National Black Food and Justice Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862075766
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
4044823879
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Agricultural Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,158,401
Expenses
$6,065,246
Assets
$15,502,382
Liabilities
$55,944

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cicely Garrett (Co-executive Director)
  • Jas Jackson (Co-executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cicely Garrett (Co-executive Director): $106,883 total reported compensation
  • Jas Jackson (Co-executive Director): $106,883 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The National Black Food & Justice Alliance NBFJA is a coalition of Black-led organizations aimed at developing Black leadership supporting Black communities organizing for Black self-determination and building institutions for Black food sovereignty and liberation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Black Land and Power BLP working group initiative aims to successfully build a democratic governing process to grow protect and collectively steward resources around land together hence removing land from the speculative market via cooperatives and community land trusts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 41% for direct work, and 59% for grants.

The verdict

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 53
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 31.2%; rating input score 31
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 60%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.56; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 111.7% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 69.8% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 31.2% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 58 of 58 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 2 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 31/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.