The Urban Food Initiative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460673197
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
6175068970
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,211,680
Expenses
$3,261,086
Assets
$501,715
Liabilities
$1,218,189

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEXANDRA PURPURA (FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEXANDRA PURPURA (FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $118,319 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operated a community-based retail food service operation offering wide-spread access to high quality, nutrionally advantaged food items at a fraction of typical prices. As of may, 2025, all retail stores have been permanently closed.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.43; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $178K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.