The Growing Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264087080
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2021–2023
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Fort Collins, CO, USA
Phone
2408474769
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$85,734
Expenses
$113,580
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stefanie Berganini (Executive Director (through 2/28/23))
  • Chris Fry (Board President (through 4/20/23))

People named in this filing

  • Stefanie Berganini (Executive Director (through 2/28/23))
  • Chris Fry (Board President (through 4/20/23))
  • Jordan Tucker (Treasurer (through 4/20/23))

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 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Growing Project is a food justice nonprofit that works toward a more just and equitable local food system through hands-on educational growing experiences, food distribution, stewarding community growing spaces, and culturally specific programming. We went out of business on December 31st, 2023.

What it reported doing in 2023

Our Community Hours program provides hands-on food and agriculture experience to organized service groups and to the public. In 2023 we hosted over 100 volunteers in our garden, helping with tasks including prepping plants, planting seeds, harvest crops, and day-to-day watering and garden maintenance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -32.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 43.4% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -73.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $86K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2021 to 2023
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.