Foodwise Community

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943212988
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4152913276
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,125,073
Expenses
$2,216,205
Assets
$1,689,238
Liabilities
$521,951

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stacy Jed (President)
  • Marie Trimble Holvick (President)
  • Dilan Urun (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christine Farren (Executive Dir.): $165,640 total reported compensation
  • Elizabeth Meyer (Director of Ops): $113,606 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Foodwise grows thriving communities through the power and joy of local food. We envision a world that nourishes all people, local economies, and the living earth.

What it reported doing in 2024

Farmers Market Programs: Foodwise Community has managed the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco since 1994, and the Mission Community Market in San Francisco since 2017. Foodwise's markets are certified farmers markets renowned for diverse offerings of high-quality, delicious local products. We pride ourselves on activation of our farmers markets as educational tools for cultivating a healthy food system (see Education programs narative). At Foodwise we help make healthy food affordable through food access programs like Market Match, which doubles shoppers' CalFresh (food stamp) benefits at the farmers market, while directly supporting our local farmers. Since the pandemic the need for this program has tripled, as more families need assistance putting fresh, delicious food on the table. We also support early stage BIPOC food entreprenues through our Building Equity program, which offers business development resources and opportunities for these entrepreneurs to market-test and sell their products and build a customer base at our farmers markets. The goal of the program is to support business growth, economic viability, and asset-building for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

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 98% 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 - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 63rd 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.76; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $166K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.