Grow Ahead Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461047083
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
2167891971
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Economic Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$185,601
Expenses
$164,387
Assets
$398,511
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ryann Zinn (Board President)

People named in this filing

  • Ryann Zinn (Board President)
  • Dana Geffner (Treasurer)
  • Niki Mazaroli (Board Member)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Support farmers with climate change issu

What it reported doing in 2025

Grow ahead raises and distributes money for farmer-to-farmer trainings, scholarships and women leaders to mitigate climate change

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 43% for direct work, and 57% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.7%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 62.8%; rating input score 63

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: 11.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.42; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.7% of revenue deployed · 62.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $103K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.