Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture Inc.

“Members, including anyone who donates to cisa and comes to the annual meeting, can vote on a slate of candidates for the board each year.”

“The 990 form is forwarded to the finance committee for review prior to submission. Questions and comments are sent to the executive director, who responds and works with our auditor to make any needed adjustemnts. Upon a satisfactory review from the finance committee, the final form 990 is presented to the board for approval and signatures.”

“The executive director or designee and the executive committee review the conflict of interest forms of all board and staff members annually and tracks status changes to identify possible conflicts that may arise.”

“Compensation was determined at hire with an offer letter agreed to by the executive director. Raises are determined by the board after an annual review. Cisa performs semi-annual comparison studies to ensure its compensation is in-line with similar organizations. The executive director determines compensation for key employees on an annual basis after an annual performance review. Cisa performs semi-annual comparison studies to ensure its compensation is in-line with similar organizations.”

“The organization's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available to the public upon request.”

“We believe that local, prosperous, and diverse farms are essential to the economic health and environmental quality of the region; that an informed and engaged community is essential to the long-term sustainability of our local farms; and that all members of the community should have access to locally-grown food. Our mission is to strengthen farms and engage the community to build the local food economy. Our programs work to bring that mission to reality.”

“Cisa's local hero program educates the community about the many benefits of local agriculture. The local hero program markets local farm products through social media, cisa's website, and press outlets. In 2023, members in cisa's local hero program included 285 farms and 116 retailers, restaurants, institutions, and specialty producers. In 2023, cisa's highlights of local farms were featured in articles, radio, and tv news stories; in over 400 radio, tv, and print ads and psa's; and over 1 million impressions via online advertising. Nearly 20,000 people receive monthly email or social media updates. Cisa's website played a critical role in connecting people to local farms and had 80,000 users and 301,000 page views.”

“Growing the local food system: cisa researches food system gaps and creates opportunities to build the local food economy. In 2023, we helped develop and support farmers in accessing climate and disaster recovery resources.”

“Program consultants 85,342 4,540 2,711 design/photo consultants 21,582 1,147 686 administrative consultants 44,563 2,371 1,415 subaward consultants 292,647 15,568 9,295 service members 7,442 396 236 total 451,576 24,022 14,343”