Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Feb 2008.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
87 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
26 people listed on the 990; $129K paid to officers and key staff.
Susannah Wellford’s $142K as CEO Founder is at the 61st 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 | FY2024 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Susannah Wellford | $141,933 | $126,715 | $128,849 | $124,155 |
| Melissa Richmond | — | $102,911 | — | — |
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.
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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 15aNo
Programs and updates
Trains young women to run for political office.
Questions for Running Start
Your first name shows with your question. Running Start answers here, for everyone.
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Congressional Fellowship
The Congressional Fellowship includes a semester-long internship with a woman in Congress, free fully furnished group housing on Capitol Hill, a living stipend, and travel to and from Washington, DC.
Elect Her
Elect Her is a daylong training for college women on how to run for student government and beyond. It is held in person and virtually. 88% of Elect Her alums who ran for office reported that their training informed their campaign strategy. Each year, 50 Elect Her trainings are held around the country.
High School Program
Running Start's High School Program was traditionally a weeklong in-person program in Washington, DC. During the pandemic, the program has been a month-long virtual program. In both formats, 50-80 participants learn leadership and campaign skills from 100+ speakers, trainers and Members of Congress while working with a team on a campaign…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $83K | $100K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $0 | |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $301K | $198K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $70K | $108K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $232K | $91K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $8K | $8K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $10K | $10K | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $145K | $123K | $15K | $7K |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $486K | $413K | $49K | $24K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $19K | $16K | $2K | $941 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $10K | $8K | $962 | $481 |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $74K | $63K | $7K | $4K |
| Management feesLn 11a | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $16K | $12K | $2K | $2K |
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $0 | $0 | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $27K | $26K | $752 | $0 |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $9K | $7K | $873 | $873 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $31K | $24K | $3K | $3K |
| RoyaltiesLn 15 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $46K | $37K | $5K | $5K |
| TravelLn 17 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| InterestLn 20 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Payments to affiliatesLn 21 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $9K | $7K | $909 | $909 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $207K | $194K | $9K | $4K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $2K | $2K | $0 | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.1M | $951K | $94K | $52K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest | $1.3M | $1.2M | $109K | $137K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | Not on file | ||||
| FY2022 | $1.1M | $984K | $92K | $98K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $1.1M | $1.1M | $16K | $91K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $1.2M | $1.3M | −$88K | $232K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,112,739 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 25 of 26 board members independent, 2 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,112,739 across 15 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,096,799 across 31 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $198,495 assets, 22 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $90,880 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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