Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Aug 2012.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 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
18 people listed on the 990; $333K paid to officers and key staff.
Cherie Craft’s $233K as CEO is at the 94th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3869 $1–10M human services 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 · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherie Craft | $232,993 | $200,057 | $200,057 | $167,240 | $119,731 |
| Sophia Girault | $158,519 | $133,397 | $133,397 | $104,666 | — |
| Marsha Girault-Macias | $106,666 | — | — | — | — |
| Davis a Douglas | $105,804 | — | — | — | — |
| Janiya Garrett | $101,222 | — | — | — | — |
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
Empowers families and communities to prevent achievement gaps and break poverty cycles for young children.
Questions for Smart from the Start INC
Your first name shows with your question. Smart from the Start INC answers here, for everyone.
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To empower and provide low income families and communities with the tools, resources and support necessary to break cycles of chronic underachievement in education and generational poverty through initiatives, programs and activities including, but not limited to (I) parenting workshops, (ii) family support programs, (iii) adult…
Over the last two summers, 50 of our youth, family leaders and their children, along with our staff team and some board members, embarked on a civil rights summer pilgrimage. Together, we journeyed through 18 states from boston all the way down to louisiana, ending our journey in tennessee.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2023 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY23 | End FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $234K | $278K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $22K | $9K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $507K | $592K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $449K | $512K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $58K | $81K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $60K | $60K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $226K | $45K | $90K | $90K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.5M | $1.3M | $177K | $55K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $166K | $136K | $22K | $8K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $133K | $102K | $20K | $11K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $40 | $40 | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $59K | $59K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $1K | $1K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $144K | $128K | $11K | $5K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $138K | $97K | $31K | $10K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $27K | $21K | $4K | $2K |
| TravelLn 17 | $124K | $124K | ||
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $94K | $94K | ||
| InterestLn 20 | $5 | $5 | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $7K | $7K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $40K | $40K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $331K | $329K | $2K | $562 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $551 | $551 | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $3.0M | $2.4M | $456K | $183K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $2.6M | $4.6M | −$1.9M | $393K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $5.6M | $3.3M | $2.3M | $2.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 Viewing | $3.1M | $3.0M | $23K | $81K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $2.8M | $2.9M | −$90K | $10K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $2.2M | $2.4M | −$209K | $100K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $2.0M | $1.8M | $192K | $309K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $3,058,351 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 10 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $3,058,351 across 4 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,035,435 across 18 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $592,176 assets, 11 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $80,549 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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