Massachusetts · Nonprofit
THE SECOND STEP INC
THE SECOND STEP INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 86 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,673,528 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,623,600). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 86
- Grants received
- $6.7M
- Net assets
- $4.9M
What The Second Step Inc does
Mission
Helping survivors of domestic violence heal and thrive in safe and supportive communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Transitional living program: from july 2024 through february 2025, tss operated a 9-bedroom residence for families leaving emergency, short-term shelter. Families had access to comprehensive case management that allowed them to build skills to support their goal towards independent living. Families also had access to legal advocacy, personal stabilization services, financial literacy, and housing search and advocacy. In february 2025, the second step entered into a strategic partnership with a renowned homeless services provider in order to transfer operations of the transitional living residence. While the second step retains ownership of the property, this provider would continue to operate the program to serve domestic violence survivors and their families, while the second step provided domestic violence supportive services to the residents.
$309,450 spent$64,048 earned by the program24% of program spendingIntervention and advocacy program: tss provides extensive services to survivors in the community, most notably safety planning and emotional support. Through one-on-one case management, survivors receive services such as psychoeducation and emotional support; financial literacy; access to resources such as mental/physical health, wellness, stress management, and coping strategies.
$38,465 spent3% of program spendingLegal services program: free trauma informed legal services program for survivors. Our team of highly trained staff attorneys provides full representation, limited assistance representation, advice and consultation on matters including abuse prevention orders, family law, immigration, and housing. Our team has expanded in the last year to provide legal assistance to more survivors who would otherwise go without vital and life-saving legal support.
$560,799 spent43% of program spendingPrevention education program: this program provides comprehensive prevention education and outreach to the broader community. Our program aims to prevent domestic violence and build a shared understanding of safety, equity, and respect. We collaborate not only with professionals across sectors like education, healthcare, housing, financial services, wellness, and human services but also with community members directly. We develop and deliver tailored trainings that reflect the lived experiences, needs, and priorities of the communities we support and work alongside. Additionally, we bring resources, information, and engagement to non-traditional spaces, such as conventions and local/regional festivals, fairs, and community gatherings in order to ensure that information is accessible to all survivors.
$397,484 spent30% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,306,198.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
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 $4.7M to $6.8M (+47%).
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: 2018 40% · 2019 56% · 2020 58% · 2021 56% · 2022 58% · 2023 57% · 2024 26% · 2025 40%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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
Susan Ross
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 26 funders to 38 funders, grant income rose $340k → $830k.
16 of 86 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 69% 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 SECOND STEP INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 86 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
THE SECOND STEP INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 54% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
75% 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 SECOND STEP INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 13% · 2019 28% · 2020 27% · 2021 29% · 2022 47% · 2023 37% — 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
49% of THE SECOND STEP 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
69% of THE SECOND STEP 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 $2.0M that is directly attributable, 71% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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.
Government funding THE SECOND STEP INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8.9M on record — $634k federal, $8.2M state.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$339k
- Department of Justice$295k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$4.8M
- (MM) PURCHASED CLIENT/PROGRAM SVCS$3.4M
- (EE) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES$490
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 THE SECOND STEP 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
57% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 THE SECOND STEP 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 SECOND STEP INC?
- THE SECOND STEP INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 86 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,673,528 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,623,600). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE SECOND STEP INC have?
- IRS filings report 86 organizations giving $6,673,528 in grants to THE SECOND STEP INC, 52 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SECOND STEP INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $3,623,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SECOND STEP 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 Second Step →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 86 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