Ohio · Nonprofit
STEP FORWARD
STEP FORWARD (Ohio) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,359,266 to it, the largest being OHIO CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL ASSOCIATION ($2,789,058). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $44M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $3.4M
- Net assets
- $4.6M
What Step Forward does
Mission
Step Forward's mission is to propel educational attainment and economic self-sufficiency for multiple generations throughout cuyahoga county.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Child education - Step Forward's head start program served 1,741 children throughout the greater cleveland community. In partnership, Step Forward and its partners deliver high-quality early childhood programs in safe, nurturing environments. In addition to an engaging pre-school environment, Step Forward head start provides health, mental health and dental screenings, nutritious meals and family literacy opportunities to incorporate the entire family into the spirit of growth and responsibility.Step Forward's early head start program incorporates the belief that education starts when life begins. Step Forward is a strong advocate for the youngest of children and those who have not even been born yet. Step Forward served 129 infants, toddlers and pregnant women, through the early head start program. The program provides prenatal examinations, parenting classes, and quality infant care to eligible families.
$25,397,942 spent$14,690 earned by the program65% of program spendingCommunity service and housing assistanceStep Forward helps individuals and families in cuyahoga county overcome barriers to employment, housing, and financial stability. In 2024, the agency distributed $4 million in remaining covid relief funds, bringing total home relief assistance to more than $36 million since the pandemic. Step Forward also provided 400 free tax returns, supported 83 mothers through parenting and early childhood education programs, and helped more than 250 clients build job skills and career readiness through partnerships, training, and outreach events.
$7,361,597 spentof which $2,420,636 as grants19% of program spendingEnergy assistance -Step Forward helps low-income households maintain essential utility services through the home energy assistance and percentage of income payment plan programs. In 2024, the agency received 34,580 applications and provided services to 34,134 individuals, with 98.7 percent receiving assistance. Step Forward distributed more than $6.6 million in total aid, including energy, crisis, and water assistance, ensuring households remained safe and connected throughout the year.
$5,794,569 spentof which $2,539,335 as grants$458,799 earned by the program15% of program spendingFood programs
$581,351 spentof which $16,899 as grants1% of program spendingOther programs
$22,472 spent0% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $39,157,931.
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 $19M to $28M (+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 97% · 2018 96% · 2019 97% · 2020 98% · 2021 96% · 2022 98% · 2023 99% · 2024 99% · 2025 98%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of STEP FORWARD’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Jacklyn Chisholm
President & CEO
Board chair
Larese Purnell
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $0 → $2.3M.
1 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 STEP FORWARD’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
STEP FORWARD leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 STEP FORWARD.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 64% · 2021 84% · 2022 100% · 2023 99% — broadly stable.
“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
99% of STEP FORWARD's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $348k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
STEP FORWARD's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 3 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding STEP FORWARD receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $286.6M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$286.6M
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 STEP FORWARD
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 STEP FORWARD: 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 STEP FORWARD?
- STEP FORWARD (Ohio) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,359,266 to it, the largest being OHIO CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL ASSOCIATION ($2,789,058). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does STEP FORWARD have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $3,359,266 in grants to STEP FORWARD, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STEP FORWARD?
- OHIO CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL ASSOCIATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,789,058 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STEP FORWARD find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Step Forward →
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 6 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