Funding search · EIN 571087576 · Columbia, SC

South Carolina First Steps To

Name: South Carolina First Steps To grants, 2021–2024
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A grantmaking public charity (files IRS Form 990, Schedule I). Charities like this often run real grant programs with application cycles.

190
grants reported: $192.2M
total given: 2021–2024
filing years: $329,604
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2021–2024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

approved authorizati

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

Private 4K child care centers statewide, one pooled authorization
General support to 46 county First Steps partnerships
Largest partnership awards to Greenville, Richland, York, Lexington, Spartanburg
Rural county partnerships funded well above their population share
Nothing outside South Carolina, nothing outside the affiliate network

Typical grant

Two very different tiers. County First Steps partnerships get $221,000 to $1.6 million a year in general support, with the median near $330,000 and the middle half between $242,000 and $544,000; the biggest checks go to the largest-population counties, though rural counties like Lee, Williamsburg, Dillon and McCormick draw far more than their size suggests. Above all of that sits a single annual line for private 4K child care centers, $30.2 million in 2023 and $32.4 million in 2024. Every partnership repeats every year with only modest year-over-year movement.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“GENERAL SUPPORT”
“PRIVATE 4K CHILD CARE CENTERS”
“FIRST STEPS PARTNERSHIP”
“APPROVED AUTHORIZATI”

Positioning adjacent work

Do not approach the state office directly; the recipient list is a fixed affiliate network.
Work through a single county partnership as a service or evaluation subcontractor, sized well under $200,000.
Target rural, high-allocation counties such as Lee, Williamsburg, Dillon, Allendale, where per-child dollars run high.
Frame any early childhood work around 4K delivery and children birth to five.

Worth knowing: This is a closed statewide flow-through: 46 county First Steps partnerships and one pooled private 4K line absorb all $192 million across four years, all of it inside South Carolina, with no unaffiliated grantee appearing in the record. The 4K authorization alone is roughly a third of annual dollars and grew about seven percent from 2023 to 2024, so the growth is in center-based 4K seats rather than in new grantees.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

Private 4k Child Care Centers4 grants · $107.7M
Richland County First Steps Partner4 grants · $5.0M
Greenville County First Steps Partn4 grants · $4.9M
York County First Steps Partnership4 grants · $4.6M
Lexington County First Steps Partne4 grants · $4.5M
Spartanburg County First Steps Part4 grants · $4.2M
Charleston County First Steps Partn4 grants · $4.0M
Berkeley County First Steps Partner4 grants · $3.5M
Horry County First Steps Partnershi4 grants · $2.9M
Beaufort County First Steps Partner4 grants · $2.3M

Giving over time

$40.8M

2021

$42.8M

2022

$53.0M

2023

$55.6M

2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 190 grants.

$32.4M
Private 4k Child Care Centers · Various, SC · 2024
Approved authorizati
$30.2M
Private 4k Child Care Centers · Various, SC · 2023
Approved authorizati
$23.7M
Private 4k Child Care Centers · Various, SC · 2022
Approved authorizati
$21.4M
Private 4k Child Care Centers · Various, SC · 2021
Approved authorizati
$1.6M
York County First Steps Partnership · Rock Hill, SC · 2023
General support
$1.4M
Greenville County First Steps Partn · Greenville, SC · 2023
General support
$1.3M
Greenville County First Steps Partn · Greenville, SC · 2024
General support
$1.3M
Richland County First Steps Partner · Columbia, SC · 2021
General support
$1.3M
Richland County First Steps Partner · Columbia, SC · 2023
General support
$1.2M
Spartanburg County First Steps Part · Spartanburg, SC · 2023
General support
$1.2M
Richland County First Steps Partner · Columbia, SC · 2024
General support
$1.2M
Lexington County First Steps Partne · Batesburg, SC · 2023
General support
$1.2M
York County First Steps Partnership · Rock Hill, SC · 2024
General support
$1.2M
Lexington County First Steps Partne · Lexington, SC · 2024
General support
$1.2M
Richland County First Steps Partner · Columbia, SC · 2022
General support
$1.1M
Spartanburg County First Steps Part · Spartanburg, SC · 2024
General support
$1.1M
Greenville County First Steps Partn · Greenville, SC · 2022
General support
$1.1M
Greenville County First Steps Partn · Greenville, SC · 2021
General support
$1.1M
Lexington County First Steps Partne · Batesburg, SC · 2022
General support
$1.0M
Charleston County First Steps Partn · N Charleston, SC · 2022
General support
$1.0M
Lexington County First Steps Partne · Batesburg, SC · 2021
General support
$987,715
York County First Steps Partnership · Rock Hill, SC · 2022
General support
$979,024
Berkeley County First Steps Partner · Summerville, SC · 2024
General support
$977,422
Charleston County First Steps Partn · N Charleston, SC · 2024
General support
$974,705
Charleston County First Steps Partn · N Charleston, SC · 2023
General support
$968,068
Charleston County First Steps Partn · N Charleston, SC · 2021
General support
$926,255
Spartanburg County First Steps Part · Spartanburg, SC · 2021
General support
$901,336
York County First Steps Partnership · Rock Hill, SC · 2021
General support
$877,118
Berkeley County First Steps Partner · Goose Creek, SC · 2021
General support
$863,231
Spartanburg County First Steps Part · Spartanburg, SC · 2022
General support
$851,940
Berkeley County First Steps Partner · Summerville, SC · 2023
General support
$797,711
Berkeley County First Steps Partner · Summerville, SC · 2022
General support
$779,881
Horry County First Steps Partnershi · Conway, SC · 2024
General support
$745,338
Horry County First Steps Partnershi · Conway, SC · 2021
General support
$700,276
Horry County First Steps Partnershi · Conway, SC · 2022
General support
$685,115
Horry County First Steps Partnershi · Conway, SC · 2023
General support
$646,647
Florence County First Steps Partner · Florence, SC · 2024
General support
$642,481
Lee County First Steps Partnership · Bishopville, SC · 2023
General support
$631,551
Beaufort County First Steps Partner · Beaufort, SC · 2024
General support
$630,825
Anderson County First Steps Partner · Anderson, SC · 2024
General support
$622,207
Anderson County First Steps Partner · Anderson, SC · 2023
General support
$609,150
Lee County First Steps Partnership · Bishopville, SC · 2024
General support
$606,782
Williamsburg County First Steps Par · Kingstree, SC · 2024
General support
$579,537
Beaufort County First Steps Partner · Beaufort, SC · 2023
General support
$575,635
Dillon County First Steps Partnersh · Dillon, SC · 2024
General support
$573,198
Beaufort County First Steps Partner · Beaufort, SC · 2022
General support
$547,984
Dillon County First Steps Partnersh · Dillon, SC · 2023
General support
$545,525
Beaufort County First Steps Partner · Beaufort, SC · 2021
General support
$540,909
Darlington County First Steps Partn · Lamar, SC · 2023
General support
$527,094
Darlington County First Steps Partn · Lamar, SC · 2024
General support
$526,049
Chesterfield County First Steps Par · Chesterfield, SC · 2023
General support
$519,928
Florence County First Steps Partner · Florence, SC · 2023
General support
$519,429
Chesterfield County First Steps Par · Chesterfield, SC · 2024
General support
$513,514
Pickens County First Steps Partners · Central, SC · 2024
General support
$508,184
Lancaster County First Steps Partne · Lancaster, SC · 2024
General support
$500,786
Sumter County First Steps Partnersh · Sumter, SC · 2024
General support
$492,196
Pickens County First Steps Partners · Central, SC · 2023
General support
$492,176
Orangeburg County First Steps Partn · Orangeburg, SC · 2023
General support
$465,281
Chesterfield County First Steps Par · Chesterfield, SC · 2022
General support
$459,568
Lancaster County First Steps Partne · Lancaster, SC · 2023
General support
$456,902
Florence County First Steps Partner · Florence, SC · 2021
General support
$456,739
Orangeburg County First Steps Partn · Orangeburg, SC · 2024
General support
$446,354
Anderson County First Steps Partner · Anderson, SC · 2021
General support
$442,674
Williamsburg County First Steps Par · Kingstree, SC · 2023
General support
$441,926
Dorchester County First Steps Partn · Summerville, SC · 2023
General support
$439,848
Aiken County First Steps Partnershi · Aiken, SC · 2021
General support
$436,878
Aiken County First Steps Partnershi · Aiken, SC · 2023
General support
$435,614
Sumter County First Steps Partnersh · Sumter, SC · 2023
General support
$433,570
Florence County First Steps Partner · Florence, SC · 2022
General support
$430,596
Anderson County First Steps Partner · Anderson, SC · 2022
General support
$426,794
Pickens County First Steps Partners · Central, SC · 2021
General support
$419,324
Dillon County First Steps Partnersh · Dillon, SC · 2022
General support
$411,472
Dorchester County First Steps Partn · Summerville, SC · 2021
General support
$410,257
Sumter County First Steps Partnersh · Sumter, SC · 2021
General support
$407,504
Dorchester County First Steps Partn · Summerville, SC · 2024
General support
$406,736
Colleton County First Steps Partner · Walterboro, SC · 2023
General support
$403,500
Pickens County First Steps Partners · Central, SC · 2022
General support
$402,597
Lancaster County First Steps Partne · Lancaster, SC · 2022
General support
$401,340
Marion County First Steps Partnersh · Marion, SC · 2024
General support
$396,153
Aiken County First Steps Partnershi · Aiken, SC · 2024
General support
$390,426
Lee County First Steps Partnership · Bishopville, SC · 2021
General support
$387,453
Chesterfield County First Steps Par · Chesterfield, SC · 2021
General support
$380,733
Dorchester County First Steps Partn · Summerville, SC · 2022
General support
$375,491
Marion County First Steps Partnersh · Florence, SC · 2021
General support
$374,545
Aiken County First Steps Partnershi · Aiken, SC · 2022
General support
$374,364
Darlington County First Steps Partn · Lamar, SC · 2022
General support
$370,648
Greenwood County First Steps Partne · Greenwood, SC · 2024
General support
$367,941
Marion County First Steps Partnersh · Marion, SC · 2023
General support
$363,843
Sumter County First Steps Partnersh · Sumter, SC · 2022
General support
$359,447
Dillon County First Steps Partnersh · Dillon, SC · 2021
General support
$350,305
Clarendon County First Steps Partne · Manning, SC · 2024
General support
$344,992
Colleton County First Steps Partner · Walterboro, SC · 2024
General support
$344,918
Orangeburg County First Steps Partn · Orangeburg, SC · 2022
General support
$335,195
Cherokee County First Steps Partner · Gaffney, SC · 2024
General support
$330,961
Greenwood County First Steps Partne · Greenwood, SC · 2023
General support
$328,246
Barnwell County First Steps Partner · Barnwell, SC · 2023
General support
$324,394
Darlington County First Steps Partn · Hartsville, SC · 2021
General support
$323,766
Bamberg County First Steps Partners · Bamberg, SC · 2024
General support
$323,234
Colleton County First Steps Partner · Walterboro, SC · 2022
General support
$322,865
McCormick County First Steps Partne · McCormick, SC · 2024
General support

View all 190 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990, Schedule I, as filed by this organization. These are grants already paid. Grants paid directly to individuals are reported to the IRS only as totals, so they do not appear as named lines here.