Sierra Harvest

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
901026798
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Grass Valley, CA, USA
Phone
5302652343
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$924,836
Expenses
$1,395,814
Assets
$707,219
Liabilities
$196,168

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NITA MIZUSHIMA (PRESIDENT)
  • SARRA ZIARI (VICE PRESIDENT, AND SECRETARY)
  • ELI BACON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELI BACON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $86,602 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Founded in 2007, sierra harvest is building a community that values and eats an abundance of fresh, local, seasonal food; training successful local farmers that are increasing sustainable food production; and creating equitable access to fresh, local, seasonal food. We serve dozens of farmers, hundreds of families, and thousands of children. Be the local food movement and join us in the conversation at www.sierraharvest.org.

What it reported doing in 2024

The farm institute works alongside farmers and ranchers to increase sustainable food production. Farm institute programs build the prosperity of ecologically sustainable producers, increase the land in organic production, and train more beginning farmers as the older generation retires. Agricultural skills classes train beginning farmers in regenerative agriculture production. The six-week skill-building business course, farm biz, leaves participants with a concrete business plan and financial knowledge that is critical to running a viable farm business. The land match program connects sustainable farmers and ranchers with local agricultural land. To date, sierra harvest has trained 157 farmers, helped 10 farms certify organic, matched 26 farmers to low cost farm land, and provided 4,524 hours of education. Sierra harvest's sustainable food and farm conference is an annual regional conference designed to educate and connect the local and regional sustainable farming community. Nearly 200 participants engaged in workshops from regional experts and learned how to build business strategies, network with other farmers and connect to new local buyers. Sierra harvest also connects farmers and food buyers to incorporate more locally and regionally grown fresh foods into institutional meal programs and food distribution programs in our local schools, food pantries, correctional facility, senior homes, and homeless shelters. Sierra harvest does this through producer/buyer mixers, access to producer availability lists, tours of local farms and ranches, identifying seasonal, cost-effective recipes, and assistance with educating customers about local sources of food and why it is important to support our local farming community. In support of local farmers and ranchers, sierra harvest engages in local, regional, and national policies that support just, sustainable food systems. The Nevada county food policy council (ncfpc) was formed in march 2015 to foster collaboration among local food and farming individuals, businesses and organizations, set common goals and work together to maximize positive impacts on the food environment, human health, and livelihoods in the community. The ncfpc is a member of the California food and farming network and has involved over 80 local food and farming organizations to work collaboratively to build a more vibrant local food system.

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 90% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 63.9%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -50.9%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.5% of revenue deployed · 63.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $892K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $87K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.