Grow Some Good
Overview
Mission
Grow Some Good, a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Maui, passionately promotes a local, thriving, and sustainable food system. The organization's Farm to School Program creates interactive, outdoor learning opportunities in school gardens, forging vital connections between students and their food sources while inspiring healthier nutrition choices. In addition, Grow Some Good has launched a pioneering initiative called Na Mala Kaiaulu that is designed to construct sustainable, intergenerational community food forests that offer educational opportunities, workshops, and social enterprise programs to serve underprivileged communities across Maui.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Kumu Mea Kanu project is designed to reconnect and strengthen students' relationships with their land, food, and community via hybrid garden learning. By increasing student exposure to various modalities of garden learning, we strive to spark an interest in students to pursue education in agricultural fields and support local agriculture. This fiscal year, Grow Some Good distributed 3422 student garden learning kits to 123 teachers across 20 schools on Maui. These kits connect students to their food and community through an impactful project and place-based learning experience that generated 3,967 student-grown organic food plants. These plants were then donated to the community through partnerships with the Maui Family YMCA, the Maui Farm, and Hungry Heroes, which cultivated, harvested, and incorporated the produce into tens of thousands of nutritious meals for families in need.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464364775
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
- Headquarters
- Wailuku, HI, USA
- Phone
- 8082159228
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Agricultural Programs
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.79; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 20% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 27.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $557K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 annual filings from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Scott Lacasse (Executive Director): $90,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.