Hickory Soup Kitchen

Legal name: Hickory Soup Kitchen Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561385956
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Hickory, NC, US
Phone
(828) 327-4828
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,054,193
Expenses
$762,168
Assets
$3,545,166
Liabilities
$1,418

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TODD HEFNER (PRESIDENT)
  • RICHARD GOMERSALL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • AUSTIN PEARCE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AUSTIN PEARCE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $75,575 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Changing lives, one plate at a time

What it reported doing in 2025

Hope program. Worked with employment agencies to help people in need of work find jobs. Provided transportation assistance to those who lacked transportation to get to those jobs. Served 152 individuals during 2025, resulting in 33 successful long-term employment opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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.
  • 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.9%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $42.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.7%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.65; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.9%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 68.9% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $696K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 27 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.