Humane Farm Animal Care
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Every farmer and rancher participating in the Certified Humane program had to modify their operations to meet the Animal Care Standards and be certified. Schedule O
- Income
- $5.3 million
- Spending
- $3.1 million
- Spent on programs
- 97%
- Reserves
- 49.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 94%
- Employees
- 14
- Volunteers
- 2
- Highest pay
- $202,285, director & cfo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 78% of charities in its peer group (animals, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 49.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 5% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 42% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 8% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1597% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 18 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 73% of charities in its peer group (animals, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 255 of 7 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $3.0 million spent. In 2025, over 500 companies represented more than 38,000 farms were Certified Humane. Producers or products can be found in the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic,Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Turkey, Uruguay & Vietnam. We can all be advocates for farm animals by purchasing Certified Humane products and by utilizing the tools provided on our website and through our new app. To become certified by HFAC, farmers must meet HFAC Animal Care Standards and pass annual inspections. HFACs Animal Care Standards were developed and subject to regular review by a veritable Whos Who of national and international animal scientists and farm-animal welfare experts. Our voluntary Scientific Committee consists of, Kenneth E. Anderson, PhD North Carolina State University, USA Michael Appleby, PhD World Animal Protection, USA Richard Blatchford, PhD University of California, Davis, USA Elisabetta Canali, PhD Universit degli Studi, Milan, Italy Sylvie Cloutier, PhD Associate Director of Assessment, Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada Brenda Coe, PhD Pennsylvania State University, USA Hans Coetzee, PhD Iowa State University, USA Luiz Dematte, DVM, PhD Industrial Director of Korin Ltd, and General Coordinator of Mokiti Okada Foundation, Brazil Inma Estves, PhD Research Professor, Neiker-Tecnalia University, Spain Anne Fanatico, PhD Appalachian State University, USA Valentina Ferrante, PhD University of Milan, Italy Trent Gilbery, MS North Dakota State University, USA Alan Goldberg, PhD The Johns Hopkins University, USA Temple Grandin, PhD Colorado State University, USA Thomas G. Hartsock, PhD University of Maryland, USA Jrg Hartung, DVM Institute of Animal Hygiene, Welfare and Farm Animal Behavior University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany Brittany Howell, PhD Fort Hays State University, USA Pam Hullinger, DVM, MPVM University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA Joy Mench, PhD University of California, Davis, USA Suzanne Millman, PhD Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, USA Malcolm Mitchell, PhD SRUC, Scotlands Rural College, Scotland Priya Motupalli, PhD IKEA, Sweden Ruth Newberry, PhD Associate Professor, Norwegian University of Life Sciences; Adjunct Professor, Washington State University, USA Humane Farm Animal Care Scientific Committee January 2018 Abdullah Ozen, PhD Professor, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey Edmond Pajor, PhD University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada Jose Peralta, PhD, DVM Western University of Health Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Pomona California, USA Rosangela Poletto, DVM, PhD Professor, Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Martin Potter, PhD Animal Welfare Consultant, Member of FAWT, UK and Advising Member of EIG, UK Mohan Raj, PhD Honorary Visiting Fellow, School of Veterinary Sciences, Bristol University, Bristol, UK Jean-Loup Rault, PhD Institute of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare at Vetmeduni, Vienna, Austria Karen Schwean-Lardner, PhD University of Saskatchewan, Canada J.K. Shearer, PhD Iowa State University, USA Marilyn M. Simunich, DVM Director, Animal Health Laboratory, Division of Animal Industries, Idaho State Department of Agriculture, USA Carolyn Stull, PhD Chairman, Scientific Committee University of California, Davis, USA Janice Swanson, PhD Michigan State University, USA William VanDresser, DVM Retired Extension Veterinarian, , USA Andreia De Paula Vieira, DVM, PhD Animal Welfare Scientist, Universidade de So Paulo, Brazil Daniel M. Weary, PhD Professor and NSERC Industrial Research Chair, Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia, Canada Julia Wrathall, PhD Director, Farm Animals Division, RSPCA, West Sussex, UK Adroaldo Zanella, PhD Professor, Dept. Medicina Veterinria Preventiva e Sade Animal / FMVZ Universidade de So Paulo, Pirassununga/SP, Brazil The credibility of our program rests with farmers and ranchers meeting the high welfare standards we set by passing annual inspections. The program also must inspect processing plants to make sure that the slaughter of the animals is humane and the handling of the animals before slaughter is gentle. In addition, traceability audits are performed on all products, ensuring that every package, carton, or case that has the Certified Humane logo on it can be traced back to the farm, barn, flock, or herd that was inspected and certified. HFAC continues to be the only animal welfare certification organization to conduct traceability audits. This requires three different types of inspectors. The first are those that have species-specific knowledge and do the on-farm inspections. They are usually University Professors with a masters degree or PhD in Animal Science or a DVM/VMD and have a great deal of expertise on the species they are inspecting. Additionally, slaughter/processor inspections require a different expertise. For example, only poultry scientists or poultry veterinarians would be considered to inspect poultry on the farm. Even with cows, scientists or veterinarians with experience in dairy cows have different expertise than those with beef cattle experience. These inspectors are specially trained to understand what to look for during the slaughter process and how to to recognize insensibility and careful handling techniques. Finally, the traceability auditors understand how to look for separation and segregation of products, how to do in/out audits to make sure the amount of product that comes in is the same amount that goes out, and that non-certified product does not end up in packages with the Certified Humane seal. With every producer who agrees to abide by Humane Farm Animal Cares, Animal Care Standards, thousands more animals benefit, and many more farmers have a chance to see that they, too, can change the way they raise animals without fearing for their bot
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 2003.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.