To enable students to enrich their knowledge of nutrition, connect with their community, and become stewards of the environment.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
85¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$73K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2022 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2023
latest Form 990
Fine: the latest return is for FY2023, 3 tax years back; within 3 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 4
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $181K a year · 14% of revenue · last 4 filings
Fine: a surplus in 3 of the last 4 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 4 filings
Spent on programs
85%
of spending
Looks good: 85% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$73K
to officers and key staff · 7% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 7% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
4 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 4.4 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
17
named funders · $852K
Looks good: 17 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$87K
14% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 14% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$1.5M
+120% vs prior year
Spent
$1.0M
To programs
85%
Net assets
$521K
By yearFY2020–FY2023
Revenue
$1.5M
FY2022▲ +120%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$603K
FY2021$668K
FY2022$1.5M
FY2023$2.3M
Expenses
$1.0M
FY2022▲ +77%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$670K
FY2021$573K
FY2022$1.0M
FY2023$2.1M
Net assets
$521K
FY2022▲ +728%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020−$26K
FY2021$63K
FY2022$521K
FY2023$556K

From the FY2022 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2022 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2023) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2023. IRS ruling in Jun 2015.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

85 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 85% · $862K Management & general 8% · $84K Fundraising 7% · $67K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

1 person listed on the 990; $73K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Chief Executive Officer
$72,516Pt VII · Sec A

Selma Sims’s $73K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 15th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3395 $1–10M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2022FY2021FY2020
Selma Sims$72,516$59,583—
Jessica Zander——$72,500
Adam Zmick——$9,732

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Teaches students about nutrition, community, and environmental stewardship.

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $862K · in their own filed words · FY2022
01

The organization established school garden, and conducted garden based lessons on a weekly basis. The organization is the only organization in chicago to implent year round garden education programs

$862Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
See all 17 funders →

By the numbers

The FY2022 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$1.5M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.5M
Money outPt IX
$1.0M
Ln 25
Programscol B$862K
Managementcol C$84K
Fundraisingcol D$67K
Owns and owesPt X
$521K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$370K
Total assetsLn 16$608K
LiabilitiesLn 26$87K
PeoplePt VI, VII
1
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a0
IndependentVI 1b0
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.5M
Government grantsLn 1e$269K
Total revenueLn 12$1.5M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$370K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$370K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$3K
Total assetsLn 16$608K
LiabilitiesLn 26$87K
Net assetsLn 32$521K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 530
VolunteersI 6200
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aNo
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY22End FY22
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$179K$370K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$8K$3K
Total assetsLn 16$309K$608K
LiabilitiesLn 26$241K$87K
Net assetsLn 32$68K$521K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$539K$496K$36K$8K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$126K$66K$8K$53K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$3K$3K$294
Other employee benefitsLn 9$61K$57K$4K
Payroll taxesLn 10$41K$24K$13K$4K
Accounting feesLn 11c$16K$14K$2K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$35K$32K$4K
Information technologyLn 14$8K$3K$1K$3K
OccupancyLn 16$14K$12K$1K
TravelLn 17$5K$5K$395
InterestLn 20$318$285$33
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$5K$5K
InsuranceLn 23$3K$3K$329
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$64K$58K$5K$193
All other expensesLn 24e$93K$84K$9K
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.0M$862K$84K$67K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2023 Latest $2.3M$2.1M$242K$556K 990 PDF
FY2022 Viewing $1.5M$1.0M$453K$521K 990 PDF
FY2021 $668K$573K$95K$63K 990 PDF
FY2020 $603K$670K−$67K−$26K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,466,796 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $688,169$1,466,796
I-9 Program service revenue$0
I-10 Investment income$0
I-11 Other revenue$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $688,169$1,466,796
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$0
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefits$770,835
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $593,497$242,832
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $593,497$1,013,667
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $94,672$453,129
Part VI · Governance 4 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body0
VI-1b Independent voting members0
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyNo
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,466,796 across 4 lines filed
VIII-1e Government grants$268,524
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$1,198,272
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$1,466,796
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$1,466,796
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,013,667 across 15 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $495,691 · Management $35,822 · Fundraising $7,503$539,016
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $65,660 · Management $7,888 · Fundraising $52,807$126,355
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $2,644 · Management $294$2,938
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $57,242 · Management $4,049$61,291
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $24,409 · Management $13,269 · Fundraising $3,557$41,235
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $13,950 · Management $1,550$15,500
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $31,924 · Management $3,547$35,471
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $2,957 · Management $1,450 · Fundraising $3,370$7,777
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $12,383 · Management $1,376$13,759
IX-17 TravelPrograms $4,565 · Management $395$4,960
IX-20 InterestPrograms $285 · Management $33$318
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $4,827$4,827
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $2,962 · Management $329$3,291
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $58,228 · Management $5,201 · Fundraising $193$63,622
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $84,190 · Management $9,117$93,307
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $861,917 · Management $84,320 · Fundraising $67,430$1,013,667
Part X · Balance sheet $608,483 assets, 11 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $178,609$370,372
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $122,139$234,660
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $8,278$3,451
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $309,026$608,483
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $6,020$2,500
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $87,500$65,000
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $147,148$19,496
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $240,668$86,996
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $68,358$521,487
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $68,358$521,487
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $309,026$608,483
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $521,487 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$1,466,796
XI-2 Total expenses$1,013,667
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$453,129
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$68,358
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$521,487

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2022 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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