Give once. Toledo gets it twice.
A generous local supporter has pledged to match every donation to Cultivate Toledo, dollar for dollar, up to $20,000.
That means your gift does double the work: twice the growing beds, twice the hoop house, twice the backing for a farmer-entrepreneur turning a vacant Toledo lot into a working farm. You give once; our farms, our farmers, and our neighborhoods feel it twice.
Every dollar is tax-deductible. Every dollar stays in Toledo.
What this gift builds...
Every dollar you give buys something you can point to — and during the match, it buys two of them.
You give | Toledo gets | What it builds |
|---|---|---|
$25 | $50 | Seeds and soil for a growing bed's full season |
$50 | $100 | Drip irrigation for a row of beds |
$100 | $200 | A complete growing bed — built, filled, and planted |
$500 | $1,000 | A season of coaching for one farmer-entrepreneur |
$2,500 | $5,000 | A serious piece of a hoop house, where farms earn through winter |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. Cultivate Toledo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, certified in July 2026, and gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. You receive a receipt automatically when you give.
If the farms earn revenue, why do you need donations?
Because a farm must be built before it can earn. Donations fund the one-time costs — land preparation, hoop houses, irrigation, growing beds — and the harvest's revenue sustains the farmer from there. Your gift is not charity renewed forever; it is the push that sets a permanent engine running.
Where exactly does my money go?
To physical farm infrastructure, farmer training, and the food hub that connects harvests to buyers. We keep overhead lean!
Who runs the farms?
Trained local farmers. Cultivate Toledo owns each farm site and its infrastructure — the land, the hoop houses, the irrigation, the beds — and trained farmers run them as their own micro-enterprises, keeping the income their harvests earn. That split is deliberate: the farmer carries the business without carrying the capital risk, and the infrastructure stays in the community, serving Toledo farmers for the long run.
Does my gift stay in Toledo?
Entirely. The land is in Toledo, the builders and farmers are in Toledo, and the produce is sold to Toledo restaurants, institutions, and families — so your dollars keep circulating in the same neighborhoods where the farms are built.
What is the difference between giving once and giving monthly?
A one-time gift builds a piece of a farm. Monthly donors give us the predictable support that lets us start the next farm before the last one is finished!
Can I help with something other than money?
Yes — materials and equipment, land, professional services, volunteer hands at builds and harvests, and introductions to buyers and funders are all valuable. Reach out through our Contact Us and tell us what you have.
How will I know what my gift accomplished?
Donors receive our monthly harvest report, and we update the Impact page quarterly with farms built, farmers trained, pounds sold, and dollars earned by farmers. When the farm your gift helped build starts producing, you will know.