Urban Creators

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464004947
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$850,962
Expenses
$843,261
Assets
$374,783
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEX EPSTEIN (TREASURER): $58,993 total reported compensation
  • E OKERO (DIRECTOR): $58,495 total reported compensation
  • Justina Thomps (FARM EDUCATION): $46,560 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To use food, art, celebration, education, healing, and entrepreneurship as tools to nuture resilence, self-determination, equity and youth empowerment.

What it reported doing in 2022

Gardening-The Urban Creators are committed to building justice, access

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 21
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.9%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 55.4%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 5th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 34.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.9% of revenue deployed · 55.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $502K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $59K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2018 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.