Midwest Food Connection

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411839791
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6127225444
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nutrition

Reported finances

Revenue
$219,385
Expenses
$210,301
Assets
$40,311
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Paul Eaves (President/Treasurer)
  • Kara Green (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Paul Eaves (President/Treasurer): $4,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Midwest Food Connection's purpose is to promote education in healthy foods and eating habits, organic foods, the organic industry, and cooperative food stores and the cooperative community through teaching programs to elementary schools in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.

What it reported doing in 2024

Midwest Food Connection's teachers bring exciting, practical and interactive lessons about healthful eating to dozens of schools in the Twin Cities area. Storytelling, drama, song, and art accompany a bountiful selection of fresh food. Our educators create dishes in the classroom, engaging children in the preparation and the processing of food, and inspiring them with wonderful tasting food and snacks. We offer four seasonal units about whole foods and sustainable agriculture. We teach in grades K-8. Most lessons last 55 minutes and include a presentation, whole-class and individual activities, and a tasting component.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.7% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $162K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $4K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.