Houston Food Bank

What it reported doing in 2024

Community assistance program - houston food bank's community assistance program (cap), educates the community about available social services and state-funded programs. Through certified community resource navigators, cap provides application and technical assistance for the following benefits: snap (supplemental nutrition assistance program), medicaid, tanf (temporary assistance for needy families), and chip (children's health insurance program). The houston food bank can assist in submitting those applications electronically to the state. Cap also offers the referral partner program to assist with additional resources outside of state benefits, including rent and utility assistance, and connections to local pantries and food distributions. Services are available in english, spanish, and vietnamese. In fy24 14,240,908 meals were accessed through cap assistance. Nutrition education - the houston food bank offers free nutrition education programming in english and spanish to address food insecurity, to promote good nutrition habits for better health, and to reduce risk of diseases such as diabetes. Classes in nutrition, food safety, meal preparation, and budgeting are taught in collaboration with food bank partner agencies by houston food bank's team of registered dieticians and nutritionists. These classes revolve around healthy eating tips based on the usda myplate and dietary guidelines for americans. Each class includes the creation of a recipe highlighting the material of the class. Last year, 256 classes were provided by hfb's nutrition education program; 2,415 individuals and 208 partners participated. Classes are offered virtually and in-person to hfb partners, community organizations, and schools. Senior box - the senior box program also known as the commodity supplemental food program (csfp) is a federally-funded national food distribution effort from the united states department of agriculture (usda) that is designed to improve the health and nutrition of income-eligible seniors (60+). Through this program seniors receive a box of non-perishable food (valued at approximately $50) each month, which helps stretch their available grocery dollars. The senior box program is currently serving over 11,129 seniors each month.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
• Program expense ratio: 93.7%; rating input score 94
• Fundraising efficiency: $69.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 57.3%; rating input score 57; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 44th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings