The Bread Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943363920
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5105941702
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Job Training

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$732,078
Expenses
$707,551
Assets
$187,339
Liabilities
$133,063

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jacqueline Karkasis MSW (Board President)
  • Jon Hooper (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Usha Gongal (Executive Dir.): $69,310 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

When adults have a second chance and are able to make a successful transition to employment and have ongoing access to further education to increase their economic opportunities, they improve not only their own lives but those of their families and communities, for generations to come.

What it reported doing in 2024

Between july 1, 2024, and june 30, 2025, the bread project enrolled 94 low-income individuals and graduated 78 over a period of nine food prep & baking job training & placement program sessions. Each program session is 5 weeks long and provides 150 hours of instruction, with 9 cohorts of 1014 participants. With 78 graduates at 150 hours each, this represents a combined 9,100 hours of individualized instruction. 100% of participants were low-income, 95% were unemployed upon enrollment, and 38% were receiving some form of public benefits. Graduates faced significant barriers to employment: 62% lacked permanent housing, 87% had a high school diploma or ged as their highest level of education, 3% were reentry or justice-involved, 32% were immigrants or refugees, and 6% had a disability.for employment, 81% of graduates seeking employment were hired within 3060 days of graduation, 87% were still employed after 90 days, and the average wage was $23.99 per hour.demographics: 48% female, 52% male. Racial/ethnic composition: black/african american 49%, hispanic/latino(a) 16%, asian/pacific islander 17%, middle eastern 6%, white/caucasian 4%, multiracial 2%, american indian/native alaskan 1%, other/unknown 4%.age: 22% ages 1824, 66% ages 2545, and 12% over age 45.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.9%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.4%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.71; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.9% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $534K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $69K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.