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Smart Start Partnership for Childre at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Smart Start Partnership for Childre

To support, educate and advocate to build a strong foundation for young children in our community.

$1.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$244k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Human Services$7.7MEducation$552kCrime & Legal$11kRecreation & Sports$5k
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 28 grants below total $1,179,545, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,272,663 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $93,118 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $44k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $384k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $751k
$22,146
Median grant
1
States reached
$972k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER$243,727
NESSA'S YOUNG'UNS NATURAL PLAY CENT$169,109
LITTLE BLESSINGS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY$153,375
ALICE'S PLAYGROUND$72,894
STEPS TO HOPE ACADEMY$60,463
LITTLE RED SCHOOL$51,643
MT PISGAH LUTHERAN PRESCHOOL$48,045
Individual grant recipient$41,086
BEST EVER HOME DAYCARE$38,523
THE PLAY AND LEARNING CENTER$36,220
LOVE AND LEARNING$30,034
LITTLE BRIGHT MINDS$23,413
GODS GIFT$23,028
GRACE LUTHERAN$22,146
FUMC HENDERSONVILLE$20,418
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY22–25, $87k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $42k → 12%BEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $19k → 12%BEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $18k → 12%BEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $8k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.0M · 24 repeat orgs$207k to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
4

Total granted

$8.0M
$39k

Still filing today

33%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $168k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CF
    CHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $2.3M · revenue +131%
  • BR
    BLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN
    3× · 2022–2024 · $483k · revenue +120%
  • WC
    WESTERN CAROLINA COMMUNITY ACTION INC
    5× · 2018–2025 · $150k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • HI
    HERE I GROW
    one grant, 2023 · $15k
  • HC
    HENDERSON COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA
    one grant, 2023 · $11k
  • BS
    BELLS SCHOOL FOR LITTLE FOLKS
    one grant, 2021 · $7k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Child Development Center
Human Services
2
Hancock County Learning Center

Provide affordable and depenable daycare and head start programs for hancock county and the surrounding areas

—
3
Small People Child Development Center

The Small People Child Development Center is organized to provide early childhood education, care, and developmental services to infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children. The organization supports working families by offering a safe,…

Human Services
4
Beggining Child Care Center

Child care services and child preschool instruction

Education
5
Onslow County Partnership for Children

When they have challenges, we connect all children and their families to programs and resources that provide opportunities and hope.

Education
6
Partnership for Children of Cumberland County Inc

The partnership's mission is to be the driving force to engage partners to achieve lasting positive outcomes for all children, beginning at birth.

Education
7
Mountain Tots Preschool

Mountain Tots preschool provides high quality early learning enrichment programs that enhances educational, social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development as well as Kindergarten-readiness. We provide preschool and childcare…

Education
8
Bennington County Child Care Associates

Training for early child care

—
9
Dublin Community Preschool

Preschool education and childcare

Education
10
Kid Central

Our mission is to provide quality and safe childcare for the families in our community and provide our youngest learners with a positive start to their education journey.

Education
11
Little Wonders Early Learning Center

The organization's mission is to provide learning opportunities for the children of educators within Davidson County, Tennessee.

Education
12
Joyful Learning Edc

In 2001, Joyful Learning Educational Development Center (Joyful Learning EDC) was founded with a clear vision to provide accessible, high-quality childcare that meets the diverse needs of every child.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Smart Start of Transylvania County; the most unlike its peers is Wild Oak Independent School. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

10 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 10 of the 40 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
5/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC: $2,279,636 · OtherCHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF HENDERSON COUNTY INCLITTLE BLESSINGS: $981,351 · OtherLITTLE BLESSINGSALICE'S PLAYGROUND: $393,395 · OtherALICE'S PLAYGROUNDSTEPS TO HOPE ACADEMY: $334,656 · OtherSTEPS TO HOPE ACADEMYNESSA'S YOUNG'UNS NATURAL PLAY CENT: $325,927 · OtherNESSA'S YOUNG'UNS NATURAL PLAY CENTLOVE AND LEARNING: $283,939 · OtherLITTLE RED SCHOOL: $226,079 · OtherLITTLE BRIGHT MINDS: $219,914 · Other+25 more: $1,026,464 · Other+25 moreSMART START OF TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY: $1,313,938 · EducationSMART START OF TRANSYLVANI…BLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $482,656 · EducationBLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR…Helping Hand Developmental Center: $65,814 · Education+2 more: $69,136 · EducationWESTERN CAROLINA COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $149,554 · Human ServicesBEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $86,932 · Human Services
Other$6,071,361Education$1,931,544Human Services$236,486

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC: $2,279,636 over 8y, 25% of budgetSMART START OF TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY: $1,313,938 over 3y, 25% of budgetBLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $482,656 over 3y, 16% of budgetWESTERN CAROLINA COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $149,554 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetEast Flat Rock Daycare Inc: $98,153 over 7y, 6.2% of budgetBEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $86,932 over 4y, 15% of budgetHelping Hand Developmental Center: $65,814 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetBUNCOMBE COUNTY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC: $63,427 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWild Oak Independent School: $5,709 over 1y, 1.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds CHILDREN & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds SMART START OF TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds BLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN CAROLINA COMMUNITY ACTION INC ↗
  • Who funds East Flat Rock Daycare Inc ↗
  • Who funds BEACON CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Helping Hand Developmental Center ↗
  • Who funds BUNCOMBE COUNTY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST COAST MIGRANT HEAD START PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Wild Oak Independent School ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Dogwood Health TrustThe Community Foundat…Wnc Bridge FoundationHenderson County Unit…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation of Henderson County IncNC21.7× affinity8 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Henderson County Inc · Dogwood Health Trust · The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · Wnc Bridge Foundation · Henderson County United Way Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Smart Start Partnership for Childre funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Smart Start Partnership for Childre. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 40 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Smart Start Partnership for Childre’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home