Transparency · Updated October 2026
Our finances
What we raise, what we spend, what a week of work costs, and how far ahead we are. We update this page after each board meeting.
This page is a work in progress. Figures are from our board reports and budget, and some are estimates. Our FY2026 Form 990 will be available here shortly.
Our goal: 26 weeks ahead
Today we’re about 5 weeks ahead of our costs. On October 13 we had $16,500 in the bank, before that week’s $3,000 payroll. We want to be 26 weeks ahead: about $75,000, or six months of costs.
Six months ahead means a slow fundraising month never puts payroll at risk, and we can plan the year instead of the week.
What a week costs
$2,800
Payroll, every week (board finance report, October 2026)
About $100
Running the organization: insurance, accounting, software and payroll service, about $5,000 a year
About $2,900
Total cost of a week at Joy Grows, before building projects
Program costs like youth programs, meals and seed aren’t included yet: right now our team’s time and our money are going into building the greenhouse. Building projects, like the heat and electrical, are one-time costs listed on the farm page.
Under $10 a staff hour
Our team puts in about 290 hours a week. Joy Grows pays about $2,800 of that in cash: under $10 for each hour of work. Counting what the State of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Trust pay, the full cost is about $16.50 an hour.
| Who | Hours a week | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Director (60) and Director of Finance & Marketing (40) | 100 | Joy Grows |
| Three Maryland Service Year members (40, 40 and 30) | 110 | The State pays $12.20 of their $16 an hour; Joy Grows pays the rest, plus payroll taxes |
| Climate Corps member | 40 | Fully covered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust ($34,000 a year) |
| Randy Pitt, outreach and nursery | 20 | Joy Grows |
| Dan Whitney, capital projects | 20 | Volunteer |
| Total | 290 | About $2,800 a week from Joy Grows |
Not counted above: eight New Village Academy interns every Wednesday, and more than 7,000 volunteer hours in FY2026.
Last year: FY2026
Our fiscal year runs June 1 to May 31.
Where the money came from
| Individuals and community | $43,700 |
| Businesses | $20,600 |
| Grants | $7,500 |
| Donated space and materials (in-kind) | $20,400 |
| Total | $92,200 |
Where it went
| Programs | about $41,000 |
| Building projects | about $7,000 |
| Admin and fundraising (includes about $9,000 of donated space) | about $15,000 |
| Total | about $63,000 |
This year: the FY2027 budget
The board’s plan is to raise $400,000 in cash and in-kind support, plus about $40,000 from produce, flowers, compost and other sales. The biggest change: paying people. Pay was about 15% of our spending in FY2026. In FY2027 it’s about half, because paying neighbors to build and run the farm is the program.
| Spending plan | FY2027 | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Programs | $253,900 | Team pay, Service Year and Climate Corps (including $73,000 the programs cover), teacher stipends, youth programs, seed and soil, meals |
| Building projects | $108,000 | Greenhouse, heat and utilities, kitchen and cold storage, compost, nursery, electrical |
| Admin and fundraising | $60,000 | Mostly staff time for fundraising and grants. Actual bills (accounting, insurance, software) run about $5,000 a year. |
| Total | $421,900 |
How we handle your gift
- Gifts for a purpose stay with that purpose. Gifts to the Service Year campaign pay only the Service Year team’s pay and payroll costs. If we raise more than the goal, the extra supports our youth and service programs.
- Building gifts go to the greenhouse and farm build list on the farm page.
- Donated materials and equipment are recorded at their value and reported to the board.
Organization and documents
Joy Grows is the trade name of Annapolis Ag Inc., a Maryland nonprofit corporation and a 501(c)(3) public charity. Gifts to Joy Grows are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Organization
- Legal name: Annapolis Ag Inc., doing business as Joy Grows
- EIN: 88-1560600
- Tax status: 501(c)(3) public charity, tax-exempt since April 4, 2022
- Fiscal year: June 1 to May 31
- Mailing address: 701 Chesapeake Ave, Annapolis, MD 21403
- Mission: To build community skills through farm-to-table programs that combat food insecurity.
Documents
Board of Directors
- Pantha Stansbury, Chair
- Donna Johnson
- Tamela Spencer
- Brian Stewart
- Dan Whitney
Executive Director: Matthew Wallace. Latest board update.
Coming soon: our conflict of interest, whistleblower, and document retention policies, our FY27 budget summary, and our FY26 Form 990, once they are adopted and filed. Later: cost per program (for example, cost per youth hour), once our hours logs cover every program.
Questions about our finances? Email Lily Fauntleroy, Director of Finance & Marketing, at lily@joy-grows.org. You can also reach Matthew Wallace, Executive Director, at matthew@joy-grows.org or (443) 454-1487, or Pantha Stansbury, Board Chair, at pantha@joy-grows.org.