Make Miracles Grow Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800604027
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2013
Forms available
Form 990 2013
Location
Waukesha, WI, USA
Phone
2627985080
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$167,318
Expenses
$200,731
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Guy Comer (President)
  • Gregory Mooney (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Gregory Mooney (Vice President): $216,184 total reported compensation
  • Guy Comer (President): $57,288 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Make Miracles Grow Foundation (the "Foundation") is dedicated to Urban Agriculture and Youth Education in Chicago's south side with the vision of developing an urban "youth garden" to serve as a model for sustainable urban farming methods, youth career and education development, economic development, and job and food security improvement for the Greater Grand Crossing community. The Foundation will provide residents in the community with a sustainable, green economy that will be youth-led and maintained. This youth garden will be expanded to teach and experience local sustainability through growing food, culinary arts and community outreach. Through partnerships with local schools, the community at large and other nonprofits, the Foundation's youth garden will act as a living classroom and provide hands-on education in addition to becoming a model for other neighborhoods.

What it reported doing in 2013

Cultivate youth development through hands-on-training, on-the-ground demonstration and technical assistance for the sustainable growth, processing and preservation of local produce.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.2%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 66.8%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -48.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -74.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.2% of revenue deployed · 66.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $134K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $216K · 4 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2011 to 2013
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.