Urban Tilth
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 204124161
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2008
- Location
- Richmond, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5107785886
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Garden Club, Horticultural Program
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,837,802
- Expenses
- $9,430,060
- Assets
- $31,459,350
- Liabilities
- $12,842,306
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Doria Robinson (Executive Dir.): $146,234 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Urban Tilth is a California nonprofit organization committed to educate diverse communities about organic gardening and to support a network of gardens dedicated to sustainable, local food production. Urban Tilth insipires, hires, and trains local residents to cultivate agriculture, feed our community, and restore relationships to land to build a more sustainable food system, within a just and healthier community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education Programs is a farm, classroom, and community program at Richmond High School. The institute constitutes an in-class accredited class called "Urban Ecology and American Food Systems": an on-site 8000 square foot farm and a CSA program serving the school community. In addition the Education Program has afterschool programs called; The Healing Movement, The Urban Naturalists, Urban Watershed, and Naturalists Club. The Education and Urban Agriculture also includes our elementary school programs at Verde elementary and Lincoln elementary. At these two sites we manage large gardens, in-school and after-school gardening, nutrition and science programs. It also includes a 40,000 square foot urban farm at Adams Middle School, an abandoned middle school campus in partnership with the west conta costa unified school district. Lastly, The Basins of Relations Watershed Stewardship Program includes training in watershed technology, community engagement, and development of a community trail.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 79
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 52.7%; rating input score 53
- Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $83.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Limited
- Other executive compensation review process: Limited
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 31.9%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.34; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 28% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 23.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 52.7% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $7.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.