actionable business and sustainability plans. Fcf convened the first tribal nations early childhood business collaboratory, bringing together 10 tribal nations to map child care ecosystems and set priorities for investment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, 21% for grants, and 1% for affiliated organizations.

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: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.5%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 76.2%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 83.8%; rating input score 84; 23rd 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; 63rd 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: -7.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 27.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.5% of revenue deployed · 76.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $7.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $288K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $872K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 91 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 81 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.