Selamta Family Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202199559
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lake Placid, FL, USA
Phone
8456610051
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$545,943
Expenses
$466,823
Assets
$139,088
Liabilities
$26,522

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JULIA ROBERTSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ANDREW BURMEISTER (PRESIDENT/SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIA ROBERTSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $61,827 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Every child deserves the love of a healthy family. But children who have been orphaned or abandoned are often alone, separated from siblings, and left to fend for themselves in orphanages or on the street. Selamta recreates and empowers families so these children can grow up knowing their god-given dignity and worth, healing generational brokenness, and transforming lives. Selamta's holistic, community-integrated, permanent approach brings children from institutions and the street into the loving arms of a healthy family where hope and healing are found.

What it reported doing in 2024

The need for selamta's programs is significant. Poverty, brokenness, and a lack of domestic adoption in ethiopia create an urgent need for alternatives to institutions or life on the streets. Children often come to selamta from government orphanages and institutions, where they may be separated from siblings and left to fend for themselves. Our forever families provide a permanent solution, recreating and empowering families so these children can thrive. Selamta is transforming lives through our core competencies: wraparound care: our professional team focuses on education, health and wellness, psychosocial support, and spiritual development, providing the structure and support necessary for each individual and family to grow and address their needs.community integration: we leverage the systems and resources of the local community, including schools, churches, community programs, and medical resources, to ensure our families' needs are met. When local resources are unavailable, we extend beyond geographical boundaries to secure what's needed.permanency: placement with a forever family is permanent. Even after a child grows up and establishes themselves, they always have a support network from their family and selamta's professional team.while a culture of adoption is being nurtured in ethiopia, selamta's forever families stand in the gap for children who need to know the love of a family today. In 2024, selamta family project marked a historic milestone by launching our first full forever family into independence after 19 years of holistic care. This year also saw the publication of a phd dissertation from the university of Florida highlighting the transformative impact of our model-100% of selamta youth graduated high school (vs. 17% national average), 78% completed higher education (vs. 3%), and all secured housing and employment, with one becoming a homeowner. Our team continued to influence national child welfare policy in ethiopia, participating in the development of a national standard of care for youth aging out of care. We successfully transitioned 14 youth into independent living, while continuing to provide individualized, holistic support across education, health, and spiritual development. This included specialized school placements, chronic and acute health care support, and consistent faith-based programming. Through these efforts, selamta has strengthened our families, bringing hope and stability to their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 84% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.5%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.5%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.5% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $385K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $62K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.