Craven Smart Start Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Building brighter futures for young children.
- Income
- $1.6 million
- Spending
- $1.5 million
- Spent on programs
- 88%
- Reserves
- 0.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 95%
- Employees
- 18
- Volunteers
- 46
- Highest pay
- $87,923, 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
Fair: 69 out of 100. Higher than 52% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.6 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes -2% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 4% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 10% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1588% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 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: 80 out of 100. Higher than 38% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2511 of 13 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
0 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 (9)
- $283,508 spent. Child Care Resource & Referral PSC:3104 Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) is aligned with the North Carolina CCR&R System to provide CCR&R services that meet NC CCR&R Council-specific outputs and outcomes. Services may include technical assistance, training for childcare providers, consumer education, and/or consumer referral. Services that are provided in this activity include: (1) Technical assistance: Technical assistance in the form of coaching and modeling provided to early childhood educators working in start-ups, licensed and/or G.S. 110 childcare facilities serving children from birth to five years old. The Technical Assistance activity will focus on improving Participating Facilities' Star Levels, Participating Facilities' Star Rating Education and Program Standards points, and ITERS/ECERS/FCCERS scores. (2) Training for childcare providers: Training for DCDEE credit hours provided on childcare-related topics and coordination of CEU opportunities. (3) Consumer education: Information and/or education to families about quality childcare. 4) Consumer referral: Referring families to local childcare options. This activity will offer a variety of materials to support childcare providers and families of young children in their learning and development. This activity will provide access to child development resources and materials, including, but not limited to, books, manipulatives, reference materials, and curriculum kits. Items for checkout will be available to educators, families with children aged 5 years or younger, college students, early interventionists, etc. Guidance on the appropriate use of the materials may be provided. This activity will also serve as a resource room with access to die cuts, laminating machines, and other supplies. CCR&R is the designated CCR&R Region 2 Lead Agency. Smart Start funds for this activity may be used for meetings and conferences. Smart Start funding may be used to support an early childhood conference and/or a recognition dinner, for other staff as needed.
- $389,946 spent. CCR&R Regional Lead Agency (7104): Program is to coordinate and integrate CCR&R services delivery systems across the region. This is accomplished by providing effective technical assistance (Infant/Toddler Specialist, School Age Specialist and Behavioral Specialist) to child care providers and consumer-appropriate resource information to parents and the community resulting ultimately in the production of higher quality child care options.
- $224,000 spent. Child Care Subsidy PSC:2342 Financial assistance will be paid on a per-child basis as a subsidy to families eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). This activity will be implemented through the state-level subsidy contract and will be governed by a Memorandum of Understanding between the Local Partnership and the Local Purchasing Agency (LPA). .
- $152,580 spent. Family Literacy Program: Part- Day Child Care PSC:3318 As part of the comprehensive family literacy model, including four comprehensive components: adult education, parent education, parent and child daily interactions, and early childhood education, this activity will fund the Family Literacy Program: Part-Day Child Care. The Comprehensive Family Literacy Program is offered to adults who will attend school part-time and whose children will participate in an early childhood setting. At least 10 hours per week will be provided, with 6.5 hours per day, and on the fifth day, staff will conduct home visits. The Family Literacy Program: Part-Day Child Care provides developmentally appropriate preschool activities for children not enrolled in full-time care. This activity will provide a high-quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood program that prepares children for school success. This activity may support costs for child care providers and the Parent Coordinator, and, if resources are available, transportation costs. This program will follow Craven County's regular school year.
- $67,446 spent. Community Outreach Coordinator PSC:5517 Community Outreach will increase the community's awareness and support of Craven Smart Start services by utilizing traditional media, community resources, and social networking and website development. The activity will facilitate community planning to improve systems and alignment across programs and/or agencies. The Coordinator will forge alliances in the community to develop the communication and collaboration skills necessary for educators, families, and community members to come together. The Community Outreach Coordinator will also provide technical assistance to service providers to create programmatic coherence by ensuring that providers reflect the organization's mission and collaborate to accomplish the stated goals. This activity will assist in the production and distribution of the annual report. Smart Start funds for this activity may be used for meetings and conferences, and for other staff as needed.
- $60,424 spent. Program Coordinator/Evaluator PSC:5603 The Program Coordination and Evaluation activity, supported by one full time Coordinator/Evaluator, will develop and maintain relationships with service providers, and provide services critical to program accountability including:(1) review progress of programs toward meeting programmatic goals and objectives outlined in the annual plan; (2) development of programmatic short-and long-term outputs and outcomes; (3) measurement and reporting of programmatic outputs, outcomes and performance; (4) compilation and review of programmatic and statistical databases; (5) provision of technical assistance to service providers and grantees; (6) serving as liaison between the local partnership, the direct service providers and the state partnership; (7) development, collection and review of programmatic reports; (8) development, implementation, and oversight of the volunteer program to support partnership efforts, and (9) monitoring of, and enforcing compliance with, legislative mandates; and financial and programmatic monitoring of in-house and direct service providers and grantees. Smart Start funds for this activity may be used for meetings and conferences. A contractor may be hired to assist with some of these tasks, and other staff as needed.
- $156,389 spent. Raising A Reader PSC:5512 A Raising A Reader (RAR) Community Coordinator will implement Raising A Reader, a program that promotes literacy development through daily book-sharing between caregivers and young children. The RAR Coordinator must hold a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a related human services field and must attend the RAR National Coordinator Training before initial implementation. Coordinators will host two training sessions for the site implementers who 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, a library card application, and other community literacy resources. The program will be implemented with model fidelity as described above. Childcare centers, childcare homes, or other community sites with a high percentage of low-income children will be targeted. Smart Start funds may also be used for children's books, childcare for participants, and/or incentives for eligible participants and other staff, as needed.
- $15,700 spent. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (DPIL) PSC: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 monthly to registered children born up to age five (0-5). 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. Smart Start funds will be used to cover program support expenses. The cost of books will be paid through the NCPC BOS account.
- $26 spent. Story Cubs (7111):
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 February 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.