Michigan · Nonprofit
FIRST STEPS KENT
FIRST STEPS KENT (Michigan) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,049,606 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($3,870,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $6.0M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What First Steps Kent does
Mission
To create a coordinated, integrated system of early childhood services that supports all families in kent county so every young child in kent county will enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life. The organization's most significant activity was obtaining grants and donations to implement, increase, strengthen, and coordinate the network of early childhood services in kent county, michigan.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Early childhood development First Steps Kent administers and oversees the ready by five early childhood millage (the "ready by five millage") for programs that improve the health, school readiness, and wellbeing of children through age five. It allows more children and families from across kent county to participate in programs that are proven to increase their likelihood of success in school and beyond. Community based organizations apply for funding to provide services such as home visiting, play and learn groups, developmental screening, and navigation support to help families access the help they need and want. Decisions about which organizations to fund are based on community needs assessments and the recommendations of the resident proposal review board, which includes parents, kent county commissioners and staff, a community early childhood expert, and a First Steps Kent commissioner.
$10,367,536 spentof which $9,755,324 as grants$10,334,121 earned by the program93% of program spendingMainspring early care alliance - increases access to affordable, quality childcare for working families with young children by maximizing early childcare provider capacity. The shared services initiative offers resources to increase business sustainability through supports such as: technical assistance from experts on small business management, professional development webinars and workshops on best practices in quality childcare, and developing a coordinated purchasing system to ensure providers receive volume discounts that will increase their buying power for supplies.
$329,008 spent3% of program spendingEarly learning initiatives-First Steps Kent was established to be the systems level organization for early childhood in kent county, born out of planning between community leaders, funders and the kent county administration in 2009. Although terms and the vernacular have shifted over several years, promotion and advocacy for early learning focused on children and families covering the age continuum from prenatal to 5 years of age is a large part of the work of First Steps Kent. The measurable outcomes associated with this work ensures that children are born healthy and are referred to services to assist them and their families with developmentally appropriate resources and services, so that they are able to enter kindergarten ready to learn and reach their full potential. First Steps Kent is a lead convener in kent county, statewide and even nationally to promote and advocate for evidenced based models to enhance the healthy development of young children. These initiatives include dozens of meetings, convenings and contributions to the latest research documents created by partners like the build initiative, the pritzker children's initiative, the national league of cities and the…
$439,373 spent4% of program spendingData projects-First Steps Kent supports community-wide data collection initiatives from service providers to support understanding the needs of expectant parents and families with young children in kent county. This project tracks the progress of programs and initiatives aligning in three key areas that contribute to kindergarten readiness, including: children are born healthy, children are developmentally on track and child health. Projects have included a formal process to collect feedback from the community with the identifying of contributing indicators that add a measurable context to the early childhood vision for kent county, development of a systems stakeholder map showing the connections and relationships among early childhood programs, as well as designing performance based metrics that have been included in the agreements executed with agencies receiving ready by five millage funding.
$11,474 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $11,147,391.
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.
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 $3.4M to $4.8M (+41%).
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 3% · 2024 80% · 2025 96%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of FIRST STEPS KENT’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 6 funders, grant income rose $712k → $731k.
3 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 STEPS KENT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 17 of 19 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 STEPS KENT leans on a few funders — its largest provides 64% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 68% · 2019 87% · 2020 63% · 2021 59% · 2022 64% · 2023 65% — growing more concentrated.
“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
30% of FIRST STEPS KENT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 37% give in more than one year at all.
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
91% of FIRST STEPS KENT's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $290k 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
FIRST STEPS KENT has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like FIRST STEPS KENT
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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FIRST STEPS KENT: 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 STEPS KENT?
- FIRST STEPS KENT (Michigan) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,049,606 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($3,870,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FIRST STEPS KENT have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $6,049,606 in grants to FIRST STEPS KENT, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FIRST STEPS KENT?
- WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $3,870,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FIRST STEPS KENT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 19 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing