Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jul 1982.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
82 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
46 people listed on the 990; $3.0M paid to officers and key staff.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Michael Hoffman | — | $384,024 | $300,023 | $309,395 | $264,690 |
| Michael Hoffman | $360,286 | — | — | — | — |
| Sarah Rittling | $343,426 | — | — | — | — |
| Donna Iwanski | $333,728 | — | — | — | — |
| Ms Daphne Logan | — | $307,761 | $238,508 | $246,056 | $207,252 |
| Ms Aisha Gayle Turner | — | $307,328 | — | — | — |
| Aisha Gayle Turner | $292,576 | — | — | — | — |
| Ms Rebecca Berlin | — | — | $270,008 | $290,073 | $214,227 |
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 15aYes
Programs and updates
Provides high-quality early learning programs, research, and advocacy from birth to age five to help close the opportunity gap for underserved families.
Questions for Start Early
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Start early provides high-quality early childhood services for low-income children, birth to age five, and their families, as well as services to pregnant women, through a multi-site network of early learning programs, family child care homes, and directly-operated programs in under-resourced communities throughout chicago and…
Start early's home visiting and doula network annually reaches approximately 1,360 historically underserved young children, pregnant women, and their families through a statewide network of home visiting and doula services.
The educare learning network (eln) extends the impact of start early's extensive early childhood knowledge and expertise to states across the country through consultation and technical assistance in program, public policy and systems work; research and evaluation; organizational capacity building; and philanthropic engagement strategies.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $23.3M | $41.1M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $29.6M | $31.6M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $9.2M | $10.2M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $129.4M | $124.4M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $31.5M | $25.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $98.0M | $98.8M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $36.8M | $36.8M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $2.1M | $177K | $1.5M | $389K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $43.1M | $33.3M | $8.2M | $1.6M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $2.7M | $2.0M | $577K | $116K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $6.3M | $5.0M | $1.1M | $206K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $3.2M | $2.4M | $684K | $137K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $448K | $220K | $227K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $154K | $154K | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $1.1M | $947K | $140K | |
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $252K | $252K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $65K | $65K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $6.6M | $5.4M | $1.2M | $29K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $699K | $516K | $183K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $1.4M | $1.2M | $167K | $68K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $3.3M | $574K | $2.7M | $34K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $2.7M | $2.2M | $430K | $79K |
| TravelLn 17 | $1.1M | $1.0M | $68K | $43K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $1.7M | $1.6M | $115K | $12K |
| InterestLn 20 | $10K | $213 | $10K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1.2M | $787K | $384K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $154K | $154K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $1.0M | $885K | $141K | $9K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $297K | $168K | $128K | $1K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $116.5M | $95.2M | $18.3M | $3.0M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $115.2M | $116.5M | −$1.3M | $98.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $134.9M | $113.8M | $21.1M | $98.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $120.1M | $108.1M | $12.0M | $74.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $92.1M | $89.2M | $2.9M | $61.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $70.5M | $74.3M | −$3.9M | $62.7M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $115,249,579 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 34 of 34 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $115,249,579 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $116,502,911 across 23 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $124,441,052 assets, 18 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $98,774,404 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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