Island Grown Initiative
Legal name: Island Grown Initiative LTD
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 205773892
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- West Tisbury, MA, USA
- Phone
- 508-687-9062
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Food Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,653,585
- Expenses
- $4,352,946
- Assets
- $22,055,488
- Liabilities
- $3,088,190
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
22 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Virgina Barbatti (Development Director): $129,478 total reported compensation
- Eleanore Taylor (Co-Executive Dir.): $109,099 total reported compensation
- Sophie Mazza (Food Waste Director): $103,436 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Building a strong local food system for everyone on Martha’s Vineyard.
What it reported doing in 2025
Food Equity: IGI operates the Island Food Pantry that has 3,883 registered clients. It also produces healthy, nutritious stews, soups, and meals which are frozen and distributed arount the Island to those with limited access to transportation or cooking facilities. They operate a summer lunch program to feed children and their families during the school vacation.The Island Grown Farm is dedicated to regenerative agricultural practices, and includes the operation of a 30,000 square-foot greenhouse with soil beds for year round production. There is also a community garden, orchard, and land that is licensed to local farmers.Island Grown schools operates educational programs from preschool to k-12 and supports school gardens where children receive hands-on learning. There are also educational programs for backyard growers and local gardeners in regenerative methods.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 92
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 55.9%; rating input score 56
- Program expense ratio: 81.8%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $15.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th 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: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 34.6%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.07; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 55.9% of revenue deployed · 81.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 22 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $737K reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.