New York · Nonprofit
490 Farmers Inc
490 Farmers Inc (New York) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,683 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($10,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $76k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $17k
- Net assets
- $45k
What 490 Farmers Inc does
Mission
490 Farmers seeks to learn alongside Rochester residents and youth to build community, hold land in common, and foster food sovereignty through urban agriculture. Guided by principles of mutual aid, we aim to steward a space where all feel welcome and integral to this mission, thereby pushing our city toward a more resilient and equitable future.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Raised Bed Plot Rental: We offer 69 garden plots ranging from 5' x 5' to 10' x 10' to the community for rent eachseason. The rental period is April 1- October 31st and costs vary by plot size. Plot members are responsible for planting and maintenance of their plot during the season. 490 Farmers provides educational support, access to tools, free topsoil & compost, water, and a raised bed ready for planting. In 2024 our net income from plotmembership was $1,695.
$7,037 spent14% of program spendingWednesday Night Volunteer Nights & Workshops: Every Wednesday during the season (May 1-November 1,2024) from 5-7pm we host an open volunteer for the public. On average between 10-40 people attend each week to help water plants, weed, move mulch, and meet new friends. We make improvements to the garden, grow our food forest and community areas, and distribute food to volunteers. We provide water, snacks and veggies to take home during the harvest season. Once a month we host workshops that provide free-hands on experience with topics including composting, transplating, weeding, cover cropping, soil health, seed starting, garden planning, and much more. In 2024 our total unrestricted individual donations towards this program was $13,667.17.
$39,539 spent78% of program spendingSupport for Partner Urban Gardens: Throughout the growing season 490 Farmers redistributed donated items and purchased garden materials to other city gardens in Rochester, as well as volunteer labor & support as needed. We coordinated with partner gardens on City of Rochester garden permits to help with tasks like moving mulch & soil, weeding, and planting. Gardens we have worked with include FCNC Genesee St Garden & Jefferson Ave Garden, Sunshine Garden on Bernard St, Taproot Collective First Market Farm, SMSJ EDEN Gardens in the Beechwood Neighborhood, The Vineyard Farm on Sander St, Native Prep School Garden, and Treyer St Children's Garden. We have helped provide needed materials including water tanks, raised bed materials, compost delivery, seedlings, gardening tools, and transportation. In 2024 our income from this program was $0.
$4,037 spent8% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $50,613.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $36k to $42k (+18%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
90% of 490 Farmers Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (77% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Board chair
Kay Madeira
Board Chair (From 10/24)
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $1k → $10k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of 490 Farmers Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
490 Farmers Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
31% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund 490 Farmers Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of 490 Farmers Inc's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
490 Farmers Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 9,376 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,376 community improvement nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like 490 Farmers Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for 490 Farmers Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds 490 Farmers Inc?
- 490 Farmers Inc (New York) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,683 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($10,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does 490 Farmers Inc have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $16,683 in grants to 490 Farmers Inc, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of 490 Farmers Inc?
- ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $10,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like 490 Farmers Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds 490 Farmers →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2022–2024), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing