Salt of the Earth Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
650649930
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$44,685
Expenses
$42,604
Assets
$7,191
Liabilities
$1,965

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOEL M TIPPENS (PRINCIPLE OFFICER): $17,367 total reported compensation
  • BRENDA J TRIGG (OFFICER): $5,184 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Demonstrates and empowers low-income residents of chattanooga, tn to grow their own food as a solution to food insecurity and hunger. Works to achieve food justice in center-city neighborhoods of chattanooga through sustainable urban agriculture.

What it reported doing in 2014

Demonstrates and empowers low-income residents of chattanooga, tn to grow their own food as a solution to food insecurity and hunger. Works to achieve food justice in center-city neighborhoods of chattanooga throuch sustainable urban arigulture.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 19
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 20.6%; rating input score 21
  • Program expense ratio: 21.6%; rating input score 22
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 52.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -79.2% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 58.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 43.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 20.6% of revenue deployed · 21.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $17K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2013 to 2014
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 21/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.