Colorado · Nonprofit
Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation
Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation (Colorado) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,172,253 to it, the largest being THE PETERFFY FOUNDATION INC ($1,140,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $2.2M
- Net assets
- $331k
What Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation does
Mission
To restore the earth and our communities through regenerative design.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Focused on tangible ecological installations, land stewardship practices, and collaboration with industry leaders. Completed 26 Agroforestry Installations in the Front Range comprising 32,000 linear ft of swales and 7,000 new trees. Collaborated on projects with mentor, Mark Sheppard of Restoration Agriculture Development, on 6 projects in Colorado, Ohio, Utah, and Washington comprising 85,000 trees across 525,000 acres. Planned a 20,000 tree planting for Spring 2025 to enhance carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Expanded our sheep and cattle herds to extend our regenerative grazing practices beyond our pilot sites. Harvested our own grains, bred for drought tolerance over 9 years, and grown in a former parking lot transformed by intentional livestock management and agroforestry.
$1,197,792 spent100% of program spending"Hands-on community involvement, food donations, and regenerative food production for equitable land access and nourishment. 400+ volunteers and another 100+ kids attended weekly volunteer days (MayOct) at the Food Solidarity Garden and Elk Run Forest Garden. 4,000+ pounds of regeneratively-grown vegetables, fruit, and heritage grains and 500+ plant starts donated to communities in need. Donated 3,453 lbs of regeneratively grown food to Indigenous elders, families, and local communities, addressing food insecurity in Boulder County. Supplied 600+ plant starts to families in need and co-planned and planted the Food Solidarity Garden at the Wind River Reservation."
"Advancing agroecological literacy and scientific inquiry through structured programs, events, and written resources for both children and adults. Launched the 10-month Agroecology Incubator Program (AIP), providing hands-on training and career pathways for regenerative farmers and building an educated labor force for DAR in 2025. Launched the 8-month Foundations of Agroecology Course to apprentices, land partners, and the public. Spoke at 12 industry events and wrote a Land Health Encyclopedia to advance the agroecology knowledge base. Planned a multi-year hydrology study to launch in 2025 and applied for over $500k in grants to support the project. Led 8 immersive field trips and served 22 families through our nature-based education programs, fostering deep connections with land, culture, and spirit. Awarded $37,000 in scholarships to make ""Folk Farm"" preschool education accessible, with a fully enrolled Early Childhood Program and a growing waitlist."
"Culturally-rooted healing and education initiatives centering BIPOC women and youth in land-connected leadership. Hosted three immersive weekend trainings with Ancestral Womb Postpartum Care (AWPC), supporting over 30 BIPOC women in plant medicine, spiritual protection, and body care. Provided sacred postpartum healing through Cerrada ceremonies, honoring new mothers and survivors of sexual trauma with deep rest, bodywork, and community support. Partnered with AWPC to lead the First Moon: Coming of Age Circle, offering a year-long space for youth of color to connect with ancestral wisdom and self-determination."
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,197,792.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2021 to 2022, from $263k to $688k (+162%).
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: 2022 5% · 2023 4% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
57% of Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (94% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $1k → $474k.
6 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation’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
Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
35% 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 Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 50% · 2021 96% · 2022 43% · 2023 47% — 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
71% of Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation's funders are still giving 1 year after their first grant; 38% 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
Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation draws 94% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $537k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation has grown faster than three-quarters of the 1,130 food & nutrition nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,130 food & nutrition nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
0%
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 Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation: 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 Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation?
- Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation (Colorado) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,172,253 to it, the largest being THE PETERFFY FOUNDATION INC ($1,140,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $2,172,253 in grants to Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation?
- THE PETERFFY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,140,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Drylands Agroecology Research Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Drylands Agroecology Research →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 21 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