Maryland · Nonprofit
OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC
OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC (Maryland) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $243,187 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($129,368). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 94% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $656k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $243k
- Net assets
- $6k
What Our Kids Read Association Inc does
Mission
Our mission is to promote the love of physically diverse books with children ages 4-12 and to use technology to connect our students and mentors with diverse books that encourage, inspire, and educate.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Reading (and being read to) has been linked to all sorts of amazing benefits, including enhancing creativity, releasing endorphins (positive effect on mood), increasing empathy, decreasing stress, enhancing memory, improving school performance, and increasing vocabulary. In addition, a long-term study by the anne e. Casey foundation found that students who were not proficient in reading by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. The study further concluded that 88 percent of students who failed to earn a high school diploma were struggling readers in third grade.our kids read is therefore focusing on pre-k through 5th grade as the target for our reading programs in hopes of creating lifelong readers to reap the benefits of reading and all of its benefits.
$248,674 spentof which $211,180 as grants80% of program spendingThe our kids read "remote reading buddies" program connects white and blue-collar professionals, retirees, and high school students looking to satisfy their community service hours with young people in our programs who are behind in their reading skills. We recruit from large and small companies, looking for individuals who can spare at least 30 minutes per week to read to a child (minimum 8-week commitment). We aim to expand the reading buddies program exponentially over the next few years: 250 reading buddies in 2024, and 1,000 reading buddies in 2025.
$62,168 spent20% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $310,842.
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 $6k to $48k (+757%).
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.
98% of OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 3 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
Jahmal Lake
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $2k → $39k.
6 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 94% 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 OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION 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
OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 53% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 38% — 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
94% of OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $14k that is directly attributable, 63% of it comes from funders outside Maryland, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $230k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 22,838 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,838 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
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 OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION 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 OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC?
- OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC (Maryland) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $243,187 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($129,368). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 94% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $243,187 in grants to OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $129,368 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OUR KIDS READ ASSOCIATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2022–2024), and the filings of 12 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