Cumulative Impact
Audit Report

Purpose of This Document

This document provides a complete, source-by-source account of how SeedMoney arrived at its cumulative impact figures. It is intended for funders, partners, and the public who want to understand not just what was accomplished, but exactly how each number was derived and verified.

This document reflects a comprehensive data review incorporating the following methodology decisions: campaign export files as the primary source for 2015–2025; a $100 minimum threshold for project inclusion; revised 2015 project counting based on keep-what-you-raise model analysis; and corrected geographic data for 144 international projects.

Metrics Defined

2.1 Projects Supported

A “project supported” is any community food garden that received a SeedMoney grant, raised crowdfunds through SeedMoney’s platform, or both — with a minimum of $100 in combined support.

2.2 Community Investment Catalyzed

The total dollars flowing to funded projects: crowdfunds raised through SeedMoney’s platform plus all SeedMoney challenge grants disbursed. This is a measure of the full economic activity SeedMoney enabled, not just its own spending.

2.3 SeedMoney Grants Awarded

The subset of community investment representing dollars awarded directly by SeedMoney (challenge grants). This is SeedMoney’s direct financial contribution, distinct from the crowdfunds raised by projects themselves.

2.4 People Reached

Estimated as the number of funded projects multiplied by 300 people per project. This multiplier is validated by self-reported data: the median self-reported reach across 3,447 projects with data is 270 people, closely supporting the 300 estimate. The 300 figure is applied uniformly to all projects as a conservative whole-program estimate.

2.5 Servings of Produce Grown

Estimated as the number of funded projects multiplied by 2,000 servings per project. Derived from a median garden size of approximately 1,000 sq ft, an assumed yield of 0.5 lbs per sq ft, and 2 servings per pound — giving 1,000 servings per 1,000 sq ft, or 2,000 servings for a 2,000 sq ft median-sized garden. Methodology validated by Rutgers NJAES research.

2.6 Geographic Reach

U.S. reach is the number of distinct states, territories, and D.C. represented among funded projects. International reach is the number of distinct countries outside the U.S.

All-Programs Summary

SeedMoney has operated three grant programs since 2012. Community investment applies to the crowdgrant program only (crowdfunds + challenge grants). SIF and ABO figures reflect grants only.

Year-by-Year Breakdown — Crowdgrant Program

Source: annual challenge campaign export files. A project is counted as supported if it received a grant or raised ≥$100 in crowdfunds through SeedMoney’s platform.

* People reached estimated at 300 per project. Applies uniformly across all years.

Self-Reported Project Data

As part of the grant application, projects report the number of people they expect to reach and the size of the garden. This self-reported data serves as an independent validation of SeedMoney’s estimated multipliers.

Maine Impact Summary

Maine figures compiled across all three programs: 217 crowdgrant projects (2015–2025), 105 Sow it Forward projects (2013–2015), and 2 ABO Organic projects (2021).

Community investment figure reflects crowdgrant program only ($222,156 crowdfunds + $92,694 in CG grants). Self-reported people reached: 195,641.

Data Sources

Data Limitations & Notes

• $100 minimum threshold: Projects receiving less than $100 in combined support are excluded. The 327 excluded projects account for 0.4% of total dollars.
• Community investment scope: The $3,792,512 community investment figure covers the crowdgrant program (2015–2025) only. SIF and ABO were traditional grant programs with no crowdfunding component.
• Accounting corroboration: The accounting total ($3,295,321 Wave + QBO combined) intentionally excludes 2025 grant disbursements, which are still in progress at the time of this report. Removing 2025 from the campaign export figures ($3,792,512 − $519,793 = $3,272,719) brings the two figures to within $22,602 of each other — a reconciliation gap of less than 1%.
• Self-reported outlier treatment: People reached values are capped at 10,000 per project (52 projects affected). Garden size values are capped at 435,600 sq ft / 10 acres (36 projects affected).
• Geographic data: The Country field in the project database was significantly underpopulated. A comprehensive geocoding pass resolved 144 international projects previously missing country data, bringing international coverage to 63 countries.