Hope for Grieving Families

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
813307448
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7039635927
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$96,279
Expenses
$88,272
Assets
$92,831
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • REBECCA WAGNER (FOUNDER & BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • KIM LEVINSON (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • TARA O'BRIEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TARA O'BRIEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $52,396 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to support and connect grieving families with children in the greater Washington, d.c. Area. We are different from other grief support organizations as we focus on providing fun, family-oriented events and a network of support for families who have experienced a loss of a close family member. We also help connect families with agencies that provide grief counseling and professional services.

What it reported doing in 2025

Hope for grieving families offers monthly activities that are enriching and fun for kids and offers parents time to get to know other parents navigating the grief journey. Creating a community where nobody feels alone is what hope for grieving families is about. The organization provided over 25 events last year, exceeding our goal of one event a month. We also created partnerships with other grief organizations to further our reach and connect with those who would benefit from our community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 71% for direct work, and 29% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.3%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 59.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $66K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.