Foundation for Agricultural and Rural Resources Management and Sustainability

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
450456558
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Minot, ND, USA
Phone
7018771794
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Garden Club, Horticultural Program

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$427,888
Expenses
$409,833
Assets
$370,453
Liabilities
$5,937

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LINDY BERG (PRESIDENT)
  • BRITNEY BARNETT (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • STEPHANIE BLUMHAGEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE BLUMHAGEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $91,068 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To enhance the sustainability of farms and ranches in their comunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Farrms offers beginning farmer education programs in order to increase the number of farmers on the land and increase the use of sustainable agriculture practices. This includes the farm beginnings sustainable ag business planning course and the farm dreams farming readiness workshop. Farrms offers financial support to farm, ranch, and food businesses in the form of small loans and grants. Loan and grant recipients are encouraged to complete the farm beginnings course or an equivalent farm business planning program. Farrms supports North Dakota farmers by placing interns at farmers markets and offering training in marketing and outreach to the interns.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $316K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.