Plant the Seed
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453599292
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2022
- Forms available
- Form 990 2022
- Location
- Antioch, TN, USA
- Phone
- 6159343454
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $197,457
- Expenses
- $202,398
- Assets
- $185,779
- Liabilities
- $5,406
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- SARAH VOTER (INTERIM EXE): $44,423 total reported compensation
- SUSANNAH FOTOPULOS (FORMER EXE D): $4,158 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Plant the seed inspires and empowers young people through garden-based learning - connecting them to the land, their education and one another.
What it reported doing in 2022
Plant the seed inspires and empowers young people through garden-based learning - connecting them to the land, their education and one another. Plant the seed provides hands-on garden-based learning within the community organizations, such as metro nashville public schools, and community gardens. Our programming is fully integrated into the learning objectives for predominantly under-resourced prekindergarten and elementary aged students throughout davidson county, Tennessee. We conduct site assessment at each location, build age-appropriate growing environments, orient teachers and youth development staff to the garden and train them in the way it can enhance their classroom or youth development programming objectives, develop seasonally relevant, garden-based lessons for each of our approximately 1,400 students at least once a week. During school year 2022-2023, plant the seed developed 32 unique lessons for the 4th grade garden education curriculum. Plant the seed also partnered with a local non-profit, friends of mill ridge park, to deliver 6 unique workshops for children with the community that we serve. Plant the seed also expanded the garden education spaces at 2 different sites.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 84% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 21
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 96.2%; rating input score 96
- Program expense ratio: 93.9%; rating input score 94
- 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: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.92; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.3% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 96.2% of revenue deployed · 93.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $190K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $44K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2022
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.