Choosing a hunger charity
Feeding America vs Meals on Wheels America
Both support access to food. Feeding America works through a food-bank network. Meals on Wheels America supports independent local providers serving older adults. Start with the kind of work you want to fund, then read the accounts in context.
Sources checked October 23, 2026. Financial periods are shown below. This is not a live report of current spending.
What would you be supporting?
Feeding America’s national work includes food sourcing and distribution support, research and advocacy. A gift to the national organization and a gift to a local food bank support different reporting entities. Feeding America: its role and network (opens a new tab).
Meals on Wheels America focuses on strengthening senior nutrition providers through funding, programming, partnerships and advocacy. Independent community organizations manage local services, including meals and social connection. The national financial statements do not add up all those providers’ accounts. Meals on Wheels America: national and local roles (opens a new tab) · Financial reporting scope (opens a new tab).
If your priority is a particular community, investigate its local food bank or meal provider too. Confirm the legal name and EIN on the donation page, whether the gift is restricted, and who decides where unrestricted funds go. A familiar network name alone does not answer those questions.
The reporting entities and periods
| Detail | Feeding America | Meals on Wheels America |
|---|---|---|
| EIN | 36-3673599 | 23-7447812 |
| Period | July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025 | January 1–December 31, 2025 |
| Expense source used below | FY2025 audit, printed page 5 | 2025 Form 990, Part IX, line 25 |
| Scope | National organization, not every member food bank | National organization, not independent local meal providers |
These periods overlap for six months. Differences in timing, activities, donated goods and accounting prevent a like-for-like efficiency ranking. The table preserves the source basis used in each Charity Clarity profile.
Reported spending, with the denominator visible
| Expense category | Feeding America Audit | Meals on Wheels America Form 990 |
|---|---|---|
| Program expenses | $5,113,994,000 | $19,913,788 |
| Fundraising expenses | $66,309,000 | $6,836,462 |
| Management and administration | $16,273,000 | $2,743,012 |
| Total expenses | $5,196,576,000 | $29,493,262 |
| Program expenses ÷ total expenses | 98.4% | 67.5% |
Sources: Feeding America FY2025 audit, printed page 5 (opens a new tab) (figures converted from thousands). Meals on Wheels America 2025 Form 990, Part IX, page 10 (opens a new tab). Percentages are calculated from the displayed amounts and rounded to one decimal place.
The program line can include staff, grants, supplies, research and other mission activities. It is not simply cash handed to a beneficiary. These totals also do not show what an additional donation would accomplish.
Why the percentages need context
Donated goods change the picture
Feeding America’s audit includes $4,659,605,000 in nonfinancial contributions within expenses. Its separate subtotal before those contributions shows $454,930,000 of program expenses and $536,971,000 of total expenses, or 84.7%. That subtotal illustrates the effect of donated assets. It is not a cash-flow measure. See the functional expense statement and nonfinancial-asset notes (opens a new tab).
Meals on Wheels America also records noncash support: its 2025 audit describes $761,459 of donated gift cards and media. The audit reports $29,408,167 in operating expenses and $20,404,937 in program expenses, different from the Form 990 amounts above. See audit printed pages 5 and 14 (opens a new tab).
Audit and tax-return totals are not interchangeable
Meals on Wheels America’s Form 990, Schedule D, Part XII reconciles total expenses: $29,408,167 minus $161,459 of donated services and $13,675 of cost of goods sold, plus $260,229 of investment expenses, equals $29,493,262. This explains the difference in total expenses. It does not by itself reconcile every functional category. We retain the Form 990 categories here and do not calculate a common cash-only ratio. Read the expense reconciliation, PDF page 33 (opens a new tab).
How to make your own choice
Choose the work and geographic reach you want first. Then ask what the organization needs next, how it measures progress, and how the proposed spending supports that work. For a national gift, ask how support reaches local organizations. For a local gift, ask about access, unmet demand and capacity in your community.
Marketing can help charities grow. Operations and strong leadership cost money, and compensation may help attract effective people who could work in the private sector. A disproportionate share outside programs warrants questions about purpose, results and changes over time. It could reflect investment in growth or an inefficient use of funds. The percentage alone cannot decide.
We recommend no optimal spending split and name no winner from these ratios. We present public financial data so you can make your own judgment. Outcomes caused by a new donation have not been assessed in this comparison.
- Feeding America: full financial profile
- Meals on Wheels America: full financial profile
- Explore other approaches to hunger
- Methodology: sources, calculations and limitations
- Giving Guide: plan a thoughtful gift
The comparison adds accounting context. It does not recalculate the profiles’ existing spending and reporting scores. Those scores describe their original source snapshots, not charitable impact.