The MISS Foundation Mothers in Sympathy & Support

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, we helped thousands of family members through our HOPE Mentor Program, counseling services, online forums, support groups and Selah Carefarm visits. We offered free and affordable counseling to those in need. Our staff of highly trained traumatic grief counselors provided thousands of counseling and crisis intervention hours, and contributed $300,000 of free counseling hours for families in need. Our volunteers sent 338 support packets to grieving families. We connected our HOPE mentors to bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents, averaging 360 volunteer hours. Our facilitators held support groups for grieving family members (virtual and in person). We also hosted International Kindness Project Day and distributed 2,165 free kindness packets worldwide. Community education and professional training were also core pillars of our mission. This year, we delivered nearly 500 hours of community education, reaching diverse audiences including institutions such as Harvard Law School and the Mayo Clinic. Through our Compassionate Bereavement Care (CBC) Certification Program, we reached out to local communities, training 160 new providers to offer expert care in their own communities to families who have a child who is dying or who has died. A documentary short about Selah Carefarm, produced by Jon Bregel, won the Sedona International Film Festival. The film offers a quiet, intimate exploration of what it means to live with grief rather than recover from it. Selah Carefarm achieved Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) certification in 2025, affirming our commitment to excellence, transparency, and animal welfare. Our founder Dr. Joanne Cacciatore was honored in 2025 with induction as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), a distinction recognizing scholars, practitioners, and policy leaders whose work advances social good through sustained, high-impact contributions. She also received the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) Research Recognition Award, honoring her decades of scholarship and leadership that have significantly contributed to the field of thanatology and the understanding of death, loss, and bereavement.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 81.7%; rating input score 82
• Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
• Fundraising efficiency: $83.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 10th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 8.3%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.87; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 24.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings