Mill City Grows Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472096070
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lowell, MA, USA
Phone
9784552620
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,050,903
Expenses
$1,683,885
Assets
$1,985,163
Liabilities
$156,342

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EMMA CAMPBELL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAI KIM (COEXECUTIVE): $85,521 total reported compensation
  • COURTNEY MCSPARRON (COEXECUTIVE): $80,923 total reported compensation
  • ALI JACOBS (COEXECUTIVE): $69,851 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mill city grows, inc. Fosters food justice by improving physical health, economic independence and environmental sustainability in lowell through increased access to land, locally-grown food and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Urban farm: our educational production farms engage residents in experiential education programs, hands-on food production and volunteerism. Mcg staff operate the farms. In 2022, we also began offering plots to market gardeners who are interested in growing cultural crops for the community or establishing small food businesses. We also welcome hundreds of volunteers and numerous local youth groups who donate time to supporting urban agriculture. Gardeners access educational programs and supplies; thousands of pounds of produce is grown and distributed into the community each year. A social enterprise, the farm demonstrates how healthy, local food can be an economic stimulator. Mobile market: our farm stand on wheels, operating through the spring, summer, and fall, provides culturally appropriate produce in low access areas. Customers can access produce for free using various incentive programs including the Massachusetts healthy incentive program. We also operate indoor markets in the winter. Starting in 2020, we began a community supported agriculture program, offering a weekly allotment of seasonal produce for households throughout lowell.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.6%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.9%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.6% of revenue deployed · 68.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.