Loaves and Fishes of Tompkins County Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
161271406
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ithaca, NY, USA
Phone
6072725457
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Congregate Meals
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$924,931
Expenses
$735,848
Assets
$1,658,172
Liabilities
$78,767

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kelly Sauve (Executive Director)
  • Heather Kolakowski (President)
  • Steph Bailey (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kelly Sauve (Executive Director): $49,517 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Loaves and Fishes of Tompkins County is a Christian Ministry that provides free meals and advocacy for those in need, regardless of their faith, beliefs or circumstances.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide meals, hospitality, companionship and referral and advocacy services to disadvantaged members of the community. The organization serves over 2,700 meals per month to a population that includes the unemployed, persons with inadequate public assistance along with their children, those suffering from mental and medical health challenges, the working poor, veterans, the unhoused and those in crisis.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th 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: 20.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.25; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $604K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.