More Than Bootstraps

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832245008
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Westfield, NJ, USA
Phone
9083970893
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$267,469
Expenses
$118,567
Assets
$306,795
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Audrey Fisch (President)
  • Matt Jackson (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Atiya Kai Stokes-Brown (Board member)
  • Claire Strom (Board member)
  • Carl Salisbury (Board member)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of More Than Bootstraps (MTB) is to build a community of first-generation, low-income (FGLI) students who empower each other to access and succeed in higher education. Only 9% of FGLI students earn a college degree by age 24. MTB addresses systemic barriers that may prevent underrepresented students from enrolling in and completing college by building on the strengths of our students. High school juniors and seniors are mentored by "near-peer" college students (graduates from their community who are currently enrolled in a range of institutions). In guiding their younger peers as a mentoring cohort, our college student Leaders solidify their own college-going success. Supervision and support for students are also provided by Program Resource Fellows and Social Work Interns.

What it reported doing in 2025

MTB employs a near-peer mentoring approach to address the challenges first-generation, low-income students face in accessing and succeeding in higher education. Working with underrepresented students in Passaic and Plainfield, NJ, the organization matches high school students with near-peer mentors - high school graduates from their communities who are currently enrolled in a range of institutions. The college student Leaders meet weekly with their high school mentees and follow a curriculum of activities focused on personal and professional development, college and financial aid awareness, and communication with families. By supporting students from their junior year of high school through their college years with programming, mentoring, and financial support, MTB positively impacts college matriculation and retention rates, promotes economic mobility, and contributes to community revitalization. In academic year 2025-2026, we expanded our program in Passaic, NJ, to support nineteen (19) college student Leaders and thirty-seven (37) high school students (24 juniors and 13 seniors). Two Program Resource Fellows assisted with problem-solving and program retention. MTB signed an MOA with the Plainfield Public Schools in September 2025 and is actively recruiting students for the program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 43.6%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 95%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $170.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 89.5%; rating input score 89; 54th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 55.7%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.59; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 36.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 43.6% of revenue deployed · 95% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $113K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 44/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.