North Carolina · Nonprofit
MCDOWELL LFAC
MCDOWELL LFAC (North Carolina) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,451,779 to it, the largest being THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ($755,060). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $2.5M
- Net assets
- $4.3M
What McDowell Lfac does
Mission
McDowell Lfac is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to connect, coordinate, and strengthen the local food system in mcdowell county, north carolina. The organization's goal is to improve the health, income and livelihoods of all community members through building a complete food network of producers, businesses, agencies and not-for-profit organizations. Lfac does this through developing and implementing programs, special projects and supportive food system infrastructure in mcdowell.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
In 2024, mcdowell local food advisory council, through foothills food hub and the marion tailgate market, advanced a more equitable and resilient local food system for mcdowell county. The organization aggregated and distributed food in partnership with a network of farmers, producers, community organizations, and volunteers while promoting healthy food choices and youth engagement. Lfac invested nearly $500,000 in local farms in 2024 through local food purchases and distributed nearly 16,000 healthy food boxes plus 1,200 produce prescriptions to families enrolled in the healthy opportunities pilot program through medicaid. Lfac also coordinated nearly 9,200 instances of additional household food assistance through food access and relief services and supplied 4,600 food bags to outreach partners serving vulnerable populations with higher barriers to food access, stable housing, and medical treatment. The marion tailgate market grew as a market opportunity for small farms, and increased customer attendance by 90% across 26 market events, in just the second year of lfac operating the market. Volunteers contributed at least 2,870 hours of service towards the organizations mission to…
$34,247 spentof which $18,033 as grants$26,493 earned by the program2% of program spendingFoothills food hub: the foothills food hub (ffh) is the largest program of the McDowell Lfac. Construction was complete in november of 2022. The foothills food hub is located at 263 barnes rd in marion and consists of three components: (1) a teaching kitchen that will eventually host culinary classes in partnership with our local community college, healthy eating classes, and food preservation instruction. (2) a pantry component, complete with a large freezer and cooler storage, for both shelf stable and perishable donated and purchased food for ongoing food distributions. (3) an increased focus on farmer support and food includes storage and process shifts to ensure more local food enters the pantry support system. There will also be a wash line available for farmers' use.
$97,296 spentof which $20 as grants$484,957 earned by the program5% of program spendingHealthy opportunities pilot (hop) program: the hop program is a true pilot in that only 3 regions in nc participate and the 18 western nc counties and qualla boundary are one of them. The McDowell Lfac / foothills food hub, in partnership with impact health and medicaid, provides fresh and shelf stable food to those who qualify for various medicaid programs. During 2023-2024 the program has grown, and will later require additional staff to support the work. Processes and procedures were developed, as well as farmer relationships, to ensure that local food is available to support the growth of the hop program.
$1,757,236 spent$2,789,579 earned by the program92% of program spendingNc farmers of the foothills: farmers of the foothills is a cooperative group of farmers organized by mcdowell cooperative extension. This was started in 2019 with farmers interested in joining together to purchase materials, market their products and create a csa (community supported agriculture) program for mcdowell county. Farmers agree to pay dues to support the program and share their products to create a local food share each year. This group also has a website that allows community members to purchase local food items directly from farmers that are part of the cooperative. The McDowell Lfac acts as fiscal agent and supports and offers services to these members.
$21,537 spentof which $7,512 as grants$9,273 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,910,316.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2024 to 2025, from $2.5M to $4.3M (+71%).
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: 2021 6% · 2022 9% · 2023 9% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
20% of MCDOWELL LFAC’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. 0 of the last 7 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
Leslie Burleson
Exec. Dir.
Board chair
Molly Sandfoss
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $0 → $449k.
3 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 MCDOWELL LFAC’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
MCDOWELL LFAC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
81% 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 MCDOWELL LFAC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 65% · 2021 31% · 2022 38% · 2023 52% — 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
40% of MCDOWELL LFAC's funders are still giving 3 years 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
67% of MCDOWELL LFAC's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $114k 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
MCDOWELL LFAC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 605 food & nutrition nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 605 food & nutrition nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding MCDOWELL LFAC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $371k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$371k
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 MCDOWELL LFAC
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
47%
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 MCDOWELL LFAC: 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 MCDOWELL LFAC?
- MCDOWELL LFAC (North Carolina) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,451,779 to it, the largest being THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ($755,060). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MCDOWELL LFAC have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $2,451,779 in grants to MCDOWELL LFAC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MCDOWELL LFAC?
- THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION is the largest funder on record, with $755,060 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MCDOWELL LFAC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), 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