Farm Commons EIN 45-5445890 Form 990 (PDF) Claim this org

Farm Commons FY2023 filing

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Empowers farmers with legal resources to build resilient, community-based food systems. For fiscal year 2023 it reported $574K in revenue, $577K in expenses, and $281K in net assets.Pt I

Founded
2012
Type
Public charity (501(c)(3)) · Education
Location
Duluth, MN
Website
www.farmcommons.org
Filings
6 on file (2020–2023)
Revenue
$574KFY2023
Expenses
$577K
Net assets
$281K
People
7
Filings
6
Updates
0
More identity details & actions ⌄
EIN  45-5445890 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Duluth, MN Founded 2012
Form 990 (PDF)
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Size
$100K–1M
What they do
Empowers farmers with legal resources to build resilient, community-based food systems.
Leadership
Rachel Armstrong · Ex Officio and Non-Voting Director · $70K
Money in and out
$574K revenue, $577K expenses
Bottom line
65% program efficiency
Where the money goes · FY2023
Total revenue
$574K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$577K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$281K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$4K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.65 Management & general $0.31 Fundraising $0.04
Program efficiency
65%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
3.3mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
-0.6%
revenue over expenses, this year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2023 · Form 990
Revenue
$574K
FY2023▲ +14%
Expenses
$577K
FY2023▲ +23%
Total assets
$283K
FY2023▼ -2%
Total liabilities
$2K
FY2023▼ -25%
Total revenue
$574K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$577K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$281K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$4K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$283K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B65%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 36
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 46
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $373K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2023.
01

Farmer Education

In 2023 we hosted about 60 farmers through our Discovering Resilience workshop, which saw 90% of attendees adopt at least one of the 10 best practices of legal resilience within 3 months of the workshop. In addition, 80% of attendees are still working towards implementing 4 or more best practices 3 months after the workshop.

$319Kprogram expense
02

Non-Farmer Education

In 2023, Farm Commons developed its service to Extension Educators, nonprofit employees, and farm support persons nationwide to help farmers recognize and address legal vulnerabilities before a problem occurs.

$54Kprogram expense
03

Research

Farm Commons provides essential services in doing complex legal research and in studying the impact and ramifications of legal realities on diverse farm communities. In 2023, we retooled the program to also provide legal services to select individuals, as serves our research mission.

Pt IX · col B

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Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CFarm Commons
EINHdr · item D45-5445890
Principal addressHdr · item CDuluth, MN
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.farmcommons.org
Year of formationHdr · item L2012
State of legal domicileHdr · item MMN
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFEducation (B99)
Ruling yearIRS BMFNov 2013

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a6
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b6
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Ex Officio and Non-Voting Director
$70,412Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Rachel Armstrong’s $72K as Ex Officio and Non-Voting Director is at the 65th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1616 $100K–1M education 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 · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Rachel Armstrong$72,384$70,625$70,412$70,501
Rachel$69,040$64,447

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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Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants$442K · 77%
Program service revenue$131K · 23%
Contributions & grants77%$442K
Program service revenue23%$131K
Other revenue$1K
— government grantsLn 1e$384K
Total revenueLn 12$574K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.65 Management & general $0.31 Fundraising $0.04
Program services65%$373K
Management & general31%$182K
Fundraising4%$23K
Total functional expensesLn 25$577K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$159K
Total assetsLn 16$283K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$2K
Total net assetsLn 32$281K
Months of cash on handcomputed3.3

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2023 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $159K · Operating expenses (Pt IX) $577K · Less non-cash grants $2K · Cash operating expenses/yr $576K
3.3 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $373K · Total expenses $577K
65%
Management & General
Management & general $182K · Total expenses $577K
31%
Fundraising
Fundraising $23K · Total expenses $577K
4%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $39K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $65K
$0.60 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $442K · Total revenue $574K
77%
Government reliance
Government grants $384K · Total revenue $574K
67%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $131K · Total revenue $574K
23%
Investment reliance
Investment income $0 · Total revenue $574K
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $131K · Total expenses $577K
23%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $574K · Prior year $505K
+14%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $281K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $574K · Expenses $577K
-0.6%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $283K
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $281K · Total assets $283K
99%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) $0 · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) $0 · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $283K
0%
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Rachel Armstrong · Reported title Ex officio and Non-Voting Director · Highest reported compensation $70K · Total expenses $577K
12%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $394K · Total expenses $577K
68%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 65%
Overhead ratio 31%
Fundraising cost ratio 5%
Revenue growth 14%
Investment management fee ratio 0%
Legal fee ratio 0%
Accounting fee ratio 5%
Fundraising fee ratio 0%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
Farm Aid INCFY2024$10K
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$18K

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Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$812K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024$614K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$574K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$505K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$439K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$437K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

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Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2023IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
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