Mustard Seed Communities

Legal name: Mustard Seed Communities Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581657207
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Needham, MA, USA
Phone
5082429622
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,337,462
Expenses
$9,247,735
Assets
$6,428,677
Liabilities
$416,688

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH FOUNTAIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH FOUNTAIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $189,858 total reported compensation
  • KRISTEN DAWN (DIR. OF COMS. & DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT): $124,181 total reported compensation
  • CATHERINE BATEN (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT (UNTIL 12/25)): $114,005 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Inspired by the healing and caring Ministry of Jesus Christ, Mustard Seed Communities aims to uplift the most vulnerable members of society—especially children living with disabilities who have been abandoned, and marginalized communities—through positive interaction of caring, sharing and training; they are committed to the fostering of homes and communities that lead to loving service, mutual respect, and bring joy, hope and dignity.

What it reported doing in 2025

Mustard seed communities (msc) provides lifelong residential care to children and adults with disabilities who have been abandoned. Residential care is provided in jamaica, nicaragua, dominican republic, zimbabwe and malawi. In addition to caring for individuals who are disabled, msc cares for teenage mothers in crisis and their babies in jamaica, and for children affected by HIV in jamaica and zimbabwe.msc operates numerous community development and outreach initiatives including feeding programs, schools, computer labs, community radio and sustainable agriculture.jamaica - msc provides residential care for over 500 children, young adults, teen mothers and their babies in twelve homes throughout the country. Msc manages several community outreach programs to combat poverty and provide education. Little angels learning centers, a registered school system, is one of msc's primary outreach initiatives, providing education to approximately 150 children.nicaragua - msc provides residential care for over 70 children and young adults with disabilities. Msc's outreach program, christ in the garbage, provides food packages and skills training to women and families living in the community outside of what was previously la chureca, the managua city dump.dominican republic - msc provides residential care for over 70 children and adults with disabilities. Beyond residential care, msc dominican republic actively engages in community development and outreach, offering jobs, training, and nutrition programs to enhance the well-being of the local community.zimbabwe - msc provides residential care for over 50 children with disabilities or affected by HIV across three residential care facilities in bulawayo. Msc operates 5 nutrition programs which provide a daily meal to over 1,200 children and operates two preschools that provide basic education and 2 meals a day to over 80 children. Malawi - msc provides residential care for 15 children with disabilities. Construction is currently underway for a new residential facility that will be home to an additional 45 children with disabilities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.5%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.