Massachusetts · Nonprofit
SOUTH SHORE STARS INC
SOUTH SHORE STARS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,561,351 to it, the largest being United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc ($2,397,385). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $15M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $4.6M
- Net assets
- $9.2M
What South Shore Stars Inc does
Mission
Stars provides comprehensive early education and youth development programs that enhance the optimal growth of children from economically and culturally diverse families, using a family support approach in collaboration with schools and other service providers.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Early education/preschool:our three nationally accredited early education/preschool centers support young children, including toddlers, infants, and preschoolers at our weymouth location, preschoolers at our randolph location, and preschoolers and toddlers at our quincy location. All children are offered the opportunity to learn in a safe, nurturing, and educationally rich environment. Teachers plan child-centered activities that are fun and spark exploration, creativity, and the mastery of new skills. The foundation of our program structure is highscope curriculum, which emphasizes child-centered learning. Research has shown that this type of educational experience is most effective in helping young children reach appropriate developmental milestones. Teachers frequently assess children's development and use the data to plan curriculum and develop educational strategies.supporting social and emotional learning is the heart of stars' programming and integrated into our daily practice. Low child staff ratios, small group size, and specialized training are essential to our success. Activities are included in weekly classroom plans that support the development of positive peer…
$4,924,660 spent$468,106 earned by the program58% of program spendingSchool age and youth:since 1970, stars has provided the highest quality school age child care programs. We have invested our resources in developing innovative, research based, best practices that supports social and emotional development and school success with the following goals: increased resiliency; development of positive values; improved school attendance, homework completion and academic achievement; and increased aspiration for a positive future.in our centers, children are encouraged to grow in self-reliance and self-expression as they enjoy many activities including athletics, arts, games, drama, cooking and field trips. We aim to excite children about reading and writing by integrating literacy activities into each center's daily schedule. Throughout the year there are many special offerings which might include: drumming, digital media and robotics. Staff work with parents to develop an individual homework plan, and homework time is a part of each day's schedule. The strength of our school age child care program is the strong positive relationships staff develop with children. We support our children to express their feelings and resolve disputes while developing…
$3,027,539 spentof which $39,960 as grants$617,349 earned by the program35% of program spendingSummer programs & camps:experienced staff meet social and emotional needs of younger campers with age appropriate activities. Stars summer program provides games, athletics, supplemental math and ela instruction, arts and crafts, theme weeks, field trips and more.
$388,289 spent5% of program spendingStars school & learning center:the program focuses on children grades 1 - 6 with language-based learning differences, like dyslexia and co-occurring conditions. Each student will have access to a comprehensive learning plan that links specific diagnostic information, with specialized instruction, modified curricula and other related services. They'll receive assistance using state-of-the-art materials and methods to address specific learning differences by orton-gillingham trained and certified teachers and staff. Each student will have individualized tutoring to assist them to meet their individual academic goals.
$106,700 spent1% of program spendingFamily child care:research supports family child care being the ideal child care setting for infants and toddlers, providing an opportunity to form a close bond with caregivers, a comfortable home setting and flexibility in scheduling. Stars has operated a family child care system since 1975. Our team of early childhood specialists, a family support clinician, and a nutritionist supports each family provider to create a warm, nurturing environment with the structure and individual planning that are the hallmarks of quality early education settings.
$116,766 spent1% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,563,954.
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 2022 to 2023, from $4.9M to $13M (+162%).
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: 2017 20% · 2018 18% · 2019 17% · 2020 82% · 2021 92% · 2022 90% · 2023 82% · 2024 83% · 2025 78%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
83% of SOUTH SHORE STARS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Chief executive
Dr Jennifer Curtis
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $271k → $456k.
4 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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 SOUTH SHORE STARS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 26 of 27 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
SOUTH SHORE STARS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 53% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
64% 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 SOUTH SHORE STARS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 83% · 2019 82% · 2020 79% · 2021 55% · 2022 62% · 2023 72% — 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
36% of SOUTH SHORE STARS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
97% of SOUTH SHORE STARS INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $311k 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
SOUTH SHORE STARS INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,297 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SOUTH SHORE STARS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $59.4M on record — $5.4M federal, $54.1M state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$5.4M
- (MM) PURCHASED CLIENT/PROGRAM SVCS$49.0M
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$5.1M
- (HH) CONSULTANT SVCS (TO DEPTS)$2k
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 SOUTH SHORE STARS 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 SOUTH SHORE STARS 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 SOUTH SHORE STARS INC?
- SOUTH SHORE STARS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,561,351 to it, the largest being United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc ($2,397,385). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SOUTH SHORE STARS INC have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $4,561,351 in grants to SOUTH SHORE STARS INC, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUTH SHORE STARS INC?
- United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc is the largest funder on record, with $2,397,385 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUTH SHORE STARS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 South Shore Stars →
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 27 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