Jewish Food Society

Legal name: Jewish Food Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
815088618
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6462885641
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,994,939
Expenses
$4,726,330
Assets
$490,346
Liabilities
$64,241

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NAAMA SHEFI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • NAAMA SHEFI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $180,000 total reported compensation
  • YAEL RAVIV (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $142,000 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA DELL (VP PROGRAMS & COMMUNICATION): $140,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Jewish Food Society is a non-profit organization that works to preserve and celebrate Jewish culinary heritage from around the world in order to increase awareness and deepen connections to Jewish life. At Jewish Food Society, we believe that family recipes are our cultural DNA. They tell the stories of how Jewish people live and love, how we celebrate and mourn; they carry with them the marrow of who we are as individuals, as families, and as a community. Jewish Food Society’s core focus is to preserve and celebrate these recipes and stories in order to provide a deep connection to Jewish life and identity. In this difficult moment, Jews around the world feel increasingly isolated and vulnerable. Jewish Food Society’s work to bring people together through food and culture has never been more vital. We are committed to showcasing the diversity of the Jewish experience, instillin.

What it reported doing in 2024

Jewish food society works to preserve and celebrate jewish culinary heritage from around the world in order to increase awareness and deepen connections to jewish life. Jfs is committed to showcasing the diversity of the jewish experience, instilling pride, and providing space for complex conversations. At the heart of jfs's work is a digital archive of jewish family recipes and the stories behind them and we bring the archive to life through a range of public programs such as shabbat dinners, cooking demos, workshops and storytelling events including our flagship event the great nosh, a massive public picnic in nyc, which launched in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 89.7%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $58.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.1; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 84.9% of revenue deployed · 89.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $180K · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.