Firstspark Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201421876
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Newport News, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7572402731
- Rating
- 93
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,195,462
- Expenses
- $5,149,815
- Assets
- $1,037,016
- Liabilities
- $346,224
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DIANE UMSTEAD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ENDED 12/24)
- TRESSELL CARTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ENDED 09/25)
Highest reported compensation
- DIANE UMSTEAD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ENDED 12/24): $102,548 total reported compensation
- TRESSELL CARTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ENDED 09/25): $13,346 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Promote quality early childhood care and education for young children ages birth to 5 and provide prenatal resources for expectant women.
What it reported doing in 2024
Child care quality: to prepare all children for kindergarten and in response to state law, Virginia created the unified Virginia quality birth to five system (vqb5) to measure and improve the quality of all publicly-funded birth-to-five classrooms and support families in selecting quality programming across program types. This organization oversees and implements the program requirements for vqb5 in the region. Educators and leaders have access to support, training, and resources to help improve teacher-child interactions. Our organization also administers the mixed delivery program in publicly funded licensed (non-faith-based) and private early childhood care and education (ecce) settings for eligible children. Mixed delivery funds full-day, year-round services for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, meeting growing demand for publicly funded ecce at private sites that meet the varied needs and preferences of families. The organization also provides training for child care educators from all settings to build a strong base of knowledge in all areas of early childhood development so children are ready to enter kindergarten with the tools they need to succeed. Training is aligned with criteria from the vqb5 assessment system and Virginia's early learning and development standards.
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 63% 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: 98
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 97
- Sustainability: 32
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.3%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 98.1%; rating input score 98
- Fundraising efficiency: $42,890.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th 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: 0.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97.3% of revenue deployed · 98.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 21 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 11 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.