Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jun 2015.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
62 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
7 people listed on the 990; $91K paid to officers and key staff.
Alison Woitunski Difiore’s $91K as Executive Director is at the 88th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1171 $100K–1M 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 · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alison Woitunski Difiore | $90,731 | $87,746 | $43,759 | — | — |
| Lara Lepionka | — | — | $49,034 | $84,880 | $73,000 |
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
Teaches people to grow food, building healthy, connected, and sustainable communities.
Questions for Backyard Growers INC
Your first name shows with your question. Backyard Growers INC answers here, for everyone.
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School programming in gloucester public schools. Garden-based programming at every public school in gloucester, in the spring and the fall, along with taste test programming in all GPS elementary schools throughout the academic year. Community garden management. We manage 6 community garden sites throughout the city of gloucester.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $133K | $101K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $16K | $10K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $200K | $171K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $28K | $29K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $171K | $142K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $92K | $46K | $23K | $23K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $372K | $259K | $114K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $56K | $36K | $11K | $10K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $748 | $748 | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $43K | $43K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $16K | $16K | ||
| Information technologyLn 14 | $2K | $63 | $2K | $20 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $23K | $17K | $643 | $6K |
| TravelLn 17 | $1K | $1K | $235 | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $6K | $6K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $4K | $4K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $76K | $56K | $7K | $12K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $7K | $4K | $82 | $2K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $700K | $435K | $98K | $167K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $671K | $700K | −$30K | $142K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $557K | $621K | −$64K | $171K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $198K | $549K | −$351K | $243K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | Not on file | ||||
| FY2021 | $487K | $425K | $62K | $427K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $444K | $318K | $126K | $359K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $670,514 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 6 of 6 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $670,514 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $700,186 across 13 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $170,986 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $141,535 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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