Austin Youth & Community Farm Inc Dba Urban Roots
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453954705
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Phone
- 5127508019
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development - Agricultural
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,034,135
- Expenses
- $1,461,605
- Assets
- $1,416,212
- Liabilities
- $271,940
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BRIAN STEPHENS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- BRIAN STEPHENS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $147,008 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Urban roots works with youth leaders to grow fresh food and build a community dedicated to food equity
What it reported doing in 2024
Urban roots works to create a just food system by cultivating an environment where youth leaders and nutritious, culturally relevant food can thrive. On our farms, youth leaders grow food in service to others, distributing thousands of pounds of nutrient-dense produce to those in austin who experience food insecurity or hunger. We think of it as creating a just food system one youth leader at a time. Our programs are designed to build community around the land and the nourishment it provides, and to support youth participants in growing as leaders who can advocate for positive change in our food system. Each year we provide paid internships and fellowships for up to 88 young people, ages 14-23. They work together with 1,000+ community volunteers to harvest from 25,000 to 35,000 pounds of fresh food annually. We partner with organizations to distribute the food through home delivery, mobile markets, pop-up markets in low-income housing complexes, neighborhood food pantries, and prepared meals.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 22
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -41.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.97; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.