Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 2004.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
60 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
11 people listed on the 990; $217K paid to officers and key staff.
Barbara Grandinetti’s $113K as President is at the 39th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1552 $1–10M youth development nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbara Grandinetti | $113,424 | $122,665 | $114,146 | $117,709 | $110,298 |
| Karen Robatin | $83,361 | $94,325 | $86,374 | $88,313 | $73,976 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See The Challenge Program INC executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Connects students with businesses and educators to build success habits for school and careers.
Questions for The Challenge Program INC
Your first name shows with your question. The Challenge Program INC answers here, for everyone.
The challenge program is a bridge between schools and business to provide incentives to promote students' academic success. High school students are awarded monetary incentives in five award categories: academic excellence, community service, stem (science, technology, engineering, and math), attendance and academic improvement.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $875K | $1.3M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $39K | $28K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.0M | $1.4M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $553K | $885K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $476K | $553K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $429K | $429K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $231K | $127K | $40K | $64K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $623K | $299K | $54K | $269K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $74K | $35K | $5K | $33K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $67K | $34K | $7K | $27K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $11K | $11K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $55K | $20K | $4K | $31K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $16K | $8K | $2K | $7K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $44K | $22K | $4K | $18K |
| TravelLn 17 | $48K | $24K | $5K | $19K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $2K | $2K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $10K | $5K | $1K | $4K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $6K | $6K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $62K | $13K | $21K | $29K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $16K | $8K | $1K | $7K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.7M | $1.0M | $163K | $508K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Oct 30, 2025 | $1.9M | $1.8M | $109K | $911K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 ViewingFiled with the IRS Oct 15, 2024 | $1.8M | $1.7M | $77K | $553K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Oct 31, 2023 | $1.5M | $1.4M | $42K | $476K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Oct 14, 2022 | $1.5M | $1.3M | $200K | $434K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Oct 15, 2021 | $1.3M | $1.1M | $174K | $234K | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,771,170 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 10 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,771,170 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,694,395 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,438,030 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $553,226 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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