Start Small Think Big Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271821066
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6467234053
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Financial Counseling

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,571,237
Expenses
$3,986,780
Assets
$3,931,535
Liabilities
$105,013

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Josephine Panzera (CFO/ Executive Director (Eff. Feb 2024))
  • Satjeet Kaur Nayar (Executive Director (from July 2023 to January 2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • Josephine Panzera (CFO/ Executive Director (Eff. Feb 2024)): $229,677 total reported compensation
  • Sara Schlossberg (Chief Programs Officer): $175,189 total reported compensation
  • Niya Branham (Chief Operating Officer): $145,393 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Start Small advances economic equity by providing an ecosystem of curated resources and support for small businesses, particularly for those entrepreneurs who face systemic barriers that make business success harder to achieve.

What it reported doing in 2024

Legal Program provided entrepreneurs with free legal services including choosing and forming an appropriate legal structure for the business or restructuring it to permit additional equity participation, corporate governance/corporate housekeeping, contract review and drafting, commercial lease review and negotiation, employment advice, sales tax compliance, intellectual property, legal aspects of doing online business, support to access capital, and regulatory, licensing, and permitting needs.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.4% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.4% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $230K · 26 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.