Connecticut · Nonprofit
STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY
STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY (Connecticut) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,282,659 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NEW JERSEY ($407,700). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $20M
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $7.5M
What Star Inc - Lighting the Way does
Mission
Star, inc., lighting the way, is a not for profit that provides services and supports to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (idd) and their families, helping them realize their full potential as contributing members of their communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Star, inc., lighting the way provides comprehensive licensed residential services that support 79 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across 16 locations in fairfield county, connecticut. The programs include: 12 dds licensed group homes (cla's), 7 dds licensed condos and 1 dds licensed apartment. All residential setting provides up to 24-hour supervision, person centered support, and individualized planning to promote independence, safety and community integration. Services focus on daily living skills, personal care, behavioral supports, health management, and community participation. Star also offers in home supports for individuals who living independently or with family but require assistance with daily activities.
$10,067,778 spent$10,698,063 earned by the program64% of program spendingStar's employment program supported 55 jobs for 47 individuals with idd (several working multiple jobs). The group worked an average of 564 hours per week in local towns, supported through job coaches. The average tenure of jobs supported in the community is 9.37 years. Star's day program supports 179 individuals across four locations, providing individualized, person-centered supports. These programs offer a structured and supportive environment focusing on enhancing life skills, social engagement, volunteerism, and community inclusion. Our services are tailored to meet a wide range of needs, including support for 20 aging adults with idd through our seniors program.
$5,023,215 spent$5,681,140 earned by the program32% of program spendingThe star rubino pediatric therapy center is a center for early therapies and education to children from birth eight years of age, utilizing husky, private pay and insurance billing. The center supports about 34 children monthly, supporting 31 unique diagnosis and provided 975 therapy sessions. The center provides physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and hippotherapy. There is a strong emphasis on individualized supports with strong collaboration between therapist and family members.
$479,045 spent$576,557 earned by the program3% of program spendingOver 130 families received family support assistance for their children through a collaborative program called jumpstar's. Support included: coffee meet-up, parents get togethers, educational programs on iep's, will trust, guardianship, and issues specific to children's needs. Star also assists families by attending ppt meetings, iep planning, referrals to camp, day care, transition from school to adult services, college planning, dds eligibility, respite, identifying advocates, attorneys, and accessing other community resources.
$241,273 spent2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $15,811,311.
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 2019 to 2020, from $6.6M to $9.6M (+46%).
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 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 1% · 2021 16% · 2022 2% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
12% of STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (21% 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.
Chief executive
Marygrace Giuliano
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $56k → $101k.
12 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 81% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $450k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Star Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY raised.
From the IRS filings of STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY’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
STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
87% 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 STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 46% · 2019 77% · 2020 36% · 2021 27% · 2022 27% · 2023 25% — 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
60% of STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
81% of STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY'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 $242k that is directly attributable, 59% of it comes from Connecticut funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY runs a healthier operating margin than half 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 STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $110.6M on record.
- Board & Care Of Clients$67.3M
- Client Services-General$40.2M
- Pass thru Grant Non-State$3.1M
- State Aid Grants$54k
- Voc. Training-Blind Persons$13k
- Client Subsidies$12k
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 STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY
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 Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY: 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 STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY?
- STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY (Connecticut) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,282,659 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NEW JERSEY ($407,700). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $1,282,659 in grants to STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY?
- COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NEW JERSEY is the largest funder on record, with $407,700 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STAR INC - LIGHTING THE WAY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 Star Inc - Lighting the Way →
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 25 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