Bethel Area District Exchange and Food Pantry

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454126626
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Bethel, ME, USA
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Banks, Pantries

Reported finances

Revenue
$362,536
Expenses
$257,160
Assets
$1,080,959
Liabilities
$424,297

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LLOYD SWEETSER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • STEPHANIE HERBECK (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • LLOYD SWEETSER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • HEATHER NIVUS (DIRECTOR)
  • MONICA GORDON (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide food/clothing and or other assistance to the surrounding community of bethel

What it reported doing in 2025

Acquired a new building to house the district exchange for clothing donations and food pantry which will allow greater service to the community

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.9%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.1%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.2; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.9% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $199K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.