Farm Training Collective Nyc Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The goal of Farm School NYC is to train the next generation of farmers in New York City and beyond, with a focus on limited resourced and socially disadvantaged individuals and communities, and to increase access to healthy, local food in urban communities by supporting the proliferation of urban agriculture projects. The mission of Farm School NYC is to train local residents in urban agriculture in order to build self-reliant communities and inspire positive local action around food access and social, economic, and racial justice issues.
- Income
- $1.1 million
- Spending
- $1.5 million
- Spent on programs
- 72%
- Reserves
- 3.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 54%
- Employees
- 14
- Highest pay
- $126,639, development dir.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 56 out of 100. Higher than 37% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 3.6 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 29% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 32% of income.
Income trend
5 of 15Income fell 18% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1572% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 6 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 74% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 259 of 9 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, 2024, 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 (2)
- $570,648 spent. Urban Agriculture Education Program: Farm School NYC (FSNYC) offers urban agriculture education programming rooted in food justice and social justice. The Citywide Certificate Program is a one-year urban agriculture training program grounded in food justice. This program is rooted in New York City on Lenape land and utilizes a multi-dimensional, hands-on approach that centers BIPOC land traditions and community building. The program begins with a foundation in popular education, botany, and food justice, before immersing in courses that follow the flow of a growing season. This year-long program is the bulk of our recurring programming, offered in-person at partner sites and online. FSNYC also offers additional courses open to the general public.Citywide Certificate Program Re-Visioning (January - December 2024): FSNYC paused Citywide Program courses in 2024 to gather, review, and implement over 10 years of feedback from participant surveys, conversations, and input from facilitators. We identified and updated curricula for key courses which connect the land and people through discussion and collective study and key courses that invite urban growers into technical and community-based growing practices.From months of assessing our capacity, feedback, data, and funding, we moved forward with creating components of a new Urban Agriculture Certificate (UAC) Program, those being Food Justice Foundations (FJF) courses, which focus on food justice, advocacy, and understanding the systems within our food system and Introduction to Land Stewardship (ILS) courses which include urban agriculture technical-training courses focused on soil health, irrigation, propagation, and crop management methods.We identified a third component, a Food & Land Immersion, creating a three-part Certificate Program that supports both a farmer-mentor and apprentice in a pathway for farming, advocacy and/or cooperatives, among other opportunities.Farm School NYC offered additional courses for the general public in 2024, including:Cultivating Connections Part 1 (March 2024): A discussion focused on increasing the accessibility of USDA programs for underserved growers. Participants learned how to connect with agencies like the Natural Resources Conservation Services, local soil and water conservation districts, the NYC Farm Service Agency, and local cooperative extension offices. This program was hosted by Catalyst Collaborative Farm and created in partnership with Black Farmers UnitedNYS, National Association of Conservation Districts, Farm Service Agency (FSA), and Pecan Street.Cultivating Connections Part 2 (April 2024): A follow up to Part 1 where there was a focus on advocacy within federal, state and city related urban agriculture movements, uplifting the collaborators including FSA Executive Director, Catalyst Collaborative Farm and Black Farmers United. Participants will learn about the Farm Bill and how to share their perspectives at different levels of government.Raising Animals (April 2024): This course centers animal husbandry (chickens, rabbits, goats, pigs) on small scale farms, sharing cost and planning considerations to raise animals, and sharing information on livestock related FSA programs.Cultivating Prosperity (May 2024): This course focuses on beginning businesses, introducing FSA programs as potential funding sources, and providing business templates for preparation for any funding streams.Lilac Fest (May 2024): Catalyst Collaborative Farm organized and collaborated with Farm School NYC to host an event where many urban growers and rural partners joined for ceremony with lilac season, outreach and networking, and exposure to resources and partners. FSNYC connected with several NYC-based growers and shared our multitude of projects with people invested in the connection between urban to rural agriculture.Introduction to Beekeeping (June 2024): This course was FSNYCs first official beekeeping course covering topics on care, stewardship, and importance of beehives. We connected attendees to BeeUniversity in Staten Island and FSA resources (ELAP) surrounding beekeeping.Community Food Arts (August 2024): The focus of this course is to teach techniques for food preservation methods including pickling, canning, freezing, drying, fermentation and tincturing. Participants discuss requirements for selling a manufactured food product in New York State including food science, relevant licenses, food safety instruction and labeling information. They also talk about sourcing local produce if theyre not growing their own, and food costing to ensure a profit is made. As a group, students get hands-on to produce a group product.Food Future Summit (December 2024): This event showcases the work of our alumni and partners who are building a better food system. Workshops, community awards, a market, and music accompany attendees. The Summit honors the history and culture of a thriving community of land stewards who protect our food ecosystem while addressing the needs of NYCs most impacted communities. This event also recognizes emerging leaders who are advancing our ancestors' collective goal of building and sustaining a healthy and thriving ecosystem. FSNYC had a table with USDA outreach materials and were able to network with more alumni.Farm School NYC was deeply committed to continuing an important collaboration in 2024 -- the Black Farmer Ecosystem in New York State -- with organizations such as Black Farmer Fund, Black Farmers United-NYS, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, Corbin Hill Food Project and Soul Fire Farm Institute. Each of the partnering organizations provides unique but complementary services including culturally-rich, climate-smart agricultural training; ethical, equitable land access; patient, blended investment capital; and collective, expansive marketing support.The Ecosystem continued collaborating on Building and Strengthening Social and Economic Sustainability Among NY State Black Farmers,
- $483,497 spent. Black Farmer Ecosystem:Farm School NYC was deeply committed to continuing an important collaboration in 2024 -- the Black Farmer Ecosystem in New York State -- with organizations such as Black Farmer Fund, Black Farmers United-NYS, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, Corbin Hill Food Project and Soul Fire Farm. Each of the partnering organizations provides unique but complementary services including culturally-rich, climate-smart agricultural training; ethical, equitable land access; patient, blended investment capital; and collective, expansive marketing support. The Ecosystem continued collaborating on Building and Strengthening Social and Economic Sustainability Among NY State Black Farmers, a project partially funded by Northeast SARE Research and Education. Farm School NYC also participated in the development and rollout of the inaugural emPower Fund, a redistributive fund created in collaboration with Professor Myles Lennon at Brown University to support activities and projects that strengthen the work of New Yorks emergent Black-led farms, food businesses and food sovereignty efforts and to document lessons learned and best practices that emerge from this effort. In 2024, the Ecosystem redistributed $30,000 to four Black-led farms in New York.For the final year, in 2024, Farm School NYC served as the fiscal sponsor of BlackFarmers United NYS (BFU-NYS), a group of more than 140 Black farmers, educators, and food justice advocates from across the state. BFU-NYS aims to protect the legacy and ensure the future of Black farmers, changing how black communities control access to safe, healthy food and build collective wealth and health in New York State. The fiscal sponsorship ended on December 31, 2024.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 September 7, 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 September 30, 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 September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 2020.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 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 October 7, 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.