Self Start

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
880835635
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Oceanside, CA, USA
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$128,378
Expenses
$135,633
Assets
$86,050

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN RUSNAK (President)

People named in this filing

  • JENNIFER SAGE (Director)
  • TRACI SCHUCK (Director)
  • MARLEEN YU LI (Director)

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

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

Overview

Mission

SELF-Starts mission is to empower individuals with disabilities to create and lead independent and meaningful lives, guided by their dreams and aspirations. We believe in the unlimited potential of every person and aim to provide them with the necessary tools and strategies to envision a future filled with opportunities. Through our programs and services, we strive to foster self-determination, enabling individuals to shape their own destinies within their communities.Our primary goal at SELF-Start is to offer education, activities, and mentorship to support individuals with disabilities in their journey towards independence, employment, self-advocacy, health and safety, and community integration. We understand that empowering individuals with knowledge is essential for their personal growth and success.

What it reported doing in 2025

SELF Start provides several charitable and educational activities in furtherance of its mission to support persons with disabilities. The Charity focuses on providing mentorship and guidance to build its clients' independence, employment, self-advocacy, health and safety, and support in the community. Historically, individuals with disabilities have not had the ability to decide on their own how they want to live their life; their family and professionals have taken on the role of deciding what is best for these individuals. The Charity's mission is to provide individuals with disabilities with the opportunity to decide their own hopes, dreams, and goals that they want to accomplish in their life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
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.

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: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.7%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 44.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 28.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 40.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $136K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.