Transfair USA

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411848081
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5106635260
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$22,184,153
Expenses
$19,996,330
Assets
$17,654,122
Liabilities
$3,529,090

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL RICE (CEO (THRU 9/24))
  • FELIPE ARANGO (COO/INTERIM CEO (AS OF 9/24))
  • MATT POPE (VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEER)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL RICE (CEO (THRU 9/24)): $469,274 total reported compensation
  • JOSE CARLOS RUIZ (CFO AND TREASURER): $320,845 total reported compensation
  • MEAGAN SIDDIQUI (HEAD OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY): $285,148 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Fair trade USA is building an innovative model of responsible business, conscious consumerism, and shared value to eliminate poverty and enable a sustainable development for farmers, workers, their families, and communities around the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

The fair trade certified coffee program continued to drive meaningful change in 2024 through rigorous standards, community development funds, and minimum price guaranteesmechanisms that protect workers, strengthen financial stability, and empower communities to invest in critical needs. Fair trade USA also advanced consumer engagement by partnering with brands and educating shoppers on the value of ethical sourcing, contributing to 65% consumer awareness and thousands of fair trade certified products available in the marketplace. Building on this momentum, we launched a coffee innovation initiative in partnership with ideo.org and a global coffee impact advisory board to explore new solutions that address poverty, climate resilience, and long-term supply chain sustainability.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 9.9%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $15.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $469K · 22 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.