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California · Nonprofit

WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC

WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC (California) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $405,000 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($135,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2024
$7.9M
Funders on record
7
Grants received
$405k
Net assets
$15M
5/7 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 2%
01What it does

What Western Association of Food Chains Inc does

Mission

The mission of the WAFC is to help the industry attract, retain and advance high potential food industry associates through exposure to educational programs and leadership opportunities.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Food industry convention

    $3,599,132 spent$5,064,873 earned by the program
    60% of program spending
  2. Food industry education program with university of southern california and community colleges.

    $1,326,549 spentof which $980,288 as grants$1,130,973 earned by the program
    22% of program spending
  3. Food industry education program with various community colleges.

    $1,123,060 spentof which $829,914 as grants$957,485 earned by the program
    19% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,048,741.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($4.0M) Expenses 100 ($3.8M) Net assets 100 ($12M)2019 Revenue 113 ($4.5M) Expenses 101 ($3.9M) Net assets 116 ($14M)2020 Revenue 69 ($2.7M) Expenses 77 ($3.0M) Net assets 119 ($15M)2021 Revenue 63 ($2.5M) Expenses 80 ($3.1M) Net assets 120 ($15M)2022 Revenue 159 ($6.3M) Expenses 171 ($6.6M) Net assets 101 ($13M)2023 Revenue 165 ($6.5M) Expenses 177 ($6.8M) Net assets 108 ($13M)2024 Revenue 200 ($7.9M) Expenses 184 ($7.1M) Net assets 123 ($15M)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (200)Expenses (184)Net assets (123)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $16M to $14M (−16%).

$13M
$16M
$15M
$16M
$14M
$15M
$18M
2018201920202021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

26% of WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (94% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,195 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$104k
’18
$564k
’19
−$231k
’20
−$591k
’21
−$295k
’22
−$299k
’23
$841k
’24
3.0
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed29323232363434
Joined·+10+7+4+17+4+8
No longer listed·7741368
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $75k → $30k.

2 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 52% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

Left out of every figure on this page: $15k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Minneapolis Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC raised.

From the IRS filings of WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

78% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC.

33%
largest funder
70%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 50% · 2019 50% · 2020 33% · 2021 33% · 2022 50% · 2023 50% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

Where its funders are

52% of WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $195k that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from California funders.

MN
CA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $210k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,130 food & nutrition nonprofits its size.

Operating margin11% · above the median
Months of reserve3.0mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)12% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,130 food & nutrition nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In California

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 15%Fundraising 0%

Governance

33
board members
0%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

92%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC?
WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC (California) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $405,000 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($135,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC have?
IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $405,000 in grants to WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $135,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 7 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing