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California · Nonprofit

FIRST STAR INC

FIRST STAR INC (California) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,248,345 to it, the largest being CONRAD N HILTON FOUNDATION ($1,540,000). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$1.8M
Funders on record
62
Grants received
$7.2M
Net assets
$1.8M
36/62 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 92%
01What it does

What First Star Inc does

Mission

To improve the lives of foster youth by partnering with child welfare agencies, universities and school districts to ensure foster youth have the skills needed to successfully transition to higher education and adulthood

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Foster youth academies: first star partners with universities throughout the country to make a long-term investment in foster youth and change the course of their lives, from abuse and neglect to academic achievement and self-sufficiency. Each foster youth academy is a four-year program for high school foster youth that shows them they belong on a college campus, and helps them get there. Youth live on a college campus each summer throughout high school, and return 1-2 days each month during the school year. Each academy keeps youth on track for academic success, equips them with life skills needed for adulthood, trains them to advocate for themselves and others, and ensures that all youth exit foster care with lifelong adult supporters.

    $1,085,303 spent
    100% of program spending
  2. The first star alumni program extends support to first star alumni post- graduation as they navigate the challenges of post-secondary education and beyond. Providing both resources and financial support.

  3. The foster youth pre-college collecitve works to ensure students in foster care have access to meaningful, engaging, educational support programming grounded in best practices and laser-focused on achieving high school graduation and post-secondary matriculation rates that match or exceed those of their peers in the general population.

  4. Scholar advisory committee and miscellaneous child advocacy programs improving the lives of foster youth

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,085,303.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.5M) Expenses 100 ($1.5M) Net assets 100 ($1.1M)2018 Revenue 114 ($1.7M) Expenses 92 ($1.4M) Net assets 125 ($1.3M)2019 Revenue 157 ($2.3M) Expenses 124 ($1.9M) Net assets 162 ($1.7M)2020 Revenue 107 ($1.6M) Expenses 101 ($1.5M) Net assets 165 ($1.7M)2021 Revenue 128 ($1.9M) Expenses 113 ($1.7M) Net assets 180 ($1.9M)2022 Revenue 87 ($1.3M) Expenses 104 ($1.6M) Net assets 148 ($1.6M)2023 Revenue 99 ($1.5M) Expenses 89 ($1.4M) Net assets 157 ($1.7M)2024 Revenue 126 ($1.8M) Expenses 111 ($1.7M) Net assets 172 ($1.8M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (126)Expenses (111)Net assets (172)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $1.3M to $1.7M (+30%).

$1.2M
$1.3M
$1.7M
$1.7M
$1.9M
$1.6M
$1.7M
$1.8M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 5% · 2022 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

98% of FIRST STAR INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 11,814 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$64k
’17
$264k
’18
$392k
’19
$33k
’20
$152k
’21
−$329k
’22
$92k
’23
$151k
’24
10
months of
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

Lyndsey Collins

Chief executive officer

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1111131312161315
Joined·+2+5+0+0+5+1+4
No longer listed·2301142
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $492k → $798k.

16 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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 STAR INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 funders by total. 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 STAR INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left

36% 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 STAR INC.

21%
largest funder
43%
top three
~11
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 51% · 2018 32% · 2019 65% · 2020 29% · 2021 30% · 2022 33% · 2023 31% — 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.

How long its funders stay

42% of FIRST STAR INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

53% of FIRST STAR INC's grant income comes from California funders.

MN
IL
NY
MA
NV
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
DE
AZ
AL
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

FIRST STAR INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,274 human services nonprofits its size.

Operating margin8% · above the median
Months of reserve10.2mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)3% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,274 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding FIRST STAR INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8k on record.

State$8k
07
09
10
22
By state
  • OK$8k
  • FL$115

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like FIRST STAR 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 California

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

82% of spending goes to programs.

Program 82%Management 11%Fundraising 7%

Governance

12
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

76%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 2 states

CA
DC

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FIRST STAR 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 STAR INC?
FIRST STAR INC (California) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,248,345 to it, the largest being CONRAD N HILTON FOUNDATION ($1,540,000). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does FIRST STAR INC have?
IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $7,248,345 in grants to FIRST STAR INC, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of FIRST STAR INC?
CONRAD N HILTON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,540,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like FIRST STAR INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Star →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 62 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