Lever Foundation Growth Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850762544
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lancaster, PA, USA
Phone
7175841805
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,470,913
Expenses
$1,355,550
Assets
$4,038,231
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Kai Yi Carrie Chan (Director)
  • Nick Cooney (Director)
  • Brian Ottens (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Lever Foundation Growth Fund is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, whose purpose is to support the charitable mission of Lever Foundation (and other charities that share its mission) to prevent animal suffering by promoting healthy, humane and sustainable food choices. One effective way to create a more humane food system is to support and empower entrepreneurs and startup companies who are creating alternative protein products-foods that replace conventional animal protein on consumers' plates with plant-based proteins or other proteins produced without the need to raise and slaughter live animals. By helping entrepreneurs launch companies in this sector, and by helping early stage startups that would not otherwise be able to attractive commercial funding in this sector grow, the Fund can help shift a portion of protein production and consumption to food products that do not cause animal suffering.

What it reported doing in 2024

One of the core initial activities of the Fund is to receive donations for Program-Related Investments in entrepreneurs and startups working in the alternative protein space that have a high potential to impact the Fund's charitable purposes but may not be able to attract sufficient commercial funding to make that impact. All Funds going out are Investments, and not expenditures.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.8%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 45.1%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.98; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.9% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.8% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.