Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 250 organizations whose IRS filings report $44,764,721 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($16,734,847). 151 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 51% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $52M
- Funders on record
- 250
- Grants received
- $45M
- Net assets
- $72M
What American Farmland Trust does
Mission
Saves the land that sustains us by protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
State, local and federal programs -we have programs in the following regions: california, midwest, new york, new england, mid-atlantic, pacific northwest, southeast, and texas; and our national initiatives are: agriculture conservation innovations, soil health and climate initiative, farmland information center, farm legacy, farm viability, farms for a new generation, federal policy, land protection, national agricultural land network, water initiative, and women for the land. In 2025, American Farmland Trust:- advanced 88 policy actions on aft proposals to protect farmland, support farmers and strengthen agricultural viability.- grew the national agricultural land network to 1,610 members from 620 organizations across all 50 states.- permanently protected 288 acres of productive farmland and wildlife habitat at solbakken farm in waupaca county, wisconsin, through an agricultural conservation easement.- supported farmer-led soil health adoption in illinois through five farmer-led advances in soil health groups that reached more than 60 farmers and enrolled more than 8,000 acres through the batch & grow cover crop program.- launched prosperity partners, a consulting program…
$35,458,057 spentof which $7,655,950 as grants87% of program spendingCommunications and media outreach -aft continuously engages the public through our direct communications with our members, donors, various publications and media outreach.in 2025, American Farmland Trust:- released a biochar in agriculture toolkit and hosted a national biochar webinar series that drew more than 12,000 views.- released two major smart solar reports focused on texas and washington state and published the solar soil health guide to help protect soil during solar construction and operation.
$2,131,145 spentof which $3,864 as grants5% of program spendingPublic education -advocate - aft fights for programs and policies that save farmland, support farmers and enhance our environment.educate - aft educates the public about our nation's farms, farmland and farmers.innovate - aft pioneers cutting-edge techniques that protect farmland and protect natural resources.investigate - aft conducts respected research as the foundation of our programs.collaborate - aft builds coalitions to achieve large-scale solutions and lasting change.in 2025, American Farmland Trust:- trained or offered direct support to 14,342 farmers and ranchers nationwide.- trained or offered direct support to 36,444 professionals and other individuals working to support farmers, ranchers and agricultural communities.- convened farmers, land trusts, public agencies, planners and advocates from across the country at "saving america's working lands," a national conference focused on accelerating farmland and ranchland protection.- advanced soil health stewardship through aft's soil health stewards program, which over five years has trained 239 staff from 123 land trusts and public agencies in 36 states and reached more than 260,000 producers and landowners influencing 6.5…
$1,774,422 spentof which $5,208 as grants$123,909 earned by the program4% of program spendingOther programs.
$1,567,902 spentof which $27,694 as grants4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $40,931,526.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2023 to 2024, from $78M to $101M (+29%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 17% · 2018 12% · 2019 17% · 2020 44% · 2021 19% · 2022 21% · 2023 31% · 2024 40%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
John F Piotti
President & CEO
Board chair
Grant Winthrop
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 45 funders to 107 funders, grant income rose $769k → $9.0M.
43 of 250 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 51% 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 AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 250 funders by total. 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
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 37% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
60% 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 AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 23% · 2019 20% · 2020 17% · 2021 17% · 2022 14% · 2023 39% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
How long its funders stay
45% of AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
51% of AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $22M that is directly attributable, 86% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 37 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 states 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
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 268 food & nutrition nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 268 food & nutrition nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $131.9M on record — $130.9M federal, $918k state.
- Department of Agriculture$129.0M
- Environmental Protection Agency$1.9M
- Department of the Interior$50k
- MA$500k
- VT$350k
- CT$67k
- NJ$737
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
83%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 29 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST: 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 AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST?
- AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 250 organizations whose IRS filings report $44,764,721 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($16,734,847). 151 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 51% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST have?
- IRS filings report 250 organizations giving $44,764,721 in grants to AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST, 151 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $16,734,847 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 250 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing