Sustainability is Justice

Angela Mew, Executive Director
June 2026

We spend a great deal of time talking about justice at our organization. 

We talk about advanced DNA testing, the latest in forensic technology, public awareness campaigns, and the partnerships that help law enforcement solve violent crimes and provide answers to families and loved ones. 

But lately, we’ve been thinking about something that doesn’t get discussed nearly as often: sustainability.

Sustainability doesn’t generate headlines the way a solved case does. It doesn’t create the same excitement as a forensic breakthrough or a long-awaited identification. Yet sustainability is what makes those outcomes possible.

For nonprofits, sustainability is not simply about surviving. It is about having the stability to think beyond the next year and make decisions that strengthen the mission for the long term.

Unfortunately, many organizations struggle to do that. According to the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2025 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey, 52% of nonprofits reported having three months or less cash on hand, while 18% had one month or less. The same survey found that 36% of nonprofits ended 2024 with an operating deficit, the highest level reported in the survey’s ten-year history.

Without financial stability, organizations are often forced to operate reactively, focused on immediate needs, short-term funding gaps, and the next budget cycle. With stability, organizations gain the flexibility to plan strategically, invest in growth, and pursue opportunities that create greater impact.

At Season of Justice, we see the importance of sustainability every day.

Each funding cycle, we receive more qualified applications than we can fund. Many of those requests involve advanced DNA testing or public awareness efforts that could meaningfully advance a case. Yet because our resources are finite, some applications must be deferred to future funding cycles or future years.

For the agencies and families behind those cases, those delays matter.

That reality has shaped how we think about the future of our organization.

We want to build a Season of Justice that is not only capable of supporting today’s cases, but one that is positioned to serve the cold case and homicide investigative community for decades to come. We want to be able to think beyond immediate needs and make decisions that strengthen our impact over the long term.

That is why we are launching the Justice Sustained Fund to help celebrate our 5th year birthday! 

The Justice Sustained Fund is designed to strengthen the long-term future of Season of Justice. In the near term, it will help us increase our organizational reserves that provide long-term stability, flexibility, and the ability to respond strategically to opportunities and challenges. This will allow us to be less reactive, make better long-term decisions, and position the organization for continued growth.

But our vision extends beyond reserves alone.

The Justice Sustained Fund also represents the first step toward building a permanent financial foundation for Season of Justice through an endowment fund. Our goal is to create lasting sustainability that helps ensure this mission can continue serving families, investigators, and communities for generations to come.

The work of justice is rarely immediate. Many of the cases we support take years to reach resolution. Sustainability allows us to approach that work with the same patience, persistence, and long-term commitment that justice itself requires.

Because sustainability is not separate from our mission.

It is what allows our mission to endure.

Source: Nonprofit Finance Fund, 2025 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey Findings.
https://nff.org/insights/2025-state-of-the-nonprofit-sector-survey-findings/