Food For The Hungry Named CharityWatch Top-Rated Charity

The information in this post is current as of October 13, 2022. CharityWatch periodically updates our charity ratings as more current financial information becomes available. For the most up-to-date information on Food For The Hungry, please visit CharityWatch's Food For The Hungry profile page. 

CharityWatch analyzes financial reporting and provides rating and other independent and objective information about charities for the purpose of aiding you in your giving decisions. Food For The Hungry meets CharityWatch's benchmarks for Top-Rated status based on our analysis of its fiscal year 2021 financial reporting. However, it is ultimately up to you to decide which charities you want to support based on what criteria is important to you. Read our 5 Steps for Informed Giving for additional guidance on how to select a worthy charity to support. 

Mission 

Food For The Hungry is an organization of Christian motivation committed to helping the poor and needy throughout the world, by generating cash and in-kind gifts, and fostering world hunger advocacy in the United States.

CharityWatch Rating

CharityWatch conducted an in-depth analysis of Food For The Hungry's consolidated audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 (Tax ID#95-2680390) for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2021. Based on this analysis, CharityWatch assigned the charity a rating of "B+" on our "A+" to "F" rating scale for spending 76% of its cash expenses on programs that year, and for spending $23 to raise each $100 of cash support (excluding any U.S. government grants). 

Organizational Structure

CharityWatch's rating of Food For the Hungry is for the 501(c)(3) public charity entity (tax ID #95-2680390). The rating does not include the financial activities of the related 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, social welfare organization, FH Association (tax ID #20-8424918).

According to the Food For the Hungry consolidated audit of September 30, 2021 (Note 1, Nature of Organization): "FH Association is a not-for-profit international association chartered in Switzerland on November 23, 2006. FH Association operates in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, and other countries with smaller field operations."

CharityWatch separates the ratings for 501(c)(3) & 501(c)(4) organizations, even when they are included together in a consolidated audit, due to their differing treatments under the IRS tax code. For more information on this topic, please see our sections on Types of Non-Profits, Tax Status, and Treatment of Related Organizations, which can be found on the Our Process page.

Donated Goods & Services

According to the Food For the Hungry (FFTH) tax filing for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021, FFTH received donated in-kind goods on which it placed a total value of $18,086,497, including $10,543,907 in donated "Commodities" and $5,768,339 in donated drugs & medical supplies (IRS Form 990, Schedule M).

[Note: CharityWatch generally excludes the value of in-kind (non-cash) donations of goods and services from its calculations of Program % and Cost to Raise $100. More information on how grades are calculated and the treatment of in-kind donations can be found on the Our Process page.]

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan

According to the Food For the Hungry (FH) consolidated audit of September 30, 2021 (Note 9, Loan Payable):

"Loan payable consists of a Paycheck Protection Program loan. The loan was fully forgiven during the year ended September 30, 2021 as FH met certain spending and employment thresholds in line with the criteria of the program. As a result a gain on extinguishment of debt was recorded on the [audited] consolidated statement of activities for $3,244,718, in which $3,204,643 is related to the principal and $40,075 is related to accrued interest, for the year ended September 30, 2021..."

Related Party Transactions

According to the Food For the Hungry (FH) consolidated audit of September 30, 2021 (Note 16, Related Party Transactions):

"...FH paid approximately $8,000 and $55,000 to one board member for legal services rendered during the years ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These services were not related to their duties as board members."

Governance & Transparency

Top 3 Compensation Packages 

Compensation includes total of base compensation, bonus and incentive compensation (if any), retirement and deferred compensation (if any), nontaxable benefits, and other reportable compensation as reported to the IRS (Form W-2, 1099-MISC, and/or 1099-NEC), excluding any amounts already reported by the organization in a prior year IRS Form 990. Due to differences in the way compensation might be allocated, high salaries do not necessarily indicate inefficiencies, just as low salaries are not always beneficial. 

CharityWatch's "A+" to "F" letter grade ratings and financial efficiency ratios take into account how a nonprofit's employee salaries and other compensation are allocated among program, management & general, and fundraising functions. Nonprofits generally allocate compensation based on how each member of staff spends their time. For example, the salary of a doctor who spends 100% of their time on a charity's program activities, such as providing direct medical care, would generally be allocated 100% to program. A fundraising or development executive's salary would be allocated 100% to fundraising. An executive director or president of a charity might spend 40% of their time on program activities, 25% of their time managing their nonprofit, and 35% of their time on fundraising. This person's compensation would be allocated among program, management & general, and fundraising expenses commensurately. 

Due to the differences in the way compensation is allocated by charities in their IRS Form(s) 990 and audited financial statements, high salaries do not necessary indicate inefficiencies just as low salaries are not always beneficial. Rather than perceiving a particular nonprofit executive's compensation as too high or too low based on its nominal value, appropriate salaries are better determined by considering factors such as special skills needed for the position, relevant education and experience, and the complexity of a charity's operations. CharityWatch encourages donors to view each nonprofit's letter grade rating to better understand how efficiently it is operating overall prior to making a giving decision. 

Read Reported Charity Salaries May Not Tell The Full Story and view CharityWatch's list of Nonprofit Compensation Packages of $1 Million or More. 

Top 3 Compensation Packages (IRS reporting year 2020) at Food For The Hungry