California · Nonprofit
READY TO SUCCEED
READY TO SUCCEED (California) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,863,748 to it, the largest being RIC & SUZANNE KAYNE FOUNDATION ($3,221,394). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.7M
- Funders on record
- 82
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $3.1M
What Ready to Succeed does
Mission
Ready to Succeed (rts) is a non profit empowering foster youth in college to prepare for the professional world and build pathways to employment. We do this through a unique, multi-year program that provides our rts students with personalized career advising, access to professional networks and placement in paid internships. Upon completion of our program, rts scholars have the skills, relationships and experiences they need to launch their careers and pursue their dreams.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Student loan repayment assistance provided to rts program alumni pursuing careers in mission-driven sectors where compensation may be lower than comparable private-sector roles. This support helps reduce financial barriers that may prevent alumni from pursuing careers aligned with their education and long-term professional goals. Loan repayment assistance is provided through partnerships with philanthropic foundations and helps alumni maintain financial stability as they transition into the workforce. By reducing the burden of educational debt, these efforts support alumni in advancing their careers and achieving long-term economic mobility.
$1,759,078 spentof which $439,434 as grants54% of program spendingCareer accelerator programthe rts career accelerator program is a multi-year career development program designed to support foster youth and first-generation college students as they transition from college to the professional workforce. Participants receive individualized career advising, professional development training, and access to a network of industry mentors and professionals. The program includes career coaching, workshops on professional skills, internship placement support, and financial stipends that allow scholars to participate in career-building opportunities. By addressing social, emotional, and financial barriers that often limit access to professional networks, the program helps scholars successfully complete their college degrees and launch careers aligned with their goals.
$1,273,643 spentof which $531,369 as grants39% of program spendingProject dorm room & special programsproject dorm room and related special initiatives provide essential resources and transitional support to foster youth entering college. The program supplies dorm room essentials and other basic living items to incoming freshmen and transfer students attending colleges and universities throughout california. Rts staff and volunteers coordinate the collection, packaging, and delivery of these supplies to ensure students have the basic necessities required for a successful transition into campus life. These efforts reduce financial strain on students and help them begin their college experience feeling supported and prepared.
$209,182 spentof which $62,238 as grants6% of program spendingAlumni & early career developmentthe alumni and early career development program supports rts scholars after graduation as they begin and advance in their professional careers. Alumni receive ongoing career advising, networking opportunities, and professional development resources designed to support early career growth. The program connects alumni with mentors, industry professionals, and peer networks that help facilitate career advancement and long-term professional success. By maintaining engagement beyond graduation, rts strengthens its alumni network and supports sustained economic mobility for program participants.
$35,870 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,277,773.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2022 to 2023, from $1.5M to $3.1M (+113%).
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: 2021 14% · 2023 3% · 2024 23% · 2025 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
101% of READY TO SUCCEED’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. 1 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
Romi Lassally
CEO & co-founder
Board chair
Todd Kessler
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $21k → $2.8M.
16 of 82 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 READY TO SUCCEED’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 82 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
READY TO SUCCEED has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
27% 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 READY TO SUCCEED.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 52% · 2019 53% · 2020 17% · 2021 41% · 2022 61% · 2023 37% — 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
37% of READY TO SUCCEED's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
92% of READY TO SUCCEED's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
READY TO SUCCEED has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like READY TO SUCCEED
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
58%
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 READY TO SUCCEED: 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 READY TO SUCCEED?
- READY TO SUCCEED (California) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,863,748 to it, the largest being RIC & SUZANNE KAYNE FOUNDATION ($3,221,394). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does READY TO SUCCEED have?
- IRS filings report 82 organizations giving $11,863,748 in grants to READY TO SUCCEED, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of READY TO SUCCEED?
- RIC & SUZANNE KAYNE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,221,394 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like READY TO SUCCEED 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 Ready to Succeed →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 82 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