Missouri · Nonprofit
FIRST IN MISSOURI
FIRST IN MISSOURI (Missouri) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $250,882 to it, the largest being THE ARGOSY FOUNDATION ($110,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $311k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $251k
- Net assets
- $267k
What First in Missouri does
Mission
First in Missouri provides science, technology, engineering and math (stem) learning
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
First robotics competition is an exciting robotics-based competition that teams engineering professionals and high-school students to solve real-world engineering problems in fun, rewarding, and inspiring ways. We call first robotics competition the ultimate sport for the mind. High-school student participants call it "a life changing experience." first robotics competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week time frame using a standard "kit of parts and a common set of rules. Teams explore possible career paths as they work together to design, build, and program robots in competitions designed by engineering professionals. For the year ended 6/30/2023, the first robotics competition partner hosted the st. Louis regional event for 43 teams. All team entry fees went to hq. First in mo had to cover all costs from fundraising or out of reserves.
$214,882 spent84% of program spendingFirst tech challenge teams (up to 15 members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to play a floor game in an alliance format. Participants call it "the hardest fun you'll ever have!" guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop stem skills and practice engineering principles (like keeping an engineering notebook), while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and sharing ideas. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and can be programmed using a variety of languages. Teams also must raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach for which they can win awards. For the year ended 6/30/2023, the first tech challenge partner supported 177 teams with 55 events.
$24,732 spent$43,382 earned by the program10% of program spendingFirst lego league guides youth through stem learning and exploration at an early age. From discover, to explore, and then to challenge, students will understand the basics of stem and apply their skills in an exciting competition while building habits of learning, confidence, and teamwork skills along the way. First offers three different first lego league programs: first lego league discover, first lego league explore, and first lego league challenge. For the year ended 6/30/2023, the first lego league challenge supported 218 teams with 16 events and first lego league explore supported 125 teams with 10 events.
$17,147 spent$22,739 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $256,761.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2023 to 2024, from $424k to $291k (−31%).
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.
66% of FIRST IN MISSOURI’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (83% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 4 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
Laura Roth
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $20k → $53k.
3 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 27% 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 FIRST IN MISSOURI’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
FIRST IN MISSOURI leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
52% 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 FIRST IN MISSOURI.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 79% · 2023 52% — diversifying over time.
“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
FIRST IN MISSOURI draws 95% of its grant income from funders outside Missouri, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $68k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states 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
FIRST IN MISSOURI is better cushioned than half of the 3,734 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,734 youth development nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FIRST IN MISSOURI
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 Missouri
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
0%
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 FIRST IN MISSOURI: 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 FIRST IN MISSOURI?
- FIRST IN MISSOURI (Missouri) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $250,882 to it, the largest being THE ARGOSY FOUNDATION ($110,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FIRST IN MISSOURI have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $250,882 in grants to FIRST IN MISSOURI, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FIRST IN MISSOURI?
- THE ARGOSY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $110,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FIRST IN MISSOURI find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds First in Missouri →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 7 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