Firsthand Learning
Legal name: First Hand Learning Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 161556618
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Buffalo, NY, USA
- Phone
- 716-831-8722
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $277,462
- Expenses
- $282,518
- Assets
- $223,389
- Liabilities
- $124,756
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- David T Hartney (President/CEO)
- Richard Sherrill (Treasurer/Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- David T Hartney (President/CEO): $37,770 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 mission of Firsthand Learning, Inc. is to promote the process of scientific inquiry as a vehicle for learning.
What it reported doing in 2025
The Organization services the Buffalo Public Schools and assists in the administration of the district hands on science curriculum.
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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 73
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.1%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.8%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.79; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 86.1% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $237K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $38K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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: 4 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.