So Kids Soar
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 611716117
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2028887969
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $244,949
- Expenses
- $315,450
- Assets
- $185,696
- Liabilities
- $46,398
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GLENDA FU SMITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- GLENDA FU SMITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $82,841 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
So kids soar sks, a not-for-profit section 501c3, provides life-changing programs that empower youth with physical and developmental disabilities to strive, own, achieve and realize their potential.
What it reported doing in 2025
Sks holiday celebration: this celebration is more than a seasonal party. It is our culminating year-end event that gives our participants the opportunity to pay compassion forward. Participants engage in a variety of philanthropic activities at the holiday celebration, including wrapping gifts for underprivileged children decorating desserts for homeless shelters making holiday cards for veterans and more. The holiday celebration is a time for fun and philanthropy and a reminder that their disabilities will not hold them back from reaching their potential. At the 2024 sks holiday program, 41 participants and 63 volunteers achieved the following goals: - 250 presents for dc metro foster and adoptive parent association - 89 presents for the napkin network - 57 backpacks stuffed with school supplies and toys for kids in need of defense (kind) - 50 backpacks stuffed with hygiene kits for comfort cases, inc. - 50 stuffed kong balls for montgomery county partners for animal well-being - 70 flash cards for hands on tokyo.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 15
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 67.2%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: -28.8%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26.3%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 67.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $212K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $83K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.