Lancaster Farmland Trust

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To vigorously accelerate the permanent protection and stewardship of Farmland.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
96¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 79 volunteers and 21 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · 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
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $562K a year · 6% of revenue · last 6 filings
Fine: a surplus in 5 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
96%
of spending
Looks good: 96% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$325K
to officers and key staff · 4% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 4% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
3 mo
of spending, in cash
Plus $10.9M in investments, Pt X · Ln 11–13
Looks good: 3.4 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $1K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$997K
7% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 7% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
18
of 18 voting members
Looks good: 18 of 18 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$9.5M
+15% vs prior year
Spent
$9.1M
To programs
96%
Net assets
$13.4M
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$9.5M
FY2025▲ +15%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$6.7M
FY2021$9.7M
FY2022$10.5M
FY2023$10.3M
FY2024$8.3M
FY2025$9.5M
Expenses
$9.1M
FY2025▲ +17%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$5.2M
FY2021$8.2M
FY2022$10.1M
FY2023$11.0M
FY2024$7.8M
FY2025$9.1M
Net assets
$13.4M
FY2025▲ +13%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$9.3M
FY2021$11.4M
FY2022$10.4M
FY2023$10.6M
FY2024$11.9M
FY2025$13.4M

From the FY2025 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Sep 2006.

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

Where the money goes

96 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 96% · $8.7M Management & general 2% · $138K Fundraising 3% · $271K

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

20 people listed on the 990; $325K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
$216,419Pt VII · Sec A
VP Land Prot
$108,692Pt VII · Sec A
Trustee
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Trustee
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Jeffery E Swinehart’s $216K as President & is at the 87th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1851 $1–10M environment 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

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jeffery E Swinehart$216,419$199,216$163,799$162,130$146,792$136,798
Jebediah Musser$108,692$113,366————
Karen L Martynick————$108,410$108,212

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.

See Lancaster Farmland Trust executive salaries →

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 15aYes

Programs and updates

Preserves farmland, promotes stewardship, and supports policies for environmental protection.

Questions for Lancaster Farmland Trust

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Your first name shows with your question. Lancaster Farmland Trust answers here, for everyone.

1 program · $8.7M · in their own filed words · FY2025
01

Lancaster farmland trust preserves and protects productive agricultural land; promotes good conservation practices through outreach and education; and supports and encourages public policy and actions that contribute to farmland preservation and good stewardship of the land.

$8.7Mprogram 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 · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$1K

Federal money

Single Audit · Federal Audit Clearinghouse · money spent from federal programs
Year ending Dec 2024 · $906K federal money spent
Geographic Programs - Chesapeake Bay ProgramEnvironmental Protection Agency · ALN 66.466 · Through Chesapeake Bay Trust and 1 more$504K
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery FundsDepartment of the Treasury · ALN 21.027 · Through County of Lancaster$382K
Soil and Water ConservationDepartment of Agriculture · ALN 10.902 · Through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation$16K
Geographic Programs - Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation, Regulatory/Accountability and Monitoring GrantsEnvironmental Protection Agency · ALN 66.964 · Through Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the State Conservation Commission$4K

The auditor reported no findings.

Year ending Dec 2023 · $2.5M federal money spent
Chesapeake Bay ProgramEnvironmental Protection Agency · ALN 66.466 · Through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and 2 more$1.3M
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery FundsDepartment of the Treasury · ALN 21.027 · Through County of Lancaster and 1 more$1.1M
Soil and Water ConservationDepartment of Agriculture · ALN 10.902 · Through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation$43K

The auditor reported no findings.

Year ending Dec 2022 · $1.5M federal money spent
Chesapeake Bay ProgramEnvironmental Protection Agency · ALN 66.466 · Through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and 2 more$1.0M
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery FundsDepartment of the Treasury · ALN 21.027 · Through County of Lancaster and 1 more$523K
Soil and Water ConservationDepartment of Agriculture · ALN 10.902 · Through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation$11K

The auditor reported 1 finding: a material weakness in money controls.

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$9.5M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$8.3M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$647K
Investment incomeLn 3$510K
Money outPt IX
$9.1M
Ln 25
Programscol B$8.7M
Managementcol C$138K
Fundraisingcol D$271K
Owns and owesPt X
$13.4M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$2.6M
Total assetsLn 16$14.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$997K
PeoplePt VI, VII
20
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a18
IndependentVI 1b18
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$8.3M
Government grantsLn 1e$1.2M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$3.1M
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$177K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$647K
Investment incomeLn 3$510K
Gains on assetsLn 7$135K
Total revenueLn 12$9.5M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$175
SavingsLn 2$2.6M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$2.6M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$10.9M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$564K
Total assetsLn 16$14.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$997K
Net assetsLn 32$13.4M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 521
VolunteersI 679
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3More from this return
Abroad and in kindSch F, M
Noncash gifts receivedSch M Pt I$3.1M
4Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$2.7M$2.6M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$9.3M$10.9M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$494K$564K
Total assetsLn 16$12.9M$14.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.1M$997K
Net assetsLn 32$11.9M$13.4M
5Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$232K$116K$58K$58K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$831K$679K$22K$130K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$23K$19K$655$4K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$78K$61K$6K$10K
Payroll taxesLn 10$77K$58K$5K$14K
Accounting feesLn 11c$34K$24K$2K$8K
Investment management feesLn 11f$22K$22K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$1.6M$1.6M$224$888
Office expensesLn 13$87K$84K$1K$1K
Information technologyLn 14$29K$20K$2K$7K
OccupancyLn 16$45K$31K$3K$11K
TravelLn 17$12K$11K$511$146
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$12K$5K$6K$1K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$49K$37K$4K$9K
InsuranceLn 23$65K$56K$2K$7K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$5.9M$5.9M$1K$8K
All other expensesLn 24e$60K$56K$2K$2K
Total functional expensesLn 25$9.1M$8.7M$138K$271K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest ViewingFiled with the IRS Aug 24, 2026 $9.5M$9.1M$339K$13.4M 990 PDF
FY2024Filed with the IRS Aug 27, 2025 $8.3M$7.8M$466K$11.9M 990 PDF
FY2023Filed with the IRS Jul 26, 2024 $10.3M$11.0M−$718K$10.6M 990 PDF
FY2022Filed with the IRS Aug 2, 2023 $10.5M$10.1M$336K$10.4M 990 PDF
FY2021Filed with the IRS Aug 15, 2022 $9.7M$8.2M$1.4M$11.4M 990 PDF
FY2020Filed with the IRS Jul 27, 2021 $6.7M$5.2M$1.5M$9.3M 990 PDF

Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support M · Noncash J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $9,486,707 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $7,598,794$8,340,157
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $382,383$646,750
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $310,556$509,984
I-11 Other revenuePrior year −$18,847−$10,184
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $8,272,886$9,486,707
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$0
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $1,213,876$1,241,208
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $6,593,489$7,906,325
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $7,807,365$9,147,533
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $465,521$339,174
Part VI · Governance 18 of 18 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body18
VI-1b Independent voting members18
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $9,486,707 across 11 lines filed
VIII-1c Fundraising events$177,209
VIII-1e Government grants$1,175,457
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$6,987,491
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$3,081,872
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$8,340,157
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $646,750$646,750
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $375,343$375,343
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $134,641$134,641
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$10,399−$10,399
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Excluded from tax $215$215
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $646,750 · Excluded from tax $499,800$9,486,707
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $9,147,533 across 17 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $116,171 · Management $58,086 · Fundraising $58,086$232,343
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $678,774 · Management $22,418 · Fundraising $129,529$830,721
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $18,786 · Management $655 · Fundraising $3,924$23,365
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $61,261 · Management $6,119 · Fundraising $10,319$77,699
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $58,465 · Management $5,096 · Fundraising $13,519$77,080
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $24,225 · Management $2,154 · Fundraising $8,071$34,450
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $22,500$22,500
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $1,583,221 · Management $224 · Fundraising $888$1,584,333
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $84,269 · Management $1,010 · Fundraising $1,327$86,606
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $20,223 · Management $1,610 · Fundraising $6,837$28,670
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $31,218 · Management $2,717 · Fundraising $11,020$44,955
IX-17 TravelPrograms $11,118 · Management $511 · Fundraising $146$11,775
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $5,093 · Management $5,939 · Fundraising $1,409$12,441
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $37,088 · Management $3,607 · Fundraising $8,654$49,349
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $56,361 · Management $1,839 · Fundraising $7,247$65,447
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $5,896,823 · Management $1,463 · Fundraising $7,758$5,906,044
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $55,747 · Management $1,736 · Fundraising $2,272$59,755
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $8,738,843 · Management $137,684 · Fundraising $271,006$9,147,533
Part X · Balance sheet $14,428,903 assets, 15 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $200$175
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $2,699,494$2,582,279
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $386,811$282,964
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $91,742$73,229
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $6,128$6,267
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $494,495$564,444
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $9,251,583$10,919,545
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $12,930,453$14,428,903
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $377,640$555,839
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $702,061$440,773
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $1,079,701$996,612
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $11,645,083$12,906,308
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $205,669$525,983
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $11,850,752$13,432,291
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $12,930,453$14,428,903
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $13,432,291 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$9,486,707
XI-2 Total expenses$9,147,533
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$339,174
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$11,850,752
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$1,242,365
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$13,432,291

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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