Sustainable Food Laboratory Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811854413
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Hartland, VT, USA
Phone
8024364062
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,358,047
Expenses
$3,852,038
Assets
$4,959,343
Liabilities
$3,020

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DON SEVILLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DON SEVILLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $195,657 total reported compensation
  • DANIELLA MALIN (SENIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $170,209 total reported compensation
  • STEPHANIE DANIELS (SENIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $170,122 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Advise on sustainability strategy and procurement programs, designs and manages pre-competitive collaborations, and provides leadership development services. Develop and support sustainable food systems including the maintenance and improvement of soil fertility, water quality, renewable energy and waste management, livable wages and affordability and health of food products.

What it reported doing in 2024

Accelerate progress toward a sustainable food system through consulting, organizing collective action, developing measurement tools and frameworks, and cultivating leadership.

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 98% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.6%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.6%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $196K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $288K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.