FoodRecovery.org

What it reported doing in 2024

Core Food Recovery Program - Our core program at FoodRecovery.org is our food recovery program, where food businesses with extra food can post a donation, and our system automatically emails and texts nearby emergency food providers. Our goal is to connect surplus and need in communities across the country. Our outreach team works to grow our network of donors and recipients, and our tech team works to maintain our website, expand its functionality, and improve accessibility features to best serve our users. This program is completely free for both food donors and recipient organizations to use. In 2024, FoodRecovery.org recovered 81,386,380 pounds of food, drinks, and other essential items. This product ranged from extra catered meals in Philadelphia, to school lunches in Orlando, and palletized loads of yogurt in Salt Lake City. We split our operations into two groups: small donations (less than 1000 lbs, fits into a standard car or van) and large donations (often palletized, coming from a warehouse or farm, requires a specialized truck for pickup), because the partners, process, and logistics for each donation type is different. FoodRecovery.org does not purchase recovered food, but funding is used to provide transportation of the product. Small donations- We partner with a variety of food businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, caterers, venues, and schools, to recover their extra product. We work nationwide, and have partners in every state, and our most robust programs are in Florida, New Jersey, New England, California, and New York. Large donations- Our team works to reroute truckloads of extra food from warehouses to nonprofits across the country. We use our connections to donate millions of pounds of food, such as meat, yogurt, milk, and produce, to organizations fighting food insecurity across the country. This year, we were able to step in to support disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Since moving semi-truck loads of produce is not always a feasible option for our partners, we spent funds towards transportation. By working with a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) company, we paid for drivers to pick up these palletized donations and deliver them to food banks and community organizations across the country. We continued our massive growth from food industry donations (i.e. warehouses, rejected truckloads, and other corporate partnerships)! All donation weights are verified by our nonprofit partners. Emissions estimates are calculated by separating donations into one of sixteen categories, and using the guidelines set by Food Loss and Waste Protocol (FLWP), developed by the World Resources Institute, Food and Agriculture Association, and the United Nations Environment Programme. Water Waste Prevented is a simple conversion of pounds of bottled drinks to gallons of water. Finally, donation values are derived from the $1.97 per pound standard set by Feeding America. Community Meal Program - In 2024, FoodRecovery.org continued our Community Meal Program thanks to our partnership with the Grubhub Community Fund! Through this program, we purchase catered meals from small and medium sized businesses, and donate those meals to nearby nonprofits serving their neighbors. These events happened across the country, from Florida to California, and many places in between! We hosted an awesome Community Meal Program event in December with La Casa Norte in Chicago! 150 delicious meals of chicken, collard greens, green beans, yams, mac n cheese, and cornbread were catered by Grubhub business 6978 Soul Food, and distributed to community members during an event. Alina from La Casa Norte said, We were able to have this donation coincide with our Winter Wellness event... We had about 10-12 vendors who provided resources for our clients. Everyone LOVED the food. Our Programs staff had an arts and craft station, open mic, raffle and gifts for our clients. One quote from a client: It feel

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 99.8%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 99.9%; rating input score 100
• Fundraising efficiency: $2,122.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 70.8%; rating input score 71; 15th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • 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: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.01; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 70.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 57.7% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings