Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$1,444,347

Total expenses

$1,344,057

Contributions and grants received

$1,402,946

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$67,108

Investment income

$13

Other revenue

-$25,720

Total assets, end of year

$1,807,566

Total liabilities, end of year

$237,287

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$1,570,279

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$1,122,314

Management and general expenses

$87,709

Fundraising expenses

$134,034

Program service expenses (Part III)

$1,122,314

Program services were 83.5% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• READ TO GROW, INC. (THE ORGANIZATION") OPERATES THROUGHOUT CONNECTICUT AND HAS GIVEN MORE THAN 2.7 MILLION CHILDREN'S BOOKS IN ITS 24 YEARS OF EDUCATING FAMILIES AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING CHILDREN'S LANGUAGE SKILLS AND LITERACY BEGINNING AT BIRTH. EACH YEAR THE ORGANIZATION DISTRIBUTES APPROXIMATELY 100,000 BOOKS THROUGH FOUR PROGRAMS: BOOKS FOR BABIES, BOOKS FOR KIDS, EARLY STEPS TO SCHOOL SUCCESS AND THE BOOKMOBILE. ALONG WITH STAFF, THE ORGANIZATION RELIES ON A CORPS OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS WHO WORK IN THE OFFICE/WAREHOUSE AND VISIT FAMILIES AT PARTNER HOSPITALS.BOOKS FOR BABIES THIS PROGRAM OPERATES THREE DISTINCT PROJECTS: THE PRENATAL PROJECT, THE NEWBORN PROJECT AND THE NICU PROJECT. THE PRENATAL PROJECT FOCUSES ON DISTRIBUTING FREE CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND INFORMATION ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND LITERACY TO EXPECTING FAMILIES RECEIVING PRENATAL CARE AT NINE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS. THE NEWBORN PROJECT OPERATES IN 15 PARTNER HOSPITALS, GIVING ALL FAMILIES WITH NEWBORNS LITERACY PACKETS THAT INCLUDE BABY BOARD BOOKS AND LITERACY GUIDES WHICH DESCRIBE HOW TO SUPPORT INFANTS' LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. FAMILIES WHO REGISTER FOR THE FIRST YEAR PROGRAM ARE MAILED MORE BOOKS AND INFORMATION AT THEIR CHILD'S 3 MONTH AND 1-YEAR MILESTONES. THE NICU PROJECT OPERATES IN FOUR LOCATIONS AND PROVIDES LITERACY INFORMATION AND BOOKS TO PARENTS OF BABIES WHO ARE ADMITTED TO NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNITS.

  Expenses $388,342 · Revenue $63,141

• BOOKS FOR KIDS BOOKS FOR KIDS GIVES MORE THAN 50,000 BOOKS ANNUALLY TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES ACROSS CONNECTICUT AND TO HUNDREDS OF TEACHERS, DOCTORS' OFFICES, HEALTHCARE AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS, AND OTHER NONPROFITS, INCLUDING OTHER LITERACY-FOCUSED AGENCIES AND MAILS BOOKS TO FAMILIES WHO REQUEST BOOKS ONLINE. WHILE THE MAJORITY OF BOOKS IN OUR INVENTORY ARE IN ENGLISH, WE ALSO OFFER A VARIETY OF BOOKS IN BILINGUAL ENGLISH / SPANISH AND HAVE A SMALL NUMBER OF BOOKS AVAILABLE IN 11 OTHER LANGUAGES TO SERVE THE VAST IMMIGRANT POPULATION IN CONNECTICUT.

  Expenses $288,881 · Revenue $3,967

• EARLY STEPS TO SCHOOL SUCCESS ("ESSS") THE ORGANIZATION PARTNERED WITH SAVE THE CHILDREN FROM 2019-2024 TO OFFER ESSS TO FAMILIES IN NEW HAVEN AND BRIDGEPORT. THE PROGRAM HELPED PREPARE CHILDREN FOR SCHOOL SUCCESS THROUGH HOME VISITS, PARENT-CHILD PLAYGROUPS, AND SCHOOL-BASED BOOK DISTRIBUTIONS. IN 2023, SAVE THE CHILDREN INFORMED THE ORGANIZATION THAT IT WOULD BE DISCONTINUING THE ESSS PROGRAM IN URBAN SETTINGS AND THE ORGANIZATION SUNSET THE PROGRAM IN SPRING OF 2024.

  Expenses $304,952

• BOOKMOBILE. THE BOOKMOBILE TRAVELS ACROSS THE STATE AND PROVIDES AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS WHO ARE ABLE TO BOARD THE BOOKMOBILE AND CHOOSE BOOKS TO KEEP.

  Expenses $140,029

• PUBLICATIONS THE ORGANIZATION SELF-PUBLISHED A BOOK, WELCOME TO THE WORLD!, IN 2012 AND CONTINUES TO PURCHASE AND DISTRIBUTE COPIES IN THE HOSPITALS THROUGH THE BOOKS FOR BABIES PROGRAM. THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN EXPRESSLY FOR THE ORGANIZATION BY NANCY ELIZABETH WALLACE AND WAS ILLUSTRATED BY MARSELA HAJADINIJAK-KREC OF CROATIA.THE ORGANIZATION PUBLISHED A BOARD BOOK IN JUNE 2021, HELLO SOMETIMES, FOR THE BIRTH TO 5 AGE GROUP. HELLO SOMETIMES, WRITTEN BY AMY VATNER AND ILLUSTRATED BY GABRIELLA SVENNINGSEN, HELPS CAREGIVERS AND FAMILIES PROCESS THE ONGOING CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC WITH YOUNG CHILDREN. MORE THAN 32,000 COPIES WERE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE TO CHILDREN AGES BIRTH TO 5 AND FEWER THAN 75 COPIES REMAIN IN STOCK.

  Expenses $110

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

5 November 2024

IRS schema version

2023v5.1

Source object

202403129349303755

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