Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

Legal name: Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471559027
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026240700
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,062,378
Expenses
$46,485,429
Assets
$295,166,746
Liabilities
$249,226,824

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR SAHARAH MOON CHAPOTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR SAHARAH MOON CHAPOTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $517,683 total reported compensation
  • KATHERINE AYERS (CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATIONS OFFICER): $315,308 total reported compensation
  • DR ANGELA RECORDS (CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER): $315,298 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges.

What it reported doing in 2024

Scientific workforce - in addition to research, ffar supports a diverse, creative scientific workforce. Ffar's scientific workforce development programs recognize scientific leaders, provide unique research opportunities, support young faculty and inspire the next generation of scientists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 84% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 87% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.7%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.8%; rating input score 92; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.35; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.84; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 97.7% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $40M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $518K · 30 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 37 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 28 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.