Kidspirit Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208819825
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
3475969799
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$440,698
Expenses
$345,942
Assets
$333,332
Liabilities
$9,072

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH DABNEY HOCHMAN (EXEC. DIR. &): $30,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Kidspirit is a nonprofit online magazine and community by and for youth to engage each other about life's big questions in an open and inclusive spirit. Its mission is to promote mutual understanding among 11-to-17- year-olds of diverse backgrounds and support their development into world citizens with strong inner grounding. Since 2007, kidspirit's unique process has empowered teens through creative expression and youth-led collaboration to raise their voices about questions that go to the heart of life. The organization is led by an all- youth network of editors around the world who edit submissions collaboratively, decide on the magazine's quarterly themes, set the editorial agenda, and discuss ethical, philosophical, and spiritual topics. Ad-free and unaffiliated, kidspirit provides a critical outlet for teenagers everywhere to discover and highlight the essential humanity transcending divergent points of view. Kidspirit aims to build a truly inclusive and welcoming conversation th

What it reported doing in 2025

Kidspirit flourished in 2025, and is now led by a network of over 200 youth editors in 17 countries. In addition to the home editorial board in New York city, the organization has also established boards around the united states and in india, spain, liberia, china, ghana, taiwan, pakistan, paraguay, singapore, uruguay, ukraine, the united kingdom, jordan, south africa, south korea, and australia. Through their writing, art, video, and conversations, youth substantively engaged with the 2025 themes: state of mind, joy & laughter, ripple effects, and dialogue between generations. This year's array of online writing, editing, and dialogue workshops provided youth around the world opportunities for connection and skill- building. In november, almost 30 young people from across the united states and four other countries gathered in person in New York city for the annual global summit and awards. Together they engaged in meaningful conversation about their cultural and personal perspectives. They also celebrated the winners of the kidspirit awards, which were selected by peer editors around the world. The recognized articles, poetry, and artwork were published in a print anthology, the best of kidspirit volume xi, released that weekend. Kidspirit continued to participate in the wider international community through consultative status with the united nations economic and social council (ecosoc) and formal association with the un department of global communications. The magazine is in syndication on spirituality & practice and has won nineteen awards from major educational, parenting, and spiritual organizations. Kidspirit aims to build a truly inclusive and welcoming conversation that emphasizes authenticity, personal growth, and engagement. We look forward with hope and anticipation to ongoing dialogue and original creative work from kidspirit's global community of youth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - A large share of total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.4%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.5%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.4% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $258K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.