Grow Portland

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271495485
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
9712029050
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Agricultural Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$381,184
Expenses
$398,063
Assets
$213,019
Liabilities
$3,835

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHELLE WELTON (EXECUTIVE DI): $38,834 total reported compensation
  • WISTERIA STUART (EXECUTIVE DI): $11,767 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Grow portland supports schools and communities by facilitating hands-on garden experiences that foster connections to food, nature and each other.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grow portland programs served 17 schools in 2 districts, (11 were title 1/low income schools) and over 6500 prek-8th grade students with monthly lessons & programming. We added three new schools in response to community interest including one middle school (harrison park ms). Additionally, we continued our program with providence elderplace irvington village to facilitate weekly community-led garden care & instruction with senior medicaid residents. We also partnered with rose city park elementary (pps) & irco sun program and a low-income housing facilitiy to deliver summer programming, serving an additional 45 elementary ages students. Of the students served in 2024, 70% were low-income, 65% identified as students of color, 19% special education, and 30% english language learners.

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 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.
  • 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.4%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $357K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $39K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.