Central Texas Food Bank

Legal name: Central Texas Food Bank Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742217350
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
512-282-2111 (option 3)
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Food Banks, Pantries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$102,848,703
Expenses
$97,247,556
Assets
$123,276,903
Liabilities
$3,600,038

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sari Vatske (President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sari Vatske (President/CEO): $404,479 total reported compensation
  • Todd Frease (Chief Operating Officer): $257,779 total reported compensation
  • Mark Jackson (Chief Development Officer): $250,520 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) is the leading hunger-relief nonprofit in Central Texas, whose mission is to provide equitable access to nutritious food, leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts, and transforming lives through programs, education, and innovative solutions. Workforce Training Programs Building Pathways to Employment in Central Texas We believe in creating opportunities that empower individuals to build sustainable futures. Our **Workforce Training Programs** provide hands-on experience, industry certifications, and professional development in two key areas: **Culinary Arts** and **Warehouse Logistics**. These free programs equip participants with the skills needed to secure stable employment while supporting our mission to nourish lives and strengthen communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Health & nutrition education - the nutrition education program helps low-income individuals and families make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose active lifestyles. Snap assistance - the snap assistance staff provide phone and in-person help in explaining the snap application process (along with other programs) and help completing the application packet. Healthy options for the elderly (hope) - hope provides free monthly distributions of health, shelf-stable foods. Summer food service program (sfsp) - sfsp provides nutritious lunches and snacks to children of low-income families. Feeding futures - the feeding futures program, launched by the central Texas food bank (ctfb), aims to provide nutritious food, education, and support to families in need within colleges and independent school districts. National school lunch program - delivery of food to schools under the national school lunch program. Home delivery program - the home delivery program offered by the central Texas food bank provides free food delivery to residents meeting certain criteria. Mobile farmacy - mobile farmacy is a program that provides access to fresh produce and healthy food options directly to communities in need, often through mobile distribution methods.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 85% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 94.8%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $43.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 85.5%; rating input score 85; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.27; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 89.9% of revenue deployed · 94.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $92.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $404K · 26 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.