Common Roots Farm

What it reported doing in 2024

Common roots farm's mission is to bring together people with and without disabilities to grow healthy food, beautiful flowers, and build relationships that sustain everyone. We accomplish this by operating a production farm growing 25+ food crops and 30+ flower varieties for sale directly to the public. We offer internships and volunteer opportunities to people with developmental disabilities, host educational farm-based work days, and host social events to help break the isolation so common to people with disabilities. Our sales outlets include a farm share/community supported agriculture subscription (csa) program, a farm stand, wholesale customers and value-added production of shelf-stable products.in our most recent season we employed two young men with intellectual disabilities who had previously completed internships with common roots. We provided volunteer opportunities for over 200 people, with a focus on supporting volunteers with disabilities and their caregivers in participating in our farm operation. We offered regular, weekly volunteer opportunities to people with and without disabilities throughout our farm season. Our volunteers assisted with all aspects of our production, including working in our wheelchair accessible greenhouse to propagate seeds as well as planting, tending, harvesting and distributing food and flower crops. Volunteers also assist with flower bouquet making. We hosted groups from three other non profit organizations who came to use our wheelchair accessible raised bed garden weekly, and they served 10-25 individuals each.we have increased our staff to include a volunteer engagement coordinator who connects directly with volunteers, offering them orientation and training as well as scheduling of their volunteer time at the farm. We continued to serve 15-20 individuals with developmental disabilities who arrive weekly throughout our production season to learn and participate in our market farming operation.twice weekly common roots supports local post secondary students with disabilities who come to the farm to learn beginning vocational skills, including how to be ready for a job, how to complete a timesheet, and how to ask questions of a supervisor when unsure about how to proceed with any given task. The farm also regularly responds to requests for field trips for younger public school children who live with disabilities and are in special day classes. These children attend the farm with their parents and school teachers and aides to experience our farm, visit our animals, and enjoy our wheelchair accessible picnic area. We also engaged 15-30 volunteers each month, hosting workdays on the farm. During our monthly weekend workdays volunteers accomplish numerous farm improvements such as staining our chicken coops, repairing sheep pens, filling accessible raised beds with potting spoil, and improving the farm's greenhouse and adjacent outdoor plant area used for propagation and plant sale. The farm increased its value-added production and added products to our line. The farm's volunteers successfully produced food and flowers, for weekly shares, to over 50 customers in our 2024-25 season.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 52.8%; rating input score 53
• Program expense ratio: 80.9%; rating input score 81
• Fundraising efficiency: $66.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 44.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.72; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings