The Gardenworks Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 463697674
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Wheaton, IL, USA
- Phone
- 6307808866
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $155,264
- Expenses
- $148,757
- Assets
- $26,702
- Liabilities
- $5,206
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Erica Ramsay (President)
- Nancy Bell (Vice President)
- Matthew Tansley (Past President)
People named in this filing
- Erica Ramsay (President)
- Nancy Bell (Vice President)
- Joy Rosenberg (Secretary)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The GardenWorks Project promotes organic suburban agriculture to improve the well-being of our community, the environment, and those facing food insecurity. We empower, educate, and support all food growers in their efforts to nourish their families and neighbors in need.
What it reported doing in 2025
Community Gardening Support Program - Supports and educates community gardeners and local community growers strengthening the capacity of shared growing spaces to produce fresh, healthy food, which is distributed to non-profit partners (i.e. food pantries). Since 2017, the GardenWorks Project has helped establish 26 community garden sites. In addition, the organization launched a production site in partnership with the DuPage County Fairgrounds in February, 2022. In 2025, all sites and individual growers produced and donated more than 6,900 pounds of fresh produce, which has been distributed to ten local food pantries expanding access to nutritious food to individuals and families in need.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- 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
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.5%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.5% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $105K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.