Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1981.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
70 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
12 people listed on the 990; $231K paid to officers and key staff.
Mike Bollinger’s $119K as Ex. Director is at the 65th percentile of top reported officer pay among 818 $1–10M food & agriculture 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 · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynne Rilling | $89,147 | $89,210 | $147,000 | $82,540 | $80,863 | $83,346 |
| Mike Bollinger | $118,899 | $114,754 | $29,414 | — | — | — |
| Emily Rose Haga | — | — | — | $84,820 | $99,260 | $34,009 |
| Peggy Miller | $70,253 | $69,349 | $46,131 | — | — | — |
| Alex Brandt | — | — | — | $44,753 | $51,102 | $48,139 |
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.
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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 heritage seeds to protect biodiversity and food security for future generations.
Questions for Seed Savers Exchange INC
Your first name shows with your question. Seed Savers Exchange INC answers here, for everyone.
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Sales of seeds and plants to the public in order to effect and demonstrate "lost to the ecosystem" non-hybrid seed varieties can be reintroduced through growers' acceptance. Cultivation of such otherwise unavailable seeds have been prepserved in the organization's seedbank, and their ensuing distribution and sale is a "substantially…
Operate heritage farm as a visitor center and educational center developing a network of isolation gardens to prevent cross-pollination and contaimation for genetically modified crops. Growing gardens and genetic preservation projects necessary for maintaining seed collection of 20,000 rare vegetable and fruit varieties that would…
Publications of educational materials for the organizations 7,708 members who grow and exchange seed of endangered food crops.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $3.3M | $4.3M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $479K | $604K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $2.9M | $3.0M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $8.3M | $9.8M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.3M | $1.0M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $7.0M | $8.8M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $256K | $128K | $128K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $2.1M | $1.6M | $376K | $115K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $38K | $26K | $11K | $781 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $183K | $136K | $42K | $5K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $169K | $125K | $36K | $8K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $22K | $22K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $19K | $19K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $521K | $517K | $5K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $404K | $363K | $2K | $39K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $75K | $75K | ||
| TravelLn 17 | $7K | $806 | $7K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $20K | $3K | $16K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $7K | $7K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $242K | $242K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $99K | $99K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $1.4M | $1.2M | $227K | |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $888K | $461K | $386K | $40K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $6.4M | $4.5M | $1.7M | $208K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $6.9M | $6.5M | $462K | $9.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Apr 23, 2025 | $6.0M | $6.5M | −$524K | $8.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Apr 26, 2024 | $6.4M | $6.5M | −$85K | $9.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS May 9, 2023 | $7.5M | $6.6M | $903K | $9.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 ViewingFiled with the IRS May 4, 2022 | $8.2M | $6.4M | $1.8M | $8.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS Mar 12, 2021 | $6.9M | $5.9M | $916K | $7.0M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $8,206,101 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 9 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $8,206,101 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $6,433,396 across 17 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $9,798,441 assets, 17 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $8,753,540 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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