Grow It Green Morristown Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264560703
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Morristown, NJ, USA
Phone
9732064177
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Botanical, Horticultural, and Landscape Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$450,346
Expenses
$548,823
Assets
$565,035
Liabilities
$2,057

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN BONANNO (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SHAUN ANANKO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHAUN ANANKO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $74,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote community health through urban agriculture, discovery-based learning, and equitable food access.

What it reported doing in 2025

Greenhouse Operations and Winter Farmers Market. The Greenhouse Operatons Program offers educational classes, internships, and volunteer opportunities for students. The program, located at St. Elizabeth University, has started vegetable, flower and herb seedlings for our urban farm. Garderners and well as community members have the opportunity to increase local food production that enhances the mental and physical benefits of gardening and offers a means to grow food during these inflationary times. Winter Farmers Market We expanded the space for our 12th annual Winter Farmers Market which provided more convenient and accessible space for more than 50 vendors.

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

STRONG - 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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -21.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.5%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $432K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.