PLATINUM2023

FOSTERING GREAT IDEAS

Reimagine Foster Care

Greenville, SC   |  www.fgi4kids.org

Mission

Our vision is that every child in foster care feel important, cared for, and deeply loved. We firmly believe the well-being of these 400,000 traumatized children improves when communities make an intentional effort to better understand and address the significant, emotional pain of their children living in foster care.

Our mission is to find and develop child advocates who care deeply about the emotional well-being of children living in foster care, provide these individuals and organizations great ideas that address their concerns, and measure the impact on each child. Finally, we invite advocates into a larger, national network for mutual learning and policy development.

Notes from the nonprofit

Innovation within foster care reform. That's what we are all about, to serve a growing number of children and their families well. Thanks for listening!

Ruling year info

2011

Chief Executive Officer

David White

Main address

321 Pimlico Rd

Greenville, SC 29607 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

27-4622960

NTEE code info

Foster Care (P32)

Adult, Child Matching Programs (O30)

Counseling Support Groups (F60)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
Register now

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Children in foster care feel unseen. They live in a state, closed system with stress all around them. We see them and find ways to solve their emotional and relational needs in foster care.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Life Support

Mentor youth in foster care to become confident, successful young adults.

Population(s) Served
Adolescents

Build connections between siblings living apart in foster care, through video conferencing and sibling to sibling transportation. Needed after the birth family has left the treatment plan - and sibling visits happen at the grace of kind people, with no formal requirement from Courts.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Explore the system of foster care and its effects on children and their families through 1.5 hour simulation.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

2 "in-kind" donation based programs that provide immediate relief for children in foster care. Operation Bear Hug donates bears to children when they experience trauma of separation; Carry On donates gently used luggage for children if they move from home to home while in foster care.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

A peer to peer support group that meets the moms where they are and helps them consider a new way to engage with the system and welcome back home their children.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Providing quality, volunteer tutors to every child and youth in foster care who wants one.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Every child in foster care does not need to be defined as a "foster child". Each wants to succeed. We help each youth in care dream of college and provide emotional and academic support along the way.

Population(s) Served
Adolescents

A digital platform for people considering fostering and for those needing additional support while fostering.

Population(s) Served
Caregivers

Foster care advocacy at the State level, for system reform legislatively, in policy, and through judicial engagement.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of students showing improvement in test scores

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

first full year of metrics for our tutor match program.

Number of foster youth enrolled in college

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adolescents

Related Program

College Fellows

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

We focus on transition from foster care through guidance of those who have come before. We have average of 10 new students enroll each year.

Number of mentors recruited

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adolescents

Related Program

Life Support

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

covid hit us hard on this one. We still mentor over 100 youth and young adults from foster care.

Number of licensed foster families as a result of the organization's efforts

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults

Related Program

Care2Foster

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

suffered due to covid.

Sibling sets in foster care re-connecting through engaging, monthly sibling visits.

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth

Related Program

Sib-Link

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

We serve many more sibling sets, but these are the ones where the sibling visits we orchestrate are continual throughout the year (5+ times is when we begin to measure, as we show lowered anxiety.)

Number of new advocates recruited

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Young adults

Related Program

Speak Up

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

This reflects the number of foster alumni who have been trained to become effective story tellers of their experiences in foster care and have learned the tools to advocate.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

There are 2 overarching goals:
1. Increase the network of child advocates focused on child well-being while in foster care. (through developing national member network).
2. Improve emotional child well-being indicators for children in foster care.

We find and develop child advocates who care deeply about the emotional well-being of children living in foster care, provide these individuals and organizations great ideas that address their concerns, and measure the impact on each child. We invite advocates into a larger, national network for mutual learning and policy development.

Our strongest resources are the easy to replicate "ideas" focused on decreasing childhood suffering and highlighting children's rights while in care. Our next strongest resource is in development - building the national member network for peer to peer improvement amongst child advocates.

Our capabilities are program design, customer service and network development, and hearing the voice of a child in care.

Our progress is not linear. We fail and we succeed, but we are focused on the mission, and move forward urgently. We find our best progress is when child advocates in the "foster care system" and outside of it both have light bulbs go off: "this is really important stuff for the children's well-being while in care". That is our main testament that we are on the right path.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    foster children and their families.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    We overhauled our tutor program to have it focus more on the needs of the foster parent, so the foster parent would welcome our tutors even more. We also moved more of our tutor work to on-line in face of covid.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    Of our 12 staff, 4 have lived in foster care as children, 2 have lost custody, and 6 have fostered. Power shifts to the client because we are the client - we ask a lot of questions, and become more attuned to the client as a result.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,

Financials

FOSTERING GREAT IDEAS
lock

Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan.

Subscribe

Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more about GuideStar Pro.

Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

FOSTERING GREAT IDEAS

Board of directors
as of 01/20/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Bill Jacobson

Ranger Partners

Term: 2021 - 2023

Bill Jacobson

Ranger Partners

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 1/19/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/19/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.