Blessings in a Backpack

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262627847
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Phone
2604249080
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$960,891
Expenses
$661,538
Assets
$570,934
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RACHEL GUIN (PRESIDENT)
  • RENEE A SLOAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JAMA ROSS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMA ROSS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $100,700 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Blessings in a backback mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children who might otherwise go hungry.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide nutrious food to children through schools in the fort wayne community in a thirty-six week period. We are proud of what we were able to accomplish in 2025, including:- blessings bags program which fed 3,750 children every friday with supplemental food bags to ensure they do not have to endure the weekends without food. We provide 142,500 during the school year through the top nine food insecure schools in fort wayne community schools.- summer feeding program which provided 1,200 blessing bags every friday during the summer for 11,052 children throughout 8 allen county public library locations. -believe bags which serves to give additional food and mental health/self-esteem boosters to those fighting food insecurity during the most vunerable times of the year. These are distributed to schools as well as agencies with children's programming. The organization was recognized by greater fort wayne in 2024 in excellence in nonprofit for the top 5 nonprofit nominees. The executive director was also named greater fort wayne's chamption of change in the nonprofit field. Programming has grown to assist over 160,000 children annually while remaining financially solvent.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 87% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.7%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $34.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 31.2%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.2%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.7% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $581K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 21 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.