Smart Start of Pender County
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The organizations primary exempt purpose and mission is to support services that provide opportunities for every child to grow into his or her potential as a person. The Local Partnership will provide Smart Start services as approved by The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. The approved services to be purchased or provided under this contract are limited to those indicated and described below.
- Income
- $498,216
- Spending
- $514,556
- Spent on programs
- 75%
- Reserves
- -0.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 96%
- Employees
- 7
- Highest pay
- $102,258, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 40 out of 100. Higher than 10% of charities in its peer group (education, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
2 of 20It owes 98% of what it owns.
Living within its means
8 of 15Spending exceeded income by 3% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 5% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1575% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 1 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 86 out of 100. Higher than 77% of charities in its peer group (education, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2517 of 18 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (7)
- $32,874 spent. CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL (3125):Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) is an activity designed to promote continuous quality improvement of child care centers and/or homes. Services that are provided using Smart Start dollars in this activity include: (1) Technical assistance: Technical assistance (in the form of coaching and modeling) provided to early childhood educators working in start-up, licensed and/or G.S. 110 child care facilities serving children birth to five years old. The Technical Assistance activity will be focused on improving on Participating Facilities Star Levels; Participating Facilities Star Rating Education and Program Standards points, POEMS, and ITERS/ECERS/FCCERS scores. (2) Training for child care providers: Training for DCDEE credit hours provided on child care related topics and coordination of CEU opportunities. Child care centers may receive incentives or noncash grants based on meeting their requirements as part of their TA and outlined in the Annual Program Guidelines.
- $119,741 spent. EARLY CHILDHOOD LENDING LIBRARY (3115): The Pender County Early Childhood Lending Library (PCECLL) offers a variety of materials to support to community members, as well as caregivers and early childhood educators of children 0-5. The PCECLL provides access to child development resources and materials such as, books, manipulatives, reference materials, curriculum kits, etc. The PCECLL serves as a resource room with access to die cuts, laminating machines, etc. Use of materials from the PCECLL will be available to active members of the PCECLL. Annual membership fees vary depending on the level of membership and the fee scale is reviewed annually. Guidance on the appropriate use of the materials may be provided by Smart Start of Pender County Staff.
- $125,423 spent. COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION (5517): The Community Outreach, Education, and Systems Building activity will increase awareness and improve the early childhood experiences for young children and their families in Pender County. This activity will serve to establish, coordinate and support activities and interventions that will build a strong, coordinated Early Childhood System across Pender County and will work to strengthen stakeholder relationships, improve collaboration and coordination between community organizations serving children birth to five and their families, share information about early education resources and tools and integrate resilience strategies and best practices across the community. The work in this activity may include communication between agency staff and; early educators, child care agencies, early learning advocates, local, state and national resilience advocates and resources; as well as planning, hosting, or attending community events. The work will also involve identifying potential community collaborators through intensive outreach and partnering with educational, business, faith, civic, social, and health organizations. Publications and communications strategies will be implemented, including print and electronic newsletters; available early learning resources and text messaging services annual programmatic and data reports; SSPC social media platforms; management of the SSPC website, all relevant brochures, flyers, and posters. Smart Start funding may be used for non-cash grants in the form of books and materials for parents and children to encourage literacy and early education efforts.
- $25,563 spent. DOLLY PARTON IMAGINATION LIBRARY (5526): The Dolly Parton's Imagination Library activity will promote emergent literacy skills through a partnership with Dollywood Foundation. Through this activity, age-appropriate books will be mailed to registered children birth up to age five (0-5) monthly. Families will be recruited in target zip codes. Children are eligible to receive books regardless of family income. The books will be ordered using the Dollywood Foundation Book Ordering System (BOS) database. Families will be encouraged to participate in surveys designed to evaluate the program's impact on participating children. Books that are returned as non- deliverable can be redistributed to locations in the community such as waiting rooms at Social Services and Public Health, local child care programs, and other locations where families can receive information about early childhood services.
- $12,537 spent. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACCESSING HIGHER EDUCATION (3105): The Professional Development Grant: Early Educators working in child care facilities and attend the SSPC grant information session may apply for professional development awards related for credit courses. Early Educators must complete a grant application, enroll and complete an ECE course of study with a B or higher, participate in SSPC or state level early education outreach or advocacy, attend one SSPC training per grant cycle, or implement one developmentally appropriate literacy activity per semester. The participant must be a member of the SSPC Early Childhood Lending Library in good standing. Funds will be paid to the early educator after course transcript is obtained by SSPC. Individual professional development awards will not exceed $600.00 per semester.
- $31,084 spent. PROGRAM COORDINATION AND EVALUATION (5603): Program Evaluation/Coordination (PE/C) may employ up to one full-time Program Evaluation/Coordination staff person to provide Evaluation/Coordination. Up to two additional staff persons may cost allocate time to this activity. The program will offer technical assistance (TA) to all Service Providers. Individualized meetings and/or training sessions and TA may be held with all service providers to orient them to Program Evaluation/Coordination and to provide an opportunity to assist with the development of outcome strategies. TA will be provided on-site or telephonically to ensure the quality of service provision, to encourage program development, and to assist in the delivery of services. PE/C will offer on-going TA and conduct an on-going evaluation with all service providers to include reviewing and measuring activity outputs and outcomes and reporting efficiency and effectiveness of each program on a quarterly basis. PE/C will monitor each activity to assess compliance with the funded activity description at a frequency consistent with the Monitoring Policies and Procedures and PE/C will provide bi-annual reports to the partnership board as well as the Finance/Grant Review Committee. Program Evaluation/Coordination may host an annual community planning event to assess community needs, and may serve refreshments at sanctioned events.
- $38,155 spent. RAISING A READER (5512): A Raising A Reader (RAR) Community Coordinator will implement Raising A Reader, a program that promotes improved literacy development through daily book sharing between caregivers and young children. The RAR Coordinator will hold a Bachelor's degree in early childhood education or related human service field and is required to attend the RAR National Coordinator Training prior to initial implementation. Coordinators will host two trainings for the site implementers that have been identified to participate in this project. Identified families will be loaned a book bag containing high quality developmentally appropriate children's books. The books will be exchanged each week. Parents of the children in the project will be invited to participate in at least two parent workshops where they will learn book sharing strategies. At least one library event will be provided for RAR participants and their families. Participants and their families will be provided with library information, library card application, and other community literacy resources. The program will be implemented with model fidelity as described above. Child care centers, child care homes, or other community sites with a high percentage of low income children will be targeted. Smart Start funds may also be used for books for children, child care for participants, and/or incentives for eligible participants.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since April 1999.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.