Maine Farmland Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010528014
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Belfast, ME, USA
Phone
2073386575
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Farmland Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,306,755
Expenses
$7,877,916
Assets
$27,539,021
Liabilities
$812,599

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kristin Varnum (Interim President)
  • Stacy Brenner (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kristin Varnum (Interim President): $201,876 total reported compensation
  • Stacy Brenner (President): $62,733 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Maine Farmland Trust protects farmland, supports farmers, and advances the future of farming.

What it reported doing in 2024

FARMLAND ACCESS: Collaborated with external partners to address systemic and individual farmland access and transfer challenges. Operated FarmLink, which matches prospective farmers with landowners that have farms available for lease or sale. This period, through our FarmLink program, 642 acres of farmland remained in farming or were brought into production by new farmers through 5 farm links.FARM BUSINESS PLANNING: Directly supported farmers with business planning, offering training and technical assistance to farmers. This period, our farm business planning program served 65 unique farm businesses with 90 engagements in workshops, technical assistance and grants.CLIMATE: Improved viability of farms through increased understanding of their land and adaptation to climate risks and connecting to resources. This period, our Climate Resilience team supported 57 farm businesses with technical assistance support and/or climate resilience grants.PFAS RESPONSE: Directly supported farmers affected by PFAS by providing education, technical assistance, and grants to support farms affected by PFAS. This period, 11 farms were directly supported with PFAS related grants.POLICY & RESEARCH: Worked on federal, state, and municipal policy issues that affect Maine farms, and engaged in those policy areas that directly impact our ability to protect farmland, support farmers, and advance the future of farming. Conducted research and prepared reports and articles to inform MFT's policy work, support other MFT program areas, and educate policymakers and the public about issues affecting Maine agriculture.

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 83% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 86%; rating input score 86; 24th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.2%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.5; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.9% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $202K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $130K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.