Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$10,509,476

Total expenses

$3,929,858

Contributions and grants received

$10,139,148

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$373,350

Investment income

$130,089

Other revenue

-$133,111

Total assets, end of year

$12,742,480

Total liabilities, end of year

$966,996

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$11,775,484

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$2,720,062

Management and general expenses

$443,244

Fundraising expenses

$766,552

Program service expenses (Part III)

$2,720,062

Program services were 69.2% 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

• WAY TO GROW HAS BEEN A LEADING MODEL FOR EARLY LEARNING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMMING IN THE TWIN CITIES SINCE 1989. WE BELIEVE THAT PARENTS ARE THEIR CHILDREN'S PRIMARY EDUCATOR, AND STRUCTURE OUR PROGRAMS TO EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE PARENTS IN THEIR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION. WAY TO GROW'S SECOND-GENERATION APPROACH HAS REACHED APPROXIMATELY 60,000 PEOPLE OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST 30 YEARS. SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 1989, WE HAVE SOUGHT TO REVERSE NEGATIVE EDUCATIONAL TRENDS BY BUILDING TRUSTED, COMMUNITY-BASED SUPPORTS FOR THE PARENTS AND CHILDREN WHO ARE AMONG THE MOST ISOLATED FAMILIES IN OUR COMMUNITY. SEE SCHEDULE O FOR REMAINING PROGRAM LANGUAGEIN 2005, WE FORMALIZED OUR HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM, AND IN 2006, LAUNCHED A FORMAL TEEN PARENT PROGRAM. IN 2007, WE OPENED OUR NATIONALLY ACCREDITED, 4-STAR PARENT AWARE RATED PRESCHOOL PALS PROGRAM, AND IN 2009, LAUNCHED GREAT BY EIGHT, WHICH IS NOW THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR WORK. GREAT BY EIGHT EXPANDED OUR EFFECTIVE AND STATISTICALLY PROVEN HOME VISITING MODEL TO INCLUDE CHILDREN FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OVER 35 MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS (MPS) AND 20 CHARTER SCHOOLS. IN 2016, WE LAUNCHED AN ONSITE HUB FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY, AND PARENT ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMING AT THE LUCY C. LANEY COMMUNITY SCHOOL IN NORTH MINNEAPOLIS. OUR FOUNDERS CREATED WAY TO GROW WITH THE VISION THAT EVERY CHILD HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND IN LIFE. OUR INNOVATIVE GREAT BY EIGHT HOME VISITING MODEL PAIRS FAMILIES WITH HIGHLY TRAINED FAMILY EDUCATORS WHO MIRROR THEM CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY TO PROVIDE IN-DEPTH, EVIDENCE-BASED, IN-HOME EDUCATION AND SUPPORT. FAMILY EDUCATORS HELP PARENTS TO PREPARE THEIR CHILDREN FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND SUPPORT FAMILIES BY PROVIDING CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE, WRAP-AROUND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES THROUGH YEAR-ROUND HOME VISITS AND IN-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SUPPORTING SCHOOL READINESS, ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, CENTER-BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES, PARENT ENGAGEMENT AND ADVOCACY, AND WRAPAROUND FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES, INCLUDING HEALTH AND WELLNESS EDUCATION, WRAPAROUND SUPPORTS FOR TEEN PARENTS, AND FAMILY STABILIZATION SERVICES. 2023 IMPACT: CHILDREN CONTINUE TO NOT BE ON EQUAL FOOTING AS THEY ENTER KINDERGARTEN, AND CHILDREN OF COLOR, AS WELL AS CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY, ARE MORE LIKELY TO FALL BEHIND EVEN MORE DUE TO THE LEARNING DISRUPTIONS. THE GOOD NEWS IS PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS FROM ALL SOCIOECONOMIC EXPERIENCES WANT WHAT IS BEST FOR THEIR CHILDREN. THIS MAKES THEM EAGER ADVOCATES FOR THEIR FAMILIES AND DETERMINED TO PARTICIPATE IN EFFORTS TO PROVIDE QUALITY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO BRIDGE INEQUALITIES. IN 2023, WAY TO GROW PROVIDED 13,303 IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL HOME VISITS TO 2,055 CLIENTS (1,201 CHILDREN AND 854 PARENTS) AND HELPED TO STABILIZE FAMILIES THROUGH 2,276 REFERRALS TO SERVICES TO SUPPORT EDUCATION, MEDICAL NEEDS, AND ECONOMIC SUPPORT. OUR FAMILIES ARE DEMONSTRATING STRONG DURING A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY.FOR OUR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AND FAMILIES, DURING THE 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR, 89% OF EARLY LEARNERS WERE DEEMED READY FOR KINDERGARTEN; 78% OF K-3 STUDENTS COMBINED DEMONSTRATED GROWTH IN READING LEVEL ASSESSMENTS, AND 90% OF PARENTS ATTENDED AT LEAST ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN'S PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES. LEARNING DISRUPTIONS OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS HAVE AFFECTED CHILDREN'S LITERACY GAINS, WITH WAY TO GROW CREATING NEW INTERVENTIONS AND CURRICULUM UPDATES TO TARGET LITERACY FOUNDATIONS MOST IMPACTED. DURING THIS TIME, WE CONTINUED TO WORK WITH PARENTS TO ENSURE HEALTHY BIRTHS, WITH 100% OF NEWBORNS FROM WTG PARENTS BORN AT OR ABOVE HEALTHY BIRTH WEIGHT IN 2023, AND 83% OF TEEN PARENTS NOT HAVING A REPEAT PREGNANCY.

  Expenses $2,720,062 · Revenue $373,350

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. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

3 May 2024

IRS schema version

2023v5.0

Source object

202401249349302165

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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