Why I don't take a salary from Feed America

Feed America (EIN 92-1761881) operates without staff payroll. I'm the founder and executive director, and I haven't taken a salary in the five years since I incorporated the organization. Approximately 98% of donor dollars goes to platform infrastructure (Cloudflare Workers + D1 database serving 327,000+ verified locations), data verification, community partnerships, and open-data publishing. Our program-spending ratio commitment is ≥85% — well above the Charity Navigator 4-star threshold.

The math of traditional nonprofit overhead

A traditional nonprofit running a directory at our scale would need approximately $200K-500K in annual fundraising to cover salaries before any program work happens. A founder/executive director ($120-180K), a data engineer ($90-130K), a development associate ($60-90K), administrative + office overhead ($30-50K) — that's the floor before a single record gets verified. We're a 5-person operation in headcount cost, before we've shipped anything.

By starting with infrastructure-as-code and AI-assisted data work, we shipped the same impact (a 327,000+ location verified directory powering 211 networks, healthcare SDOH integrations, AI assistants, academic research) with a fraction of the overhead. The trade-off is real: I'm one person in volunteer capacity. We can't take grant requests that require dedicated grant-management staff. We can't do major-donor cultivation calendars or capital campaigns. But we can do the directory work at scale.

Why donors should care

Foundation grant officers and major-gift advisors increasingly weight program-spending ratio heavily in their due-diligence frameworks. Charity Navigator's 4-star tier requires ≥75% program ratio; Charity Watch's "A" rating requires ≥75%. Most U.S. nonprofits hover around 60-75%. Feed America's ≥85% commitment + actual ~98% delivery puts us in the top 5% of nonprofits by efficiency.

For a $100 donation: at a typical 70% program ratio, $70 reaches programs and $30 covers overhead. At our ~98% ratio, $98 reaches programs. The overhead reduction means donors who care about per-dollar impact get 40% more program work for the same gift.

What "no salary" doesn't mean

"No salary" doesn't mean "no work." I work full-time on Feed America. It also doesn't mean the model is sustainable indefinitely without compensation — eventually, the organization needs to pay key staff to scale beyond what one founder can sustain. The current model is a deliberate choice for the early-stage / infrastructure-building phase, not a permanent operating model.

It also doesn't mean we cut corners on quality. We invest aggressively in data verification (geocode validation, phone normalization, hours parsing, crowd-verified user feedback), open standards compliance (HSDS 3.0, OpenAPI 3.0, MCP), bilingual parity (full Spanish across all editorial pages), and audit transparency (Form 990 published, audited financials posted). The infrastructure-first model frees up budget to do MORE of the program work, not less.

The foundation grant question

Some foundation grant officers ask: "How can a nonprofit run without staff payroll?" The honest answer: it can't, forever. The current model is a phase, not a permanent operating model. As Feed America grows, we'll bring on paid staff for roles that scale poorly with one volunteer founder (partner-pantry outreach to claim listings; dedicated grant management; major-donor cultivation; media + press operations).

For now, the infrastructure-first phase keeps program-spending ratio extremely high while we build the technical + data foundation. Once that foundation is mature, paid staff investment makes sense.

What this means for our 2026 Candid Platinum Seal

The 2026 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency we earned in early 2026 is meaningful precisely because Platinum requires complete public disclosure of organizational financials, governance, and operating model — including the no-payroll structure. Candid's verification means our claims are auditable; foundation officers + journalists can verify directly.

If you're considering donating: list EIN 92-1761881 on every gift instrument. The infrastructure-first model means your gift goes farther per dollar than virtually any comparable nonprofit. Donate to Feed America →

— Sharika Parkes
Founder, Feed America
Houston, TX