Food Forest Collective

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822990802
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2063759129
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$182,369
Expenses
$136,980
Assets
$102,085
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kate Landis (President)

People named in this filing

  • Kate Landis (President)
  • Holis Hamilton (Secretary)
  • Donald Comstock (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Community Grows Here. We cultivate a community dedicated to building equitable food systems for all people, and steward our environment for the benefit of all species. We believe in Caring for the Earth. We steward our local ecosystem by building healthy soil and increasing the diversity of plants and habitat. We believe in Caring for the People. We bring people together to grow and share food, learn from each other, and know their neighbors. We work to create a Fair Share for all. We are on land stolen from the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other peoples, stewards and co-creators of abundance with the land since time immemorial. We work to dismantle an unjust food system rooted in white supremacy and conquest by nurturing its replacement, already alive and ready to grow. Through open harvest and collaboration within and among communities, we work to create a fair share for all.

What it reported doing in 2024

FFC is the 501(c)3 non-profit corporation that oversees the Beacon Food Forest (BFF), an thirteen-year-old volunteer-driven project to design, plant and grow an edible urban forest garden that inspires our community to gather together, grow our own food and rehabilitate our local ecosystem. BFF is widely known not just in Seattle but nationally and internationally as the largest and most developed urban food forest on public land. It now occupies over three acres on the west slope of Jefferson Park at 15th Ave and Dakota Street and is continuing to grow. In Fiscal Year 2025, we greatly expanded a garden dedicated to Black, Indigenous and People of Color neighbors. We donated 600 pounds to the food bank, hosted 40 work parties, and logged 10,800 volunteer hours while members of the Beacon Hill community harvested 2,000 pounds of food.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24.9%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $122K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.