North Carolina · Nonprofit
BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC
BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,291,895 to it, the largest being NORTH CAROLINA PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC ($15,777,731). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $5.7M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Burke County Smart Start Inc does
Mission
To reach out, bring together and empower families, churches, schools, businesses, and government to improve the lives of young children
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
Child care and education affordability included the step program and the quality bonus for non-subsidized children program. The step program was a part time program conducted by burke county public schools. Classrooms serving 148 children at 3 sites in burke county. By june 30, 2026 100% of the children participating in the step program at least 6 months demonstrated developmental growth as measured by the creative curriculum. The quality bonus for non-subsidized children program was conducted by an accredited resource and referral agency. Quality bonuses were paid monthly to 26 child care programs serving 416 non-subsidized children. By june 30, 2026, 100% of the child care facilities receiving quality bonuses maintained or increased their quality as measured by the star licensure rating.
$990,584 spentof which $990,584 as grants23% of program spendingNc pre k - development and implementation of nc pre k prekindergarten program for at-risk four-year-olds who are at risk of failure in kindergarten. The goal is to provide quality prekindergarten services in order to enhance kindergarten readiness. 397 children served in 29 classrooms at 19 sites located in burke county.
$2,128,714 spentof which $1,941,118 as grants50% of program spendingChildcare & education quality programs include child care provider insurance package, child care resource & referral, and dual subsidy - tanf. Child care provider insurance package provided to 90 child care providers in 7 centers & 2 homes. 69% of private home and centers in 4 and 5 star facilities had health insurance. Child care resource & referral provided 61 trainings to 228 child care staff and 40 child care providers. 100% of participating child care facilities who completed a training maintained their star rating. Dual subsidy - tanf program paid, on a direct per child basis, subsidy for 118 children eligible for temporary assistance for needy families (tanf) or the child care development fund (ccdf). The average star rating for subsidized children was 4.71 stars and 93% of subsidized children received care in a 4 or 5 star facility.
$687,485 spentof which $687,485 as grants16% of program spendingFamily support - family literacy programs including motheread/fatheread that combined the teaching of literacy skills with child development and family empowerment issues serving 40 parents. By june 30, 2026, 65% (26 of 40) of participating parents indicated they read more to their children.
$58,750 spentof which $46,425 as grants1% of program spendingHurricane relief program provided disaster relief assistance to child care centers that sustained damage following the after math of hurricane helene. Two of burke county's largest child care centers were significantly impacted-creative beginnings and quaker meadows, which is ran by blue ridge community action. Both of the child care centers were awards funds for renovations, equipment, supplies, and loss wages. Total of 319 children were impacted.
$393,849 spentof which $393,849 as grants9% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,259,382.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2025 to 2026, from $134k to $1.3M (+841%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% · 2024 99% · 2025 91% · 2026 78%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Kathy Smith
Executive director
Board chair
Joset Taylor
Board chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $1.2M → $2.0M.
1 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 97% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
98% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 97% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $115k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 204 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 204 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2026
Organizations like BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC?
- BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,291,895 to it, the largest being NORTH CAROLINA PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC ($15,777,731). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $16,291,895 in grants to BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC?
- NORTH CAROLINA PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC is the largest funder on record, with $15,777,731 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BURKE COUNTY SMART START INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2020–2026), and the filings of 5 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing