Bellevue Middle School Edible Learning Lab
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454482716
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2015, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Nashville, TN, USA
- Phone
- 6155791857
- Rating
- 57
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $58,983
- Expenses
- $53,327
- Assets
- $23,194
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Deborah Stillwell (President)
People named in this filing
- Deborah Stillwell (President)
- Julie Sinclair Dzubas (Treasurer)
- Sharon Osborne (Secretary)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Founded in 2012, BELL Garden is a hybrid school and community garden located on the Bellevue Middle School Campus in Nashville, TN. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, BELL Garden is focused on building healthier and deeper connected communities through garden based service, education, volunteerism, and food distribution to those in need.
What it reported doing in 2025
Fresh Produce Donations We donate to 3 area food banks, donating over 1000 lbs last year, serving those with food insecurity in our community, served 3500 individuals Friend's Life Provides gardening opportunities for exceptional adults, served 320 individuals Lawson High School Exceptional Students Provides gardening opportunities and job skills for exceptional students, served 250 individuals
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 70% 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 37
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 35.7%; rating input score 36
- Program expense ratio: 39.5%; rating input score 39
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.6%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 35.7% of revenue deployed · 39.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $21K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 39/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.