Photo Start

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812422666
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
9172249190
Rating
44
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$116,565
Expenses
$33,944
Assets
$100,915
Liabilities
$354,610

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID LEHMAN (FOUNDING DIRECTOR): $12 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 foundation is organized exclusively for education purposes. The foundation engages in teaching the art and vocation of photography to students 12 and older and teaching practical, marketable life skills, and nurturing the creative energy of the most vulnerable people.the foundation also provides opportunities for exposure as well as social and economic empowerment that would otherwise be unavailable to these people. The foundation will be teaching photograph, business/entrepreneurship and leadership to students.

What it reported doing in 2025

Photo start graduates will be capable of using digital cameras, manipulating lights, understand best practices regarding digital workflow, digital production, and digital asset management. Planning and patience, two prized assets of the prepared photographer, are also valued highly by businesses and hiring managers in a multitude of fields. Our students also improve self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-reliance. These leadership traits are highly tranlatable and extremely marketable, particularly in developing regions. By teaching vulnerable students photography as an art, and a business, we hope to bring about much needed economic development as well as to introduce the world to a new generation of artists. Students participate in the teaching, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of instruction. Advancing students and graduates are encouraged to take training and become certified trainers in the photo start program. This way, we enable self-help and establish independent organizations on the ground.in 2025, photostart expanded and strenghtened its bolivia programming, including work in el alto, by supporting locally led photography education for youth. The program provided students with camera access, introductory photography training, and visual storytelling instruction, while also demonstrating the long-term value of photo start's instructor development mode. Noemi daniela gonzalez cabrera, a photo start alumna and instructor, continued to serve as a local leader for new student cohorts and received major regional recognition as a pictures of the year latin america 2025 winner. This accomplishment reflected photo start's core program model: students gaining skills, advancing creatively, and returning as mentors and instructors for the next generation.

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

MIXED - Program spending has grown recently and revenue comfortably covers expenses. 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: 29
  • Transparency & Controls: 51
  • Accountability: 45
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 10.9%; rating input score 11
  • Program expense ratio: 37.4%; rating input score 37
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,734.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th 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: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 18th 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 70.9%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.97; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.51; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 10.9% of revenue deployed · 37.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $13K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.