Brightside Produce

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842923952
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6513351539
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$467,957
Expenses
$459,462
Assets
$98,561
Liabilities
$-213

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Justa HeinenKay (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Justa HeinenKay (Executive Director): $33,325 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Brightside aims to increase access to healthy food in urban food deserts by delivering produce to small corner stores in under serviced areas. Support is garnered by home delivery customers who each week receive fresh produce and pay a service charge to support the store deliveries.

What it reported doing in 2024

Weekly deliveries to 45 stores in the twin cities metro area. We buy bulk wholesale produce and make weekly deliveries. We charge stores only 10% above wholesale costs and have no minimum order requirements. Home deliveries are provided to customers and their cost includes a food justice surcharge to assist in covering costs for the corner store deliveries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.9%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 1.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.9% of revenue deployed · 69.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $318K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $33K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.