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Franklin County Community Land Trust Inc

EIN 88-2605254 · Greenfield, MA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthNot ratedToo small or too little detailGovernanceStrong90 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

To own, lease, rent, manage, sell real property (through acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction, or otherwise) in order to make housing available at the lowest possible cost to low-income persons and families in Franklin County, Massachusetts.

Income
$6,840
Spending
$31,224
Spent on programs
73%
Reserves
21.7 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 100%
Employees
1
Volunteers
12

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

We do not score finances when yearly spending is very small or the return has too little detail. The ratios stop meaning much at that size.

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: 90 out of 100. Higher than 72% of charities in its peer group (housing, under $250k).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    5 of 5 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    0 of 8

    Reports no written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports 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 (3)
  1. $19,187 spent. As a learning organization, FCCLT has given significant time to developing a regional collaborative of similar CLTs and other reinforcing affordable housing groups within the 3 county area - VALE. Valley Alliance for Land Equity (VALE) serves as a information and resource sharing group that seeks to increase the effectiveness of each of our missions through mutual support. FCCLT operates as the fiscal sponsor for VALE while this group-of-groups establishes internal protocols and continues to build external support. VALE's mission is to scale up the availability of permanently affordable, democratically-governed, shared-equity opportunities for land and housing in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. We seek to meaningfully reduce the racialized wealth divide in Western Massachusetts and better meet individual and community needs. This collaborative is allowing FCCLT and other area CLTs to draw on the decades of expertise of the various member groups, build relationships with mission friendly developers and real estate designers, create channels for combined statewide housing initiatives, develop shared paperwork and administrative functions to reduce burden on isolated rural communities seeking to form local area CLTs, advertise the benefits of community owned property to our neighbors to make it part of the regular conversation of housing, and to find ways to be an entity that can say YES to donations of property with structures - which currently does not exist in the River Valley.
  2. $564 spent. FCCLT operations - regular internal maintenance, but also the first real estate project for our organization. Since June 2024 residents of Montague MA (town in Franklin County) have approached FCCLT along with Mount Grace Conservation Land Trust with the goal of acquiring beloved property in Montague with the potential purpose of aligning affordable housing with the project. FCCLT funds expended represent due diligence and legal fees toward this purpose.
  3. $3,116 spent. The FCCLT board, in the course of developing our nascent organization, discovered that finding, maintaining, tracking and motivating volunteers to this difficult work is often times a key stumbling block toward mission fulfilment. A local group of activists in Greenfield MA (a city in Franklin County) decided to establish - Resilient Greenfield. The mission of Resilient Greenfield is to support existing organizations to foster collaboration and coordination, and possibly create new projects to meet the emerging needs of Greenfield and surrounding towns. This is done through the creation of a volunteer clearinghouse - setting up a digital platform for local non-profits and others to post their volunteer opportunities while being a platform for individuals and business to connect to see how best to fill those volunteer opportunities. FCCLT found this mission compelling and helpful for our needs. When Resilient Greenfield reached the stage of needing to purchase software and accept donations, FCCLT was approached and approved to operate as fiscal sponsor.

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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since January 2024.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. 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.