We Sow We Grow Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833244186
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Oak Park, IL, USA
Phone
3125225159
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$90,596
Expenses
$116,105
Assets
$9,318
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Natasha Taylor (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Natasha Taylor (Executive Director)
  • Shomari Nicholes (Assistant Director)
  • Samantha Schultz (Board Member)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The We Sow We Grow Project is dedicated to the furtherance of gardening and farming in an urban landscape through education and service. Fresh fruits and vegetables are possible to grow for all and we seek to remove the fear and reservations of growing your own food through community-powered assistance in an urban ag safe space. Through work on our urban farm, volunteers will learn how to grow their own food while identifying problems that may arise and how to troubleshoot them.

What it reported doing in 2025

Urban Farm Operations, Farm Tools, Raised Bed Materials, Soil, Soil Amendments, Water, Weed Fabric, and Farm Materials. Gardening Classes, farm organization, remediation.

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 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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -28.2%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.08; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -18.2% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -28.5% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -81.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $116K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.