Little Buckets Farm Sanctuary
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 832603606
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2019
- Location
- Brodnax, VA, USA
- Phone
- 4433758989
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $181,405
- Expenses
- $236,617
- Assets
- $59,420
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SUSAN KLINGENBERG (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- SUSAN KLINGENBERG (PRESIDENT)
- SHANNON SHECKELS (SECRETARY)
- LAUREN RISBY (TREASURER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Lbfs is a nonprofit vegan sanctuary in Virginia. Giving animals a safe and loving home they all so deserve. Many animals are hurt, discarded, too young to survive on their own, have special needs, or are looked over for no fault of their own. At little buckets farm sanctuary those animals will be given a chance at a new life. They will be rehabilitated if needed, given plenty of food, shelter, love, and the necessary care all while making our farm their new home. They will never again be scared or hungry. They will only know love, having a full tummy and a place to call home while allowing them a chance to show off their personality, play with friends, and share their love with farm friends and become a part of the little buckets family. Through our social channels and in-person sanctuary tours, we show people that farm animals have fun, loving, and sweet personalities just like our domesticated pets. Farm animals have strong family bonds and friendships with each other as well as the
What it reported doing in 2025
Our first achievement and our 1 priority is caring for all rescue animals that started 2024 calling little buckets home. Being a sanctuary, we are providing a forever home to our rescue farm animals, horses, guinea hens, cats and dogs except for a dog or cat who we might rescue who we plan to adopt out. Caring for over 20 goats, 4 steers, 3 donkeys, 5 horses, guinea hens, a pig, dogs and cats is a huge responsibility. We strive every day to give them all everything they need to be happy and healthy no matter if they are 1 year old or a senior or 5 lbs or 2500 lbs. They are provided the outside space they need, shelter and safety, food, fresh water, supplements, enrichment, treats, of course lots of love, and a family to call their own for the rest of their lives. They have daily routines, have regular vet visits & checkups, farrier care if applicable, and provided any extra special care they require to live their best life. And giving our rescue animals love and the life they so deserve is what we give each and everyone them. They are family.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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
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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 11
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.9%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 68.9%; rating input score 69
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -30.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 28.7% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 89.9% of revenue deployed · 68.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $163K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.