Martha's Kitchen

What it reported doing in 2024

Martha's kitchen (the organization") is a nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to provide hot meals and support to people in need in santa clara county, California, and surrounding areas. The organization began in the 1960s when founder louise benson gave out peanut butter sandwiches and other essentials to the people in need from her garage in the willow glen area of san jose, California. When neighbors complained about the lines of poor people in the neighborhood, she moved her ministry to her home parish in 1981. A few years later, the organization was absorbed by catholic charities until 2001 when it was incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization.the organization leases kitchen and dining room facilities at 311 willow street, san jose, California from the catholic diocese of san jose. During the year ended june 30, 2025 - 792,549 meals and 1,451,417 pounds of groceries were either served at the facility or distributed to other food service facilities.the organization provides meals and support to people in need in the following counties for year ended june 30, 2025:-santa clara-santa cruz-san benito-san mateo-fresno the organization measures success by counting the number of meals prepared and the number of serving sites. In the past few years, the organization has more than tripled the number of meals it prepares from less than 250,000 to over 1,206,000 a year; and nearly doubled the number of partners-serving sites from 30 to 57 as of year ended june 30, 2025. When the covid-19 pandemic hit, the organization nearly doubled the number of hot meals being served. The amount of groceries distributed has also increased dramatically since the onset of covid-19 and the organization distributed more than 1.5 million pounds of groceries in the past year.the organization is a community-driven organization. This nonprofit food provider received 18503 hours of volunteer time valued at $742,710 during the year ended june 30, 2024 to help with its mission of feeding the hungry. The value of volunteer time is based on the estimated hourly value of volunteer time in the state of California as determined by independent sector (independentsector.org). The local food bank and grocery stores as well as large venues donated food, property and equipment, rent and supplies which totaled $3,431,159 during the year ended june 30, 2025.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
• Fundraising efficiency: $23.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 98%; rating input score 98; 34th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • 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: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 1.2%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.69; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings