Nonprofit · EIN 56-2044085
SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY
Tax-exempt · BURGAW, NC 28425
Financials
| Year ended | Form | Revenue | Expenses | Net income | Total assets | Liabilities | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 30, 2025 | 990 | $498,216 | $514,556 | -$16,340 | $32,071 | $31,501 | $570 |
| June 30, 2024 | 990 | $472,747 | $458,837 | $13,910 | $44,636 | $27,726 | $16,910 |
| June 30, 2023 | 990 | $492,217 | $493,887 | -$1,670 | $22,849 | $19,849 | $3,000 |
Financial details: 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025
Revenue
- Contributions, gifts and grants
- $489,233
- of which government grants
- $480,012
- Program service revenue
- $2,343
- Investment income
- $0
- Other revenue
- $6,640
Expenses
- Grants and similar amounts paid
- $33,357
- Compensation of officers, directors and key employees
- $88,661
- Other salaries and wages
- $146,939
- Salaries, compensation and benefits (total)
- $289,410
- Professional fundraising fees
- $0
- Occupancy
- $63,656
- Travel
- $6,294
- Program services (functional)
- $385,377
- Management and general (functional)
- $126,009
- Fundraising (functional)
- $3,170
Balance sheet and other
- Total assets, start of year
- $16,910
- Total assets, end of year
- $32,071
- Total liabilities, end of year
- $31,501
- Net assets, end of year
- $570
- Net assets without donor restrictions
- -$4,669
- Net assets with donor restrictions
- $5,239
- Gross receipts
- $498,216
- Employees
- 7
- Year formed
- 1998
- State of legal domicile
- NC
From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.
Officers, directors and key employees
As listed on the 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025, highest compensation first.
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation | Other / benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connie CarrCostin | Executive Director Highest-paid employee | 40 | $85,832 | $16,426 |
| Edith Meza | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.06 | $0 | $0 |
| Rev Dean Walker | Board member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Donna VanVliet | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.04 | $0 | $0 |
| Stacie Poulin | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.1 | $0 | $0 |
| Dorothy Beatty | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Amie Watson Green | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Tandra Henderson Shepard | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Sandra Sarmiento | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.04 | $0 | $0 |
| Avery Ellington | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Sandra Morrison | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Daisy Lee | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Angela Beacham | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.06 | $0 | $0 |
| Jerry Groves | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.08 | $0 | $0 |
| James T Robbins | Former Chairman Officer | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
4 more people on this return
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Willoughby | Treasurer Officer | 0.06 | $0 |
| Leslie Green | Board Chair Officer | 0.41 | $0 |
| Donald Hall | Vice President Officer | 0.12 | $0 |
| Allen Phillips-Bell | Secretary Officer | 0.1 | $0 |
990 for the year ended June 30, 2024: 19 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation | Other / benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connie CarrCostin | Executive Director Key employee | 40 | $79,299 | $17,631 |
| Edith Meza | Board Member Trustee or director | 4 | $0 | $0 |
| Rev Dean Walker | Board member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| William Marshburn | Board Member Trustee or director | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| Stacie Poulin | Board Member Trustee or director | 3 | $0 | $0 |
| Kimberli Trotman | Board Member Trustee or director | 0 | $0 | $0 |
| Avery Ellington | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Tandra Henderson Shepard | Board Member Trustee or director | 4 | $0 | $0 |
| Sandra Sarmiento | Board Member Trustee or director | 5 | $0 | $0 |
| Avery Ellington | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Sandra Morrison | Board Member Trustee or director | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| Brianna Moore | Board Member Trustee or director | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| James T Robbins | Former Chairman Officer | 5 | $0 | $0 |
| Angela Beacham | Board Member Officer | 5 | $0 | $0 |
| Jerry Groves | Board Member Officer | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| Sharon Willoughby | Treasurer Officer | 3 | $0 | $0 |
| Leslie Green | Board Chair Officer | 4 | $0 | $0 |
| Donald Hall | Vice President Officer | 4 | $0 | $0 |
| Allen Phillips-Bell | Secretary Officer | 5 | $0 | $0 |
990 for the year ended June 30, 2023: 18 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation | Other / benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connie CarrCostin | Executive Director Key employee | 40 | $76,552 | $16,640 |
| Edith Meza | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.16 | $0 | $0 |
| Rev Dean Walker | Board member Trustee or director | 0 | $0 | $0 |
| William Marshburn | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.12 | $0 | $0 |
| Stacie Poulin | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.12 | $0 | $0 |
| Kimberli Trotman | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Avery Ellington | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.01 | $0 | $0 |
| Tandra Henderson Shepard | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Sandra Sarmiento | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.13 | $0 | $0 |
| James T Robbins | Former Chairman Trustee or director | 0.19 | $0 | $0 |
| Eugene Jordan | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.08 | $0 | $0 |
| Angela Beacham | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.12 | $0 | $0 |
| Sandra Morrison | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Jerry Groves | Board Member Trustee or director | 0.02 | $0 | $0 |
| Sharon Willoughby | Treasurer Officer | 0.13 | $0 | $0 |
| Leslie Green | Board Chair Officer | 0.18 | $0 | $0 |
| Donald Hall | Vice President Officer | 0.14 | $0 | $0 |
| Allen Phillips-Bell | Secretary Officer | 0.15 | $0 | $0 |
Address and contacts
- Address (IRS master file)
- 600 N TIMBERLY LN, BURGAW, NC 28425-5221
- Principal officer (990 for 2024)
- Connie Carr Costin, PO Box 429, Burgaw, NC 28425
- Signed the 990
- Connie Carr Costin, Executive Director
- Phone
- (910) 259-9978
- Website
- www.pender4kids.com
Mission
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.
Program accomplishments
- 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.Expenses $32,874 · grants $1,088
- 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.Expenses $119,741
- 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.Expenses $125,423 · grants $27,068
- 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.Expenses $25,563
- 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.Expenses $12,537 · grants $5,200
- 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.Expenses $31,084
- 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.Expenses $38,155
What it must file and when
IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in June, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.
| Tax year | Year ended | Due | IRS public records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | June 30, 2026 | November 16, 2026 | Not due yet |
| 2024 | June 30, 2025 | November 17, 2025 | 990 on file |
| 2023 | June 30, 2024 | November 15, 2024 | 990 on file |
IRS record
- EIN
- 56-2044085
- Tax-exempt status
- 501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization
- Foundation status
- Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
- Donations deductible (Pub 78)
- Public charity, 50% deduction limit
- Exempt since
- 1999
- Accounting year ends
- June
- Files
- Form 990 or 990-EZ
- Category (NTEE)
- Education (B012)
- Assets (IRS master file)
- $32,071
- Income (IRS master file)
- $498,216
Filing history
| Form | Year ended | Revenue | Expenses | Assets | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990 | June 2025 | $498,216 | $514,556 | $32,071 | XML |
| 990 | June 2024 | $472,747 | $458,837 | $44,636 | IRS |
| 990 | June 2023 | $492,217 | $493,887 | $22,849 | XML |
| 990 | June 2022 | $480,496 | $522,943 | $14,668 | IRS |
| 990 | June 2021 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | June 2020 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | June 2018 | – | – | – | IRS |
990-N: the IRS bulk file holds only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years come from archived copies of that file since 2020 and can have gaps (the IRS e-Postcard search lists every one). 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS (search EIN 56-2044085).
Questions about SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY
- What is the EIN of SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY?
- The employer identification number (EIN) of SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY is 56-2044085.
- Is SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY tax-exempt?
- Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 1999.
- Are donations to SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY tax-deductible?
- Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).
- Which annual return does SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY file?
- Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.
- When is the next return of SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY due?
- The return for tax year 2025 (the year ending June 30, 2026) is due November 16, 2026. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.
- When did SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY last file with the IRS?
- The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended June 2025.
- Who is the principal officer of SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY?
- The 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025 names Connie Carr Costin.
- Who are the officers and directors of SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY?
- The 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025 lists 19 people; 1 received compensation from the organization, the highest $85,832 (Connie CarrCostin, Executive Director).
- How much revenue does SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY have?
- On its 990 for the year ended June 30, 2025 it reported revenue of $498,216, expenses of $514,556 and total assets of $32,071 at year end.
Other nonprofits in BURGAW
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- WEST PENDER MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION EIN 88-1423591 · last filed 990-N for 2025
- FOUR COUNTY ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORP EIN 56-0227152 · last filed 990 for 2024
- PENDER EMS AND FIRE INC EIN 81-0567043 · last filed 990 for 2025
- BLACK RIVER HEALTH SERVICES INC EIN 23-7356223 · last filed 990 for 2025
- PENDER ADULT SERVICES INC EIN 58-1482588 · last filed 990 for 2025
- SAFE HAVEN OF PENDER INC EIN 56-1798608 · last filed 990 for 2025
- PENDER COUNTY CHRISTIAN SERVICES INC EIN 56-1382749 · last filed 990 for 2025