Smart Start of Pender County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
562044085
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Burgaw, NC, USA
Phone
9102599978
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$498,216
Expenses
$514,556
Assets
$32,071
Liabilities
$31,501

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Connie CarrCostin (Executive Director)
  • Donald Hall (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Connie CarrCostin (Executive Director): $102,258 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organizations primary exempt purpose and mission is to support services that provide opportunities for every child to grow into his or her potential as a person. The Local Partnership will provide Smart Start services as approved by The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. The approved services to be purchased or provided under this contract are limited to those indicated and described below.

What it reported doing in 2024

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION (5517): The Community Outreach, Education, and Systems Building activity will increase awareness and improve the early childhood experiences for young children and their families in Pender County. This activity will serve to establish, coordinate and support activities and interventions that will build a strong, coordinated Early Childhood System across Pender County and will work to strengthen stakeholder relationships, improve collaboration and coordination between community organizations serving children birth to five and their families, share information about early education resources and tools and integrate resilience strategies and best practices across the community. The work in this activity may include communication between agency staff and; early educators, child care agencies, early learning advocates, local, state and national resilience advocates and resources; as well as planning, hosting, or attending community events. The work will also involve identifying potential community collaborators through intensive outreach and partnering with educational, business, faith, civic, social, and health organizations. Publications and communications strategies will be implemented, including print and electronic newsletters; available early learning resources and text messaging services annual programmatic and data reports; SSPC social media platforms; management of the SSPC website, all relevant brochures, flyers, and posters. Smart Start funding may be used for non-cash grants in the form of books and materials for parents and children to encourage literacy and early education efforts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 96% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $154.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 26th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.3%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.98; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.4% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $385K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 41 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.