Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Child Nutrition--The Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger (MT-PECH) is transforming how school food systems operate in Montana. During the year, MT-PECH improved access to fresh, quality food for more than 5,000 Montana school children, generating school meal participation rates in schools that worked with us of at least 82%, with some schools exceeding 90%, significantly above the state and national averages. We also helped connect 9,290 school children outside our Rural School Networks to critical summer EBT benefits, which they would not have otherwise received. Additional accomplishments included 1) Expanding our Rural School Networks from two cohorts of four schools each to a broader multi-region effort supporting improved meal quality and program sustainability in four cohorts comprised of just over 20 schools; 2) Changing from only two of these schools sourcing and serving Montana-grown foods, and none of the schools intentionally serving Indigenous foods, to all participating schools using both Montana-sourced foods and Indigenous foods and recipes in their school meal programs; 3) Providing training and technical assistance to 325 Montana school nutrition professionals through statewide and events, along with training for 124 educators interested in integrating Indigenous food knowledge into their classrooms; 4) Supporting the development of new summer meal sites in rural communities and increasing utilization of flexible meal delivery models across Montana; 5) Positively impacting food service director turnover among Rural School Network participants through training, assistance, and ongoing support. Among Rural School Network schools, turnover for the year was 12.5% compared to nearly 50% statewide. Together, these efforts improved schools' use of Montana-grown and Indigenous foods, increased participation in school meal programs, and strengthened the capacity of schools to sustain high-quality nutrition services.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
• Program expense ratio: 72.2%; rating input score 72
• Fundraising efficiency: $10.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: 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: 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: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -1.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 70.3% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -17.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings