What Gaining Ground, Inc. does

Gaining Ground, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organic farm founded in 1990 and operating since 1994 in Concord, Massachusetts. The organization grows over 50 varieties of vegetables, fruits, and herbs using regenerative no-till farming practices across approximately 20 acres (about 8 actively cultivated), including a primary site on the Thoreau Birthplace Farm property at 341 Virginia Road and a 2024-licensed 6+ acre plot within Minute Man National Historical Park. In 2024 the farm produced over 138,000 pounds of produce, with a stated 2026 target of 150,000+ pounds, and it donates 100% of output at no cost to food-insecure populations through 18 hunger relief partner organizations and a direct Food for Families CSA-style program serving 115 households. Distribution is hyper-local - within 20 miles of the farm and within 24 hours of harvest - and since 2020 the farm has operated year-round, including a winter growing effort. Volunteer-powered operations engage over 3,200 individuals per growing season, supported by a small year-round staff of seven plus seasonal growers, apprentices, interns, and field crew.

The organization runs an integrated portfolio of programs beyond raw produce donation: a paid Farming Apprenticeship (three participants annually), an unpaid Summer Internship (two to three college students), a High School Farm Team summer cohort for ages 14-18, and a planned-giving/legacy donation program. Ancillary operations include a traditional maple sugaring operation with sugar shack and a Gaining Ground cookbook sold to supporters. Marketing and fundraising are community-led across email newsletters, Facebook, Instagram, a blog with archives back to 2015, farm events, referral networks through partner organizations, and tiered corporate volunteer donation pricing ($750-$1,250 per session by group size).

Revenue is entirely donation-based, drawing on a diversified base of individual donors, corporate partners, nine or more named foundations (Cummings Foundation, Boston Foundation, Community Foundation for MetroWest, Concord-Carlisle Community Chest, Clif Family Foundation, Cabot Family Charitable Trust, Greater Lowell Community Foundation, Metrowest Community Healthcare Foundation), corporate employee giving funds, a giving circle, and planned-giving/bequest contributions. The organization holds Charity Navigator four-star, Candid/GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency, and 2026 Social Innovation Forum Social Innovator designations.

Name

Gaining Ground, Inc.

Legal name

Gaining Ground, Inc.

Website

https://gainingground.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Organic Farm and Hunger Relief Services

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112), Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regenerative Agriculture (Soil Carbon, Cover Crops, Reduced/No-Till) (AFAGAMAA), Organic Greenhouse & Protected Crop Farming (High Tunnels, Greenhouses) (AFAGAKAD)

Keywords

• Organic farming
• Hunger relief services
• Food donation program
• Regenerative agriculture
• Nonprofit community farm

Headquarters

HQ city

Concord

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Relies on donations from individuals to support ongoing operations and programs.
2. Corporate and Group Donations: Accepts donations from businesses, corporations, civic groups, and faith communities. Corporate teams are requested to make donations to cover operational costs of volunteer experiences.
3. Foundation and Grant Funding: Receives support from family trusts and grant-making organizations including Cummings Foundation, Boston Foundation, Community Foundation for MetroWest, and others.
4. Planned Giving and Bequests: Accepts planned gifts through wills, charitable trusts, retirement account beneficiaries, and life insurance policy designations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Gaining Ground operates a regenerative no-till organic farm in Concord, Massachusetts, growing over 50 varieties of vegetables, fruits, and herbs on approximately 8 actively cultivated acres and donating 100% of the harvest at no cost to people experiencing food insecurity. Produce is distributed through a network of 18 hunger relief partner organizations and through a direct-to-household Food for Families CSA-style program, with year-round distribution in place since 2020.

Product overview

Gaining Ground, Inc. is a non-profit, no-till organic farm that operates as a single unified hunger relief operation. The organization grows and donates fresh organic produce through three interconnected channels: direct donation to 17-18 partner organizations (food pantries, meal programs, shelters), the Food for Families CSA-style distribution program serving 115 local households, and seasonal volunteer farming opportunities. Supporting programs include the High School Farm Team, Farming Apprenticeship Program, and Summer Internship Program. The organization also produces maple syrup and publishes a cookbook as ancillary products. All offerings center on the core mission of hunger relief through sustainable agriculture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fresh Produce Donation Program
• Food for Families CSA-Style Distribution
• Volunteer Farming Program
• High School Farm Team
• Farming Apprenticeship Program
• Maple Syrup Operation
• Gaining Ground Cookbook

Quantifiable outcome

• Grown from 2,000 pounds in first year (1994) to over 138,000 pounds in 2024
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bedford Food BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHunger relief partner receiving Gaining Ground produce. Provides free groceries to local residents experiencing food insecurity, serving 175 households each week.
• Bridge Boston Charter SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner using Gaining Ground produce in nutritious meals for 339 economically disadvantaged students since 2019.
• Community TeamworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead Start program partner incorporating produce into daily meals for preschool children at four centers in Lowell and Dracut, plus summer CSA distribution to 120 families.
• Daniel's TablecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFramingham-based hunger relief partner distributing Gaining Ground produce through Community Freezer Program and weekly food pantries serving 600 households.
• La ColaborativacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Chelsea-based partner supplying culturally-relevant groceries to 5,000 households weekly, plus nutrition and culinary education programs.
• Open TablecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongest-running partner (30 years) providing food pantries twice weekly in Maynard and grocery deliveries to 250+ guests weekly across 21 communities.
• Sudbury Food PantrycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner30-year partnership distributing produce to 75 families weekly in Sudbury and 50+ other towns in the MetroWest region.
• East Boston Community Soup KitchenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEast Boston partner distributing produce weekly to 200-250 households.
• Eastie FarmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEast Boston partner distributing produce weekly to 100 households.
• Harvard Square Churches Meal ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCambridge-based partner using vegetables in homemade meals served to 100 unhoused individuals each Thursday.
• Healthy WalthamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaltham partner distributing produce at bimonthly free food distributions serving 650 visitors.
• House of HopeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLowell shelter providing meals for 45 mothers and children across four sites.
• Loaves and FishesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional pantry serving residents of Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, and Shirley.
• Lowell Transitional Living CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLowell partner providing meals, shelter, and services to 180 unhoused or food-insecure individuals daily.
• UTECminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLowell workforce development organization using produce in Madd Love Meals program for at-risk youth.
• Westford Council on AgingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSenior services partner providing CSA-style produce distribution to 45-50 senior housing residents.
• Women's Lunch PlaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoston partner providing meals to over 400 women experiencing homelessness and food insecurity weekly.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Food for Free: Cambridge, MA nonprofit that rescues fresh produce and distributes it to pantries and meal programs across Greater Boston — comparable regional hunger-relief distribution model and partner-network overlap.
• The Food Project: Massachusetts-based nonprofit that grows organic produce on urban and suburban farms and donates to hunger relief organizations, employing youth and volunteers — directly comparable to Gaining Ground's mission and operating model.
• Mill City Grows: Lowell, MA-based nonprofit operating community gardens and urban farms with food access programming for food-insecure residents — overlapping mission and Greater Boston/Eastern MA geographic footprint.
• Boston Area Gleaners: Nonprofit that gleans surplus produce from Massachusetts farms and distributes it to hunger relief organizations across the region — overlapping mission of redirecting fresh produce to food-insecure populations in Greater Boston.
• Waltham Fields Community Farm: Nonprofit organic farm in Waltham, MA that donates significant shares of its harvest to local food pantries and runs education and volunteer programs — directly comparable nonprofit farm model in the same metro.

Broad incumbents

• Heifer International: Large global nonprofit addressing hunger and poverty through sustainable agriculture — broader in scale and geography but shares the sustainable-agriculture-for-hunger-relief mission framing.
• Feeding America: National hunger-relief network of food banks — overlaps with Gaining Ground's downstream partner pantries (e.g., Bedford Food Bank) but operates at vastly larger scale as a wholesale food-distribution intermediary.

Regional players

• Cape Ann Farmers Market / Cape Cod Food Access: Massachusetts-based nonprofit food access organizations with comparable produce-donation and volunteer-driven models serving distinct regional catchments beyond Greater Boston.

Emerging players

• Land's Sake: Weston, MA nonprofit farm running educational, volunteer, and small-scale donation programs — comparable Massachusetts nonprofit farm model with adjacent but partial overlap in donation scale and partner network.

Others

• Project Bread: Massachusetts statewide anti-hunger nonprofit addressing food insecurity through advocacy, direct programs, and grantmaking — addresses the same end beneficiaries as Gaining Ground but through advocacy/funding rather than farm production.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/GGConcord
• Instagraminstagram.com/gaininggroundconcord
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gaining-ground

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gaining Ground, Inc.