Veggielution

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272021333
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
San Jose, CA, USA
Phone
4082030168
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,348,808
Expenses
$959,539
Assets
$3,597,725
Liabilities
$312,558

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHAWN GERTH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • MARK MEDEIROS (BOARD MEMBER)
  • MATTIE ZAZUETA (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ANNIE CHANG (CO-CHAIR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of veggielution is to connect people from diverse backgrounds through food and farming to build community in east san jose. Our aim is to help our east san jose neighbors experience a richness of community life and health that combats social isolation and provides the support needed to create more robust social networks and take a positive action in their community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Veggielution's eastside grown program, founded in 2018, graduated its 4th cohort of gratuates, bringinig the total number to 80. This program, which is part of the si se puede collective's jobs to grow initiative, focuses on economic mobility, neighborhood belonging, and agency for the entrepreneurs. Most program participants are low income latino immigrants. Most participants report access to capital and commercial kitchen space as their biggest challenge, and the program team has adapted its work to help find these resources and broker business relationships to help the businesses become stable, thereby promoting economic mobility for the entrepreneurs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.4%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 52nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 28.9%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.75; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.4% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $809K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.