Form 990 for tax year 2024

Filed by FARMERS LEGAL ACTION GROUP INC.

Totals

Total revenue: $814,553
Total expenses: $914,553
Contributions and grants received: $594,501
Grants paid: $0
Program service revenue: $219,543
Investment income: $509
Other revenue: $0
Total assets, end of year: $936,273
Total liabilities, end of year: $48,076
Net assets or fund balances, end of year: $888,197
Program services expenses (Part IX): $519,865
Management and general expenses: $247,185
Fundraising expenses: $147,503
Program service expenses (Part III): $519,865

Program services were 56.8% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

1e · Government grants (contributions)

$279,294
1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

$315,207
2a · Program service revenue: Federal Contracts

total $113,208 · related or exempt $113,208
2b · Program service revenue: State Contracts

total $105,510 · related or exempt $105,510
2c · Program service revenue: Service Fees

total $825 · related or exempt $825
3 · Investment income

total $509 · excluded $509

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

total $364,250 · program services $225,835 · management and general $91,063 · fundraising $47,352
7 · Other salaries and wages

total $170,214 · program services $105,533 · management and general $42,553 · fundraising $22,128
9 · Other employee benefits

total $70,106 · program services $43,466 · management and general $17,527 · fundraising $9,113
10 · Payroll taxes

total $41,124 · program services $25,497 · management and general $10,281 · fundraising $5,346
11c · Fees: accounting

total $37,561 · management and general $37,561
11e · Fees: professional fundraising services

total $38,500 · fundraising $38,500
11g · Fees: other

total $88,089 · program services $54,615 · management and general $22,022 · fundraising $11,452
13 · Office expenses

total $8,583 · program services $5,321 · management and general $2,146 · fundraising $1,116
14 · Information technology

total $8,593 · program services $5,328 · management and general $2,148 · fundraising $1,117
16 · Occupancy

total $25,204 · program services $15,626 · management and general $6,301 · fundraising $3,277
17 · Travel

total $30,437 · program services $18,871 · management and general $7,609 · fundraising $3,957
23 · Insurance

total $4,406 · program services $2,732 · management and general $1,102 · fundraising $572
24a · Other expenses: Supplies & Equipment

total $12,233 · program services $7,584 · management and general $3,058 · fundraising $1,591
24b · Other expenses: Research and Library

total $9,260 · program services $5,741 · management and general $2,315 · fundraising $1,204
24c · Other expenses: Staff Development

total $2,966 · program services $1,839 · management and general $742 · fundraising $385
24d · Other expenses: Miscellaneous expenses

total $2,335 · program services $1,448 · management and general $584 · fundraising $303
24e · All other expenses

total $692 · program services $429 · management and general $173 · fundraising $90

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

beginning of year $238,379 · end of year $878,575
2 · Savings and temporary cash investments

end of year $9,163
3 · Pledges and grants receivable

beginning of year $174,826 · end of year $26,886
4 · Accounts receivable

beginning of year $296,519 · end of year $19,370
9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges

beginning of year $2,279 · end of year $2,279
10a · Land, buildings and equipment: cost or other basis

$57,811
10b · Land, buildings and equipment: accumulated depreciation

$57,811
10c · Land, buildings and equipment, net

beginning of year $0 · end of year $0
17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

beginning of year $63,824 · end of year $48,076
27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

beginning of year $373,179 · end of year $858,197
28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

beginning of year $275,000 · end of year $30,000

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which operates a law center that provides legal services and support to America's family farmers and their communities to help keep farmers on the land.

During the entirety of 2024, FLAG also continued operating its national Family Farmer Legal Assistance Hotline and answered calls from across the United States on a broad range of issues including bankruptcy; farm business issues; contracts; crop insurance; disaster assistance; discrimination; private and USDA Farm Service Agency credit/lending issues; farmland access; farm family probate/wills/estates matters; farmer-lender mediation; federal support and relief programs, rules, and regulations; appeals of adverse federal agency decisions; foreclosures; landlord/tenant disputes; property rights; and other issues. During this year, FLAG attorneys conducted nineteen trainings attended by more than 600 farmers, farm advocates, attorneys, and other interested individuals. Topics included farm borrowers' rights, federal farm programs, farm credit, and other pressing legal issues facing farmers throughout the year. FLAG attorneys also published a 256-page Farmers' Guide to Minnesota Lending Law.During 2024, FLAG held five free Continuing Legal Education classes for attorneys, and four professional development educational sessions for agricultural professionals in Minnesota. In total, 247 agricultural professionals attended the professional development educational series.The aim of these two series was to give rural attorneys, and agricultural professionals who assist farmers, knowledge of agricultural/farm lending law, so they can know what practices farmers should follow to obtain and maintain access to credit, and to know borrowers' rights and options when disputes over credit and lending occur. Free legal, or farmer peer support, services are a key component of helping financially distressed farmers in Minnesota. Farmers experiencing occupational stress or behavioral or mental health issues invariably have legal, business, financial or credit problems requiring the services of an attorney or peer supporter. Such legal problems significantly compound, and are often the cause of, significant stress and behavioral problems. Access to lawyers helps resolve those problems, which reduces farmer stress and helps get the farm back to relatively normal operations.Unfortunately, it has become an increasingly acute problem that most Minnesota farmers do not have access to adequate legal representation, especially involving debt disputes, borrowers' rights, and other matters related to farm credit and lending law. Meanwhile, banks and lenders are well represented by sophisticated attorneys, leaving a very uneven playing field for financially troubled and stressed farm families.To increase the number of rural Minnesota attorneys representing farmers in financial disputes with lenders, or in other similar adversarial situations, FLAG offered free CLEs on Minnesota agricultural/farm lending law. In collaboration with the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, FLAG developed and delivered educational materials and a series of four free live, interactive Continuing Legal Education webinars, including free CLE credits for attorneys, along with archived on-demand videos of those webinars.The CLEs and CLE materials provided attorneys representing farmers in adversarial disputes the tools they need to stand up for farm families and ensure that farmers' rights are heard and protected, especially at vulnerable times for farm families experiencing financial and mental or behavioral distress.FLAG's website, and the Farmers' Guides hosted there, were accessed by thousands of unique visitors during the year.

Expenses $519,865 · Revenue $219,543

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Terry VanDerPol

President

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Lois Wood

Secretary / Treasurer

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Susan Schneider

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Benny Bunting

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Thomas Mitchell

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Dania Davy

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Stu Lourey

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Scott Carlson

Executive Director

Total calculated

$188,781

From this org

$188,781

From related orgs

$0

Other

$0

Hours/week

45

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$188,781

Bonus

$0

Other

$0

Deferred

$0

Nontaxable benefits

$0

Filer's total

$188,781
James Carpenter

Deputy Director/Senior Staff Attorney

Total calculated

$175,469

From this org

$175,469

From related orgs

$0

Other

$0

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$175,469

Bonus

$0

Other

$0

Deferred

$0

Nontaxable benefits

$0

Filer's total

$175,469

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

3 · Compensation committee

Answered no

4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan
4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement
5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
7 · Other non-fixed payments
8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

The filer's explanations (Part III)

Part I, Line 3: The Board of Directors Executive Committee is responsible for evaluating the Executive Director and reviewing the compensation package and comparing the package to comparable positions in comparable organizations.

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type: form_990
Tax year: 2024
Filed: 14 November 2025
IRS schema version: 2024v5.2
Source object: 202503189349309715

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