City Fresh

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
522237568
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oberlin, OH, USA
Phone
4407076606
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$394,886
Expenses
$455,611
Assets
$527,937
Liabilities
$13,145

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Anna Kiss Mauser-Martinez (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Anna Kiss Mauser-Martinez (Executive Director): $74,008 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 purpose of City Fresh is to create a just, inclusive, thriving local food system that nourishes us all, sustains farmers in their stewardship of the land, and protects our soil and waterways.

What it reported doing in 2024

The George Jones Farm lives on a 70 acre farmstead, combining production areas for regenerative farming with habitat preservation in forest and wetlands. The George Jones Memorial Farm is an innovative educational site with abundant resources and activities for students and the greater community. We provide opportunities to utilize conventional organic and inventive methods for cultivation. Along with annual row crops, we employ perennial systems (perennial rows, food forest, medicine trails), high tunnel hoop houses, rotational systems, and fruit and nut cultivation. Working collaboratively, our efforts are supported and enacted by a network of students, researchers, community members, volunteers, and local institutions to build a more healthy and equitable local food system.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.2%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $346K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.