Rio Grande Food Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201667103
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Phone
- 5058313778
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Food Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,622,041
- Expenses
- $2,392,899
- Assets
- $1,272,169
- Liabilities
- $308,218
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JUSTIN FORD (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- ARIEL HERRING (EXECUTIVE DI): $77,908 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To alleviate hunger and cultivate long-term food security in our communites. Rio grande food project is a pantry, urban garden, and community hub addressing albuquerque's very serious hunger problem.
What it reported doing in 2025
In a food desert and founded in 1989 by rio grande presbyterian church, rgfp is a 501(c)3 organization serving low-income individuals and families from across albuquerque and mostly residents of the southwest mesa and south valley neighborhoods. Prior to the pandemic, rgfp was a year-round indoor food pantry. Today, over 1,000 people are served weekly via walk-in food distributions. Rgfp also shares food with partnering organizations that distribute directly to high-risk, harder-to-reach populations. Rgfp is more than food. It is a community hub where people connect with social service providers and resources and get help enrolling in important food security programs that improve household circumstances and prevent hunger. This continuum of care includes job search and training opportunities, it connects people with health services and cost savings as well as utility and water bill assistance, it partners to share nutrition and cooking education, it provides emergency cell phones and internet access, and distributes free books to kids of all ages.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 79% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.4%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8.7%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.4% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.