Fruit Tree Planting Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 753020477
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Phone
- 8316218096
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.*
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $230,440
- Expenses
- $272,113
- Assets
- $2,578,525
- Liabilities
- $1,210
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- David Wolfe (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Cem Akin (VP and CFO): $53,325 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To encourage the planting of 18 billion edible fruit trees under organic, humane standards. To benefit the environment, human health, and animal welfare by strategically planting fruit and nut tree orchards where they will best serve communities for decades to follow. This includes planting any edible, medicinal, or environmentally beneficial trees or plants.
What it reported doing in 2024
FRUIT TREE 101 PROGRAM FTPFs Fruit Tree 101 program donates and plants fruit tree orchards at public schools of all levels, around the world, to provide generations of students and teachers with healthy nutrition options and environmental education opportunities. Students and teachers participate in plantings with FTPF administering a curriculum focused on sustainability and healthy nutrition, thereby inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. Many schools use the orchards as outdoor classrooms to teach concepts in botany and ecology. One school district official wrote that they expect the orchards to last for decades, giving our students the opportunity to receive environmental education that would not otherwise be available to them. The orchards also provide a source of produce for improved nutrition in school lunch programs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 70% 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has grown recently. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 93
- Transparency & Controls: 55
- Accountability: 50
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 93%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: $23.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -18.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.48; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $253K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.