New Britain Roots Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464350118
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- New Britain, CT, USA
- Phone
- 8602594290
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Food Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $430,322
- Expenses
- $441,389
- Assets
- $162,373
- Liabilities
- $5,139
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Joseph Listro (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Joseph Listro (Executive Director): $60,115 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
ROOTS is a community-engaged 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to promoting food security and agricultural education in K-12 programs. We make healthy food accessible and affordable to low-income families. We work with Connecticut farmers, food artisans and healthy food advocates. We learn from, work with, and teach with people of all ages. ROOTS provides farmers' market outreach programs, increasing the consumption of healthy and locally grown produce for our low income neighbors and builds school and community gardens in New Britain.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education: Provide after-school programs for K-12 public school students, support and materials for school gardens, field trips to farms, and workshops and demonstrations at community events. Funded through School Contracts and grants.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 65%; rating input score 65
- Program expense ratio: 62.9%; rating input score 63
- Fundraising efficiency: $53.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th 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: 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: Pass
- 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: -2.6%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.6%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 25.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 65% of revenue deployed · 62.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $278K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.