Florida · Nonprofit
THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC
THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC (Florida) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $106,749 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($95,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $446k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $107k
- Net assets
- $111k
What The Rising Start Foundation Inc does
Mission
The rising star offers learning and development programs for youth (ages 1225) with autism spectrum and related cognitive or neurological disabilities. These programs prepare participants for work, foster independence, and promote self-sufficiency
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The rising start operates a functional academic studies program focused on equipping students with workplace readiness, life skills, social skills training, job and career placement support, and tools for independent living. In addition, the young adult independent living program served individuals aged 22 and older who were seeking post-secondary training in workplace readiness, life and social skills, and guidance to explore employment opportunities. A total of 2 students were actively enrolled in these programs during 2024.
$192,910 spent55% of program spendingThe rising start foundation operates a learning center for students with autism spectrum disorder (asd), focusing on helping students earn high school credits necessary for attending college or other post-secondary programs. The learning center also provided opportunities for students to develop vocational skills, increasing their post-secondary options. An individualized academic curriculum was developed, supplemented with specialized courses, workshops, and labs. A total of 16 students were enrolled in the academic program.
$141,110 spent40% of program spendingThe rising star operated an after-school program designed to support individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder by offering specialized courses, workshops, and music and art lessons. These services were made available not only to enrolled students of the rising star but also to members of the broader community seeking to enrich their daily routines with targeted educational and developmental activities. In 2024, the program served a total of 19 students across its aftercare program, summer program, and specialized skills program.
$16,748 spent5% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $350,768.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 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 2023 to 2024, from $110k to $203k (+85%).
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.
100% of THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 2 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
Maria A Mejia
Chairman of the board
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 89% 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 THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC’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
THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 100%; 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 THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC.
“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
89% of THE RISING START FOUNDATION 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 $12k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Florida funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $95k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE RISING START FOUNDATION 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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE RISING START FOUNDATION 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 THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC?
- THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC (Florida) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $106,749 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($95,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $106,749 in grants to THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $95,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE RISING START FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Rising Start →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2023–2024), and the filings of 3 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