Our Coffee Connection

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201826839
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Rochester, NY, USA
Phone
5852563384
Rating
55
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$98,043
Expenses
$56,610
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$658,492

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • JOHN MESSENGER (DIRECTOR)
  • ANNE PASSMORE (DIRECTOR)
  • JOY BERGFALK (EXECUTIVE DI)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide comprehensive, continuous support for women on their journey toward sustainable recovery from substance abuse, including an employment training program to empower them for full employment and/or higher education. In addition, to support a sustainable world through the wholesale and retail sale of fair trade, organically-grown, sustainably-farmed coffee.

What it reported doing in 2025

The coffee connection sells fair trade coffee to wholesale and retail customers in order to provide an employment training program for women in recovery. This program is also supported by contributions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 63% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 28.6%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 44.4%; rating input score 44; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 42.3%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 28.6% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $45K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 44/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.