Organic Farmers Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 851249281
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Spirit Lake, IA, USA
- Phone
- 2026435363
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,431,491
- Expenses
- $1,204,160
- Assets
- $1,047,317
- Liabilities
- $88,905
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Pryor Garnett (President)
- Jesse Buie (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- KATE MENDENHALL (EXECUTIVE DIR.): $64,800 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Organic Farmers Association is to provide a strong and unified national voice for domestic certified organic producers so that organic agriculture will become the basis of a viable United States food and agricultural policy and production system to support a healthier planet for the benefit of all life. Our purpose is to build and support a farmer-led national organic farmer movement and national policy platform by: developing and advocating policies that benefit organic farmers; strengthening and supporting the capacity of organic farmers and farm organizations; supporting collaboration and leadership among state, regional and national organic farmer organizations; and welcoming support and cooperation with like-minded individuals and organizations.
What it reported doing in 2025
Education program activities are designed to support organic farmers success through technical assistance and educational resources. The national organic farmer education network (nofen) alerts farmers to organic education being offered by organic organization members nationwide. Webinars and digital organic education resources help educate farmers and consumers about issues such as crop insurance, labor, markets, organic transition, and mental health. Education for the general public is also a main goal through the website, social media, and quarterly magazine: organic voice. Ofa also created and manages the organic career network to support organic workforce development so that organic farmers have the support they need to be successful.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 95.6%; rating input score 96
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 64th 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 15.9%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 40.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 36% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 41.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 95.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.