Kansas City Startup Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472601220
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-T 2020, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
9139377494
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$893,596
Expenses
$709,239
Assets
$283,186
Liabilities
$1,584

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Julie Leonhardt (CEO Jan - June 2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • Austin Barnes (Publisher): $98,874 total reported compensation
  • Julie Leonhardt (CEO Jan - June 2025): $72,531 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 cultivate a thriving and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kansas City.

What it reported doing in 2025

Startland News is a digital daily business news publication primarily reporting stories of entrepreneurship and innovation (at the small and global scale) in the Greater Kansas City region. Founded in 2015, it operates within Startland - a nonprofit, community-focused holding organization that provides it with administrative support. Startland News stories humanize the experience of entrepreneurship using the principles of community journalism. Our reporting covers startup companies, small businesses, corporations, community organizations, civic efforts, higher-education, and the overall state of the local economy and highlights the way these sectors impact the daily lives of citizens. Startland News' mission is to amplify communities by uncovering their untold stories through community journalism. We serve our community as a discovery platform, shedding light on more than 500 founders, creatives, makers, and risk-takers each year and providing otherwise underrepresented or underserved sectors of our city with a voice and millions of dollars in earned media value they might not otherwise receive. In 2025, we had over 137,000 subscribers. We reported on nearly 5,000 original stories. We had more than 15,000 news engagement event attendees and republished more than 400 stories with our nonprofit news organization partnerships. More than 600 entrepreneurs benefited from Starland News.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 45.1%; rating input score 45
  • Program expense ratio: 56.7%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $32.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.6%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.2%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 45.1% of revenue deployed · 56.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $402K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 45/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.