New York · Nonprofit
START SMALL THINK BIG INC
START SMALL THINK BIG INC (New York) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,252,205 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($5,433,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.6M
- Funders on record
- 52
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $3.8M
What Start Small Think Big Inc does
Mission
Start Small advances economic equity by providing an ecosystem of curated resources and support for small businesses, particularly for those entrepreneurs who face systemic barriers that make business success harder to achieve.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2023 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
The emergency response fund was created in response to the COVIC-19 pandemic and was phased out at the end of 2021.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
To help entrepreneurs who face systemic barriers build a thriving business and access an ecosystem of resources and support.
$3,886,801 spent90% of program spendingFunds were raised in 2021 to begin a pilot Capital Fund and invest capital in small businesses who showed growth potential but lacked access to capital to support growth plans. Recipient entrepreneurs also benefit from Start Smalls wraparound technical assistance services to augment the capital injection into their business. The pilot launched in 2022 and continued in 2023. By December 31, 2023 Start Small had awarded a total of $292,500 in grants to 14 small businesses.
$425,000 spent10% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,311,801.
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 2020 to 2021, from $3.4M to $5.5M (+61%).
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: 2019 2% · 2021 5% · 2022 7% · 2023 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of START SMALL THINK BIG INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Francesca Odell
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $320k → $1.8M.
15 of 52 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 60% 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 START SMALL THINK BIG INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 52 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
START SMALL THINK BIG INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 66%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders 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 START SMALL THINK BIG INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 35% · 2019 64% · 2020 62% · 2021 29% · 2022 81% · 2023 55% — 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
50% of START SMALL THINK BIG INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
60% of START SMALL THINK BIG 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 $5.3M that is directly attributable, 80% of it comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.0M 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
START SMALL THINK BIG INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,263 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding START SMALL THINK BIG INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $200k on record.
- Small Business Administration$200k
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 START SMALL THINK BIG 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
41%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for START SMALL THINK BIG 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 START SMALL THINK BIG INC?
- START SMALL THINK BIG INC (New York) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,252,205 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($5,433,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does START SMALL THINK BIG INC have?
- IRS filings report 52 organizations giving $13,252,205 in grants to START SMALL THINK BIG INC, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of START SMALL THINK BIG INC?
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $5,433,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like START SMALL THINK BIG INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 2017–2024), and the filings of 52 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