Food Strong

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831580187
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2166400342
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,025,741
Expenses
$648,139
Assets
$819,763
Liabilities
$38,256

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSEPH JERDONEK (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • NICOLE SALERNO (PRESIDENT)
  • SARA CONTINENZA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA CONTINENZA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $60,010 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to cultivate food justice in northeast Ohio and beyond by building enduring local food systems from the ground up. We believe fresh, local food, like-minded residents and passionate partners can transform under-resourced neighborhoods into thriving, self-sustaining communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Urban restoration - superior avenue community farm and coit road learning gardenfood strong's urban restoration work focuses on transforming land and community spaces into places for food production, education, environmental stewardship, workforce development, and neighborhood gathering.in 2025, food strong continued its work at the food strong learning garden at coit road farmers market, where the organization hosted volunteer events, field trips, educational experiences, garden-based learning, and produce-growing activities. The site supported culinary education, youth entrepreneurship, volunteer engagement, and community maintenance efforts. Food strong concluded its regular operations at the coit road learning garden in fall 2025 as the organization transitioned toward deeper investment in its long-term home at superior avenue community farm.food strong also advanced the development of superior avenue community farm, a 2.85-acre site in cleveland's st. Clair-superior neighborhood. The property includes agricultural space, high-tunnel hoop houses, a farmhouse, and a large former church/school building that requires significant restoration. This site is being developed as food strong's future headquarters and a community campus for food access, education, workforce development, sustainability, community gatherings, and urban agriculture.in 2025, food strong focused on phase i restoration and land use activities, including site cleanup, volunteer engagement, agricultural planning, infrastructure assessment, community partnerships, and early-stage improvements. This work lays the foundation for a multi-phase restoration process that will expand food strong's capacity to serve youth, families, volunteers, and the surrounding neighborhood for years to come.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 43.2%; rating input score 43
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $48.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th 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: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 36.8%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.26; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 36.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 43.2% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $442K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.