Growing Veterans

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472225742
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lynden, WA, USA
Phone
3605533577
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Reported finances

Revenue
$202,525
Expenses
$216,191
Assets
$117,255
Liabilities
$16,127

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSI BORDER (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • CONNOR HEGARTY (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LOGAN HILGERS (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (UNTIL 3/2/25))
  • CODY CALL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 3/3/25))

Highest reported compensation

  • CODY CALL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 3/3/25)): $40,986 total reported compensation
  • LOGAN HILGERS (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (UNTIL 3/2/25)): $13,076 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We empower veterans to cultivate purpose and belonging by growing food, community, and each other.

What it reported doing in 2025

Dirt therapy program: in 2025, growing veterans advanced its mission of improving veterans' mental health through sustainable agriculture and peer support programming. Through its dirt therapy program at the lynden farm, the organization combined hands-on farming with peer connection to foster belonging, purpose, and community reintegration. Community members contributed over 1,000 volunteer hours, and the organization hosted 2,603 hours of paid veteran internships. Approximately 6,200 pounds of organic produce were grown and donated, with roughly 95% distributed within whatcom and island counties to food banks and shelters.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 71.9%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $457.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 26th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.7%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 71.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $155K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $41K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.