Gift of Farmland

HOW IT WORKS: Many people don’t realize that they can leave farmland to the institution. Monmouth’s vice president for finance and business, Holly Tharp, explained how the process works. “It’s a flex lease, which means we get a set rent price per acre plus an amount based on prices and yields for the year. The exact details of the lease arrangement are handled by our farm managers at Midwest Bank. We do not actually receive any of the crop yield or have to manage the selling of product.”

KEEPING THE LAND: Monmouth College owns four farms in the Monmouth area—the Capron Farm, the Everett Farm, the Lanphere-Defenbaugh Farm, and the Vance Farm. “Many other charitable organizations will accept gifts of farmland, but they’ll sell it,” said Gena Corbin Alcorn ’88, Monmouth’s assistant vice president for development and legacy giving. “We don’t sell the land. It becomes part of our investment portfolio, which helps us diversify, especially when markets are volatile. 

AN IMPACTFUL GIFT: “When I tell donors that I understand how impactful a gift of farm ground is for the College, I’m sincere,” said Alcorn. “I grew up on a small family farm, and I know how hard farm families work to keep their ground producing crops each year. Those farms feed families, and they are oftentimes a legacy for generations of families—so when a donor decides to gift a farm to the College, it’s with an overwhelming feeling of pride and gratitude that we accept such a gift. I’m always open to talking to alumni and friends of the College about gifts of farmland.”