Spread the Word Nevada
Inspiring children, one book at a time.
Spread the Word Nevada
EIN: 22-3829041
as of September 2024
as of September 09, 2024
Mission
Spread the Word Nevada is dedicated to advancing early childhood literacy by placing books into the homes of children within Nevada's low income communities. Through community collaboration, mentorship and family partnership programs, Kids to Kids fosters reading and language development opportunities ultimately leading to brighter academic and economic futures for these children. We are dedicated to changing the lives of our at-risk children, one book at a time.
Ruling year
2001
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Lisa Habighorst
Main address
1065 American Pacific Dr., Ste. 160
Henderson, NV 89074 USA
EIN
22-3829041
Elementary education
Reading promotion
Youth organizing
Population served
Students
Children and youth
At-risk youth
NTEE code
Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement (B92)
Primary/Elementary Schools (B24)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Kids to Kids
Kids to Kids, our flagship program, reaches out to at-risk children (grades Pre-K to 5th Grade) in low income areas by providing them with new and gently used books to develop their very own “keep at home” library of books to learn from and share with their families. The program objective is to enhance the reading abilities of and instill a deep appreciation for reading during the formative stages of the at-risk student population.
Breakfast with Books
Breakfast with Books, our family literacy programming helps instill the importance of reading with the children in partnership with their families to increase their daily practice as a means for literacy success. Students and their parents, grandparents, guardians, and siblings are invited to share in a light snack and story reading at the elementary schools we serve for a 45-minute program focusing on skills, knowledge, and confidence building to read together. These tools give emphasis on pronunciation, inflection, and cadence to serve as guides to read aloud with the children and incorporate daily reading practice. Brand-new books our facilitator reads at the event are available for families to take home. In addition, all participants choose from a large selection of gently-used books to also take home and grow their home libraries.
Books and Buddies
Books & Buddies is our reading mentorship program which partners our volunteers from Southern Nevada’s senior centers, businesses, and communities with the children attending our at-risk elementary schools. Volunteers partner individually with students to focus on further developing the child’s reading proficiency, comprehension, and verbal recitation skills. This program provides children with valuable one-on-one mentoring that is not available in the classroom or in the home.
Readers In Training
Readers In Training is an early intervention for our youngest readers still at home. We focus on the critical birth to 5 years old development to build a foundation for all future learning. In addition to engaging the parents to understand their incredible power to impact their child's literacy, love of learning, and school readiness success. A monthly age-appropriate book is mailed directly to the child with parental tips and tools newsletter, along with engaging activities that can be completed in the home focusing on the theme or skill of the month. There are virtual trainings recorded in English and Spanish that can be reviewed at a time that is convenient for families with opportunities for in-person literacy playgroups to grow their community support systems. A monthly check-in on the theme or skill actively engages families with literacy interventions and provides further outreach services they may need assistance with to better prepare for school readiness.
Where we work
Awards
Spread The Word Nevda Day, March 4th 2009
City of Las Vegas
Non-Profit of the Year 2008
In Business Magazine
Points of Light Award 2006
Nevada Governor
Outstanding Charity of the Year 2005
Nevada Community Foundation
Affiliations & memberships
Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 2015
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of books distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Kids to Kids
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Hours of volunteer service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Spread the Word Nevada is dedicated to advancing early childhood literacy by placing books into the homes of children within Nevada's at-risk, low-income communities. Through community collaboration, mentorship and family partnership programs, Spread the Word Nevada fosters reading and language development opportunities ultimately leading to brighter academic and economic futures for these children.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Spread the Word Nevada “adopts" elementary schools in Nevada where at least 80% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. These are schools where the majority of the families are living at or near the poverty line. Families that are struggling for basic needs cannot afford to purchase books, seldom have home libraries and sadly, for many reasons, have not formed a culture of reading in their households. Upon adoption of the Kids to Kids program for students PreK-5th grade, each child in the school receives a book bag and chooses five books to take home and begin building a home library. We know that not owning books is one of the single biggest barriers to not reading proficiently by the third grade.
By helping to create books that “live" at home we assist with fostering a greater love for reading and the tools to practice skills learned in the classroom. Each school adoption includes a monthly family literacy program called Breakfast with Books. This program is a before or after school family engagement event that includes students attending with an adult member/s of the family for a modeled storytime, light breakfast or snack, a chance to win a prize to motivate the students, and literacy activity sheets. Each member of the family attending the program is invited to choose and take home a book. Mentoring through our Books & Buddies program takes place at several on-site school centers designated for volunteers from the community to pair with a struggling reader for 30-45 minutes per week. This program has shown remarkable results in raising reading levels and confidence. Readers In Training recognizes the need to start even earlier with children birth to 5-years-old that provide the necessary wraparound supports to bridge home and school. Readers In Training encourages parents as their child's first teacher to instill the joy of reading in their home environment.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Spread the Word Nevada has shown remarkable results and growth over the last 20 years. Co-founders, Laurie Hartig and Lisa Habighorst are both former educators and have long understood the need for these services within the school district where they both taught. Clark County School District is the fifth-largest school district in the country yet sadly, ranks nearly last in the nation for education. Poverty is a reality in Nevada and Spread the Word Nevada joins many other nonprofit organizations that are addressing the results of children living in low-income communities.
Our Program Director, Books & Buddies Coordinators, and many support staff are former educators with years of experience in teaching and knowledge of Clark County School District. Spread the Word Nevada has a long and strong partnership with Clark County School District, its Partnership Office, and Superintendent. The programs we offer are eagerly sought and welcomed into 78 schools as of September 2023. Sustaining these schools throughout the years is made possible by the dedicated work of our board of directors and staff, long-time support from foundations, and consistent corporate funders as well as passionate individual donors and volunteers.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
As new schools are added that are in need of services, Spread the Word Nevada makes it our mission to eventually reach all schools in our community where children can benefit from these valuable literacy programs. Over more than 20 years, we have grown from delivering a few boxes of books to one school from the trunks of our co-founders' cars to now placing over 60,000 books to at-risk children every month during the school year! Lives are changing for students and students are sharing the magic of books with their own families, frequently teaching their parents how to read. We are extremely proud of the broad reach that a single book can have when a child has ownership of a world within the pages of a story.
We were proud to provide statewide services at elementary schools in Wahsoe, Elko, & Nye Counties. As we steadily grow in our programming we continue to provide excellent services through the training of our staff to meet these needs in the most efficient and impactful way possible.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
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 strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
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 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 share the feedback we received with the people we serve, 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?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2023 info
2.58
Months of cash in 2023 info
1.4
Fringe rate in 2023 info
14%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
Spread the Word Nevada
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30
This snapshot of Spread the Word Nevada’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $888,976 | -$250,657 | $100,404 | -$250,880 | -$590,856 |
| As % of expenses | 26.6% | -5.5% | 2.9% | -7.9% | -11.6% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $857,925 | -$285,957 | $68,093 | -$296,600 | -$637,032 |
| As % of expenses | 25.4% | -6.2% | 1.9% | -9.2% | -12.4% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $4,229,829 | $4,295,619 | $3,583,714 | $3,007,958 | $4,495,224 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 19.4% | 1.6% | -16.6% | -16.1% | 49.4% |
| Program services revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.0% | 7.9% | 17.2% |
| All other grants and contributions | 98.9% | 99.0% | 92.2% | 91.0% | 82.0% |
| Other revenue | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $3,340,853 | $4,546,276 | $3,483,310 | $3,163,441 | $5,101,309 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | -3.7% | 36.1% | -23.4% | -9.2% | 61.3% |
| Personnel | 31.3% | 24.8% | 29.8% | 34.1% | 34.0% |
| Professional fees | 3.3% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 2.6% |
| Occupancy | 4.4% | 4.0% | 5.6% | 6.2% | 4.3% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other expenses | 61.0% | 68.7% | 61.8% | 56.0% | 59.1% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $3,371,904 | $4,581,576 | $3,515,621 | $3,209,161 | $5,147,485 |
| One month of savings | $278,404 | $378,856 | $290,276 | $263,620 | $425,109 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $214,522 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $125,747 | $0 | $92,471 | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $3,776,055 | $4,960,432 | $3,898,368 | $3,687,303 | $5,572,594 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 6.3 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 3.4 | 1.4 |
| Months of cash and investments | 6.3 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 2.9 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 12.9 | 8.8 | 11.6 | 11.8 | 5.9 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $1,754,809 | $1,711,737 | $1,403,253 | $888,702 | $600,663 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 | $217,421 | $594,842 | $620,871 |
| Receivables | $0 | $0 | $0 | $17,770 | $185,615 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $387,903 | $383,891 | $436,121 | $436,121 | $449,525 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 66.4% | 74.6% | 63.9% | 74.4% | 82.4% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 2.6% | 8.0% | 9.2% | 5.5% | 17.4% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $3,733,340 | $3,447,383 | $3,515,476 | $3,218,876 | $2,581,844 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total net assets | $3,733,340 | $3,447,383 | $3,515,476 | $3,218,876 | $2,581,844 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Lisa Habighorst
Lisa Habighorst is the co-founder and leader of the largest children's literacy nonprofit in Nevada. For the past 20 years, she has worked diligently to put books into the hands and homes of low-income children to equal the playing field for their future education. As a mother of four children who have many advantages, educational and economical, it is her mission to do all she can for other children who don't have the same opportunities as her own.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Spread the Word Nevada
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
Spread the Word Nevada
Board of directorsas of 05/16/2024
Board of directors data
Mr. Chad Leavitt
Findlay Automotive Group
Term: 2023 - 2025
Adrianne Burke
Cannae Holdings, Inc.
Kris Hanson
Collage Tile
Melissa Joseph
PlayAGS
Mary Madden
Las Vegas Valley Water District
Chad Leavitt
Findlay Automotive Group
Carol Cline-Ong
MDL Group
Daniel Philippus
RSM US LLP
Jenelle Canis
Toyota Financial Savings Bank
Monte Smith
Brown & Brown Insurance Nevada
Jodi Stephens
Stephens Consulting
Agnes Zadlo
PNC Bank
Palmira Gerlach
Children's Community Advocate
April West-Kieckhefer
Children's Community Advocate
Gregory Gordon
Family Court Judge
Jon Stevenson
UNLV/Nevada Partners
Al Welch
Bank of America
Board leadership practices
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? No -
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? No
Organizational demographics
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
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/24/2024GuideStar 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
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- 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 have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- 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.
GuideStar Pro Reports
Report successfully added to your cart!
Want more data?
A GuideStar Pro report containing the following information is available for this organization:
- Email contact information
- Financial trends metrics for five most recent years 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019*
- Financial statements for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
- Letter of Determination
- Officer and/or Employee data for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
- Contractor and/or Paid Preparer data for 2023, 2022, 2021
- Board of Directors data for 2024
- *with the ability to download the data for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
Download it now for $125.
Need the ability to download nonprofit data and more advanced search options?Consider a Pro Search subscription.