Rescuing Leftover Cuisine Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463198412
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2013
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6465922229
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,276,254
Expenses
$9,167,397
Assets
$1,429,052
Liabilities
$34,811

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT LEE (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT LEE (CEO): $128,015 total reported compensation
  • CATHERINE SMILEY (COO): $122,405 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of rescuing leftover cuisine ("rlc") is to redistribute excess food for the benefit of people experiencing food insecurity.

What it reported doing in 2025

The most significant achievement of 2025 was a food rescue operation conducted in partnership with pepsico. At a frito-lay production facility in portland, Oregon, large quantities of snacks including chips, pretzels, dips, and more are manufactured daily. Rather than allowing surplus product to go to waste, rlc coordinates regular pickups of thousands of pounds of snacks and redistributes them to a wide network of nonprofit partners across the portland area, including food banks, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens. Each delivery helps feed more than 1,000 people in need. In 2025, this growing partnership rescued 2,509,328 pounds of food from landfills, putting it to meaningful use in communities throughout the region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 91.7%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.2%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.6% of revenue deployed · 91.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.