Foodlink

Legal name: Foodlink Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222428304
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Rochester, NY, US
Phone
(585) 328-3380
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$72,318,586
Expenses
$67,554,916
Assets
$24,873,825
Liabilities
$11,044,685

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JULIA TEDESCO (PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIA TEDESCO (PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUT): $283,662 total reported compensation
  • TERRA KELLER (COO & CFO): $232,223 total reported compensation
  • MITCHELL GRUBER (CHIEF PROGRAMS OFFICER): $174,772 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to leverage the power of food to end hunger and build healthier communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Foodlink's community health programs support food access and education through a variety of programs. The curbside market program brings fresh, affordable food to low-income neighborhoods across rochester through mobile markets that make weekly stops at affordable housing sites, senior centers, health clinics, and community centers. This program promotes food access by serving areas that lack traditional grocery stores and by accepting benefits such as snap, wic, double up food bucks, and more. The foodlink community farm is the largest urban farm in rochester at 2.3 acres and consists of community garden plots that serve over 100 local families, a commercial growing operation, an edible education center for school and community programming, a greenhouse for year-round growing, and a public pocket park. Foodlink's community-focused initiatives also include nutrition education, food safety classes, and benefits navigation support, all provided across a variety of settings in the community. In fiscal year 2025, foodlink performed 31,932 transactions at the curbside market, produced 3,544 pounds of produce at the community farm, and reached 3,349 people through nutrition education workshops and demos and 773 through benefits navigation support.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 94.7%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 19th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 88.5% of revenue deployed · 94.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $64M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $284K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 141 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 136 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.