Teaching Kitchen Collaborative

Legal name: Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843986012
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Burlington, MA, USA
Phone
6172370493
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,335,223
Expenses
$1,426,645
Assets
$1,241,837
Liabilities
$156,211

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Katie Welch (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Katie Welch (Executive Director): $205,797 total reported compensation
  • Allison Righter (Director of Membership & Programs): $103,295 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 build and support a global network dedicated to improving lives through transformative culinary and lifestyle education.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative (TKC) significantly advanced its mission to integrate food, nutrition, and culinary education into healthcare and community settings through research, membership growth, and national leadership. TKC published foundational research from its multisite randomized controlled trial, presented emerging findings at leading conferences, and expanded its network with 17 new Organization Members, including scholarship-supported community partners (bringing the total count to more than 70). The launch of the Ultimate Teaching Kitchen Toolkit accelerated program adoption nationwide, while enhanced member benefits and a widely attended webinar series deepened engagement across sectors. TKC elevated the role of teaching kitchens in national policy and medical education through policy education and engagement on Capitol Hill, joining the AAMC as a CFAS member, and planning for a major 2026 Convening on Best Practices in Medical Nutrition Education. The TKC also strengthened its internal capacity, governance, and storytelling, while celebrating its 10th anniversary with a successful inaugural fundraising campaign. Culminating in a 250-person Teaching Kitchen Symposium, TKC closed the year by securing major funding to develop a Teaching Kitchen Certification programpositioning the field for continued growth and impact.

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

SUPPORTED - 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.8%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.6% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -10.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.