Vermont · Nonprofit
CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC
CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC (Vermont) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,514,164 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,089,675). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.9M
- Funders on record
- 47
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $7.3M
What Center for an Agricultural Economy Inc does
Mission
The center for an agricultural economy supports rural communities and working landscapes by building a more interconnected local food system.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Farm connex helps with all aspects of self-distribution. We service locations in the first and last mile of vermont, connecting our producers to a larger base of regional consumers.
$1,365,691 spent$753,937 earned by the program44% of program spendingCommunity connections are collaborations and services designed and led with partners and neighbors. These programs help build collective, local resilience through community organizing, shared learning, and food justice.
$759,675 spentof which $186,623 as grants$71,245 earned by the program24% of program spendingJust cut purchases locally grown vegetables and prepares a line of ready- to-use products for k-12 schools, hospitals, colleges, and commercial kitchens throughout vermont and parts of new hampshire.
$527,390 spentof which $5,566 as grants$315,133 earned by the program17% of program spendingThe vermont farm fund, a program of the center for an agricultural economy, is a community-based credit model in service of a community-based food system. We provide no-hassle, friendly-term loans to vermont farmers and food producers. The vermont farm fund invests in the livelihoods of farmers and food producers. This program operates as a true revolving loan fund: as recipients pay back their loans, funds are replenished for the next cycle of borrowers. Vermont food venture center and farm and food business resources since 2012, the vermont food venture center has been a hub of food processing and innovation. Food businesses can rent commercial kitchens by the hour to test or scale up their business models before investing in costly equipment and a dedicated production space. We offer three commercial kitchens and the space for your food business to grow. The business planners in our farm & food business resources team offer wraparound services, including business planning, technical assistance, and food safety training, available to all vfvc clients.
$464,053 spent$176,056 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,116,809.
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 $5.1M to $9.4M (+84%).
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 12% · 2018 9% · 2019 11% · 2020 17% · 2021 16% · 2022 2% · 2023 12% · 2024 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $186k → $1.8M.
12 of 47 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 64% 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 CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 47 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
CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 66%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% 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 CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 31% · 2019 58% · 2020 50% · 2021 32% · 2022 29% · 2023 31% — diversifying over time.
“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
52% of CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
64% of CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC'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 $3.7M that is directly attributable, 51% of it comes from funders outside Vermont, across 13 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.2M on record — $2.4M federal, $1.8M state.
- Department of Agriculture$2.2M
- Small Business Administration$220k
- Other Direct Grant Expense$894k
- Other Grants$750k
- Grants$67k
- Other Contr and 3rd Pty Serv$35k
- Grants to Municipalities$10k
- ARPA-SLFRF Rev Replacement$5k
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 CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 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 Vermont
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 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 CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC?
- CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC (Vermont) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,514,164 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,089,675). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC have?
- IRS filings report 47 organizations giving $10,514,164 in grants to CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $5,089,675 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Vermont. 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 47 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