Special Ops Survivors

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810567790
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
El Dorado Hills, CA, USA
Phone
6194371137
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Family Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,189
Expenses
$120,736
Assets
$49,417
Liabilities
$121,764

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • KATHY HUMPHREYS (BM/OUTREACH)
  • ERIC KNIRK (BOARD MEMBER)
  • LAURA LAPEZE (TREASURER/EX)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Special ops survivors advances the mission "to embrace and empower surviving spouses of fallen special operations heroes to build healthy post-loss futures as they transition and rebuild their new lives." the foundation provides programs specifically designed to a) empower and educate, b) build and enhance resiliency, c) improve health and wellness, d)fund education and career advancement, and e) offer financial assistance for unexpected expenses.

What it reported doing in 2025

Group and individual emotional support: special ops survivors (sos) channels the healing power of bonds so that survivors do not weather their tragedies alone. Spouses have a shared experience as military families operating in special operations communities - lifestyles that can be markedly distinct from more traditional military units. As such, the bonds formed among them are both strong and lasting. Special ops survivors provides communities so that survivors may stay strong together. Resiliency retreats (group): annually, sos holds a national survivor's resiliency retreat. Though each year the retreat has a unique theme, the consistent outcome is to offer peer-based emotional assistance and to provide practical life-skills training for survivors to better manage their day-to-day lives. Sos covers costs, including local transportation, meals, lodging, speakers, workshops and extracurricular activities. "forget me not" outreaches (individual): sos maintains regular contact with our survivors through direct communications and quarterly remembrances or outreaches. These enduring outreaches are essential to our survivors' well-being because they demonstrate to our survivors that they are not forgotten and that they are not alone. Outreaches were sent around valentine's day, memorial day, christmas, the survivor's birthdays and special remembrance days with their fallen hero.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: Limited
  • 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -420.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.46; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $103K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.