Rural Advancement Foundation Internation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 561704863
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Pittsboro, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9195421396
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Agricultural Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,952,661
- Expenses
- $4,698,209
- Assets
- $7,152,240
- Liabilities
- $387,077
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KAVITA KOPPA (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- EDNA RODRIGUEZ (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- EDNA RODRIGUEZ (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $419,509 total reported compensation
- KAVITA KOPPA (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $112,075 total reported compensation
- KELLY MARCHAND (SECRETARY - NON-VOTING): $97,097 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Rafi challenges the root causes of unjust food systems, supporting and advocating for economically, racially and ecologically just farm communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
Just foods: from promoting meaningful standards for organic agriculture, to pioneering new standards for social justice in the food system, just foods projects seek to make fair, sustainable farming a viable choice. Protecting agricultural genetic diversity is also essential to the viability of family farms. Therefore, just foods advocates for funding for classical breeding programs and support publicly-held seeds and breeds. Within the just foods program are the projects: southern farmers seed cooperative and nc seed stewards.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 85
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 57%; rating input score 57
- Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $62.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 85.6%; rating input score 86; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 40.9%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.52; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 57% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $420K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 48 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 43 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.