Food Access Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862508030
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3125263536
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,423,947
Expenses
$1,380,894
Assets
$731,940
Liabilities
$42,481

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NASRIN THIERER (PRESIDENT/CHAIR)
  • MEGHAN ZIMMERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MEGHAN ZIMMERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $176,793 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Food access project, dba vivery community nfp, is a public charity that leverages technology, community partnerships, and innovative programs to increase access to nutritious food. We fundraise to provide vivery live find food maps and related technology to food banks and pantries at no cost. In addition, we partner with local communities to deliver food is medicine programs that connect individuals and families to nutritious food, resources, and support services.

What it reported doing in 2025

Food is medicine program. In partnership with healthcare providers, government agencies, and community-based organizations, the organization operates a technology-enabled food delivery program that coordinates services across multiple partners to provide medically supportive and nutritious food to food-insecure individuals. Participants receive regular home deliveries of groceries and fresh produce, typically twice monthly, to support improved health outcomes and reduce food insecurity. The program includes multiple implementation models tailored to specific populations, including community-based delivery for individuals with disabilities and medically tailored grocery programs for patients managing chronic disease. In 2025, the program served 355 households, providing 7295 home deliveries and approximately 136,234 meals, helping reduce food insecurity and support better health outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 37th 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 60.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 41% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $919K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $177K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.