Nourish Pierce County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911198391
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone
2533833164
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,890,338
Expenses
$6,407,549
Assets
$9,777,500
Liabilities
$1,706,948

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Megan Leifson (President)
  • Sue Potter (CEO)

People named in this filing

  • Megan Leifson (President)
  • Christine A Stevens (Secretary)
  • Dennis Fulton (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To provide food to individuals in need with compassion, dignity and respect. No one needing assistance is turned away.

What it reported doing in 2024

Incorporated in 1982, Nourish Pierce County is the oldest and largest network of food banks in Pierce County. Nourish currently operates in Edgewood, Graham/South Hill, Lakewood, Southeast Tacoma, West Tacoma, and Northwest Tacoma. Nourishs Mobile Food Banks visit 16 unique locations each week including Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Roy, Spanaway, the Lakewood neighborhood of Tillicum, and all of the area technical and community colleges.In January to June 2025, Nourish served over 33,000 unduplicated people through 221,003 visits and distributed 2.1 million pounds of food for a total of 1.9 million nourishing meals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.4%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -8.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.4% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.