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Human Rights Watch

New York, NY · EIN 13-2875808 · 501(c)(3) · Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
Latest filing: Form 990 for the 3-month short period ending September 30, 2025 (tax year 2024) · View the filing · Correct or respond

Human Rights Watch reported $85.0 million in revenue and $101.6 million in expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Of every $100 it spent, $68.67 went to program services, $13.71 to management and general costs and $17.62 to fundraising. Its largest source of revenue was contributions and grants: 95.7% of the total. The highest compensation it reported for one person was $559,479 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR). 118 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Revenue rose 21% between FY2020 and FY2025. Source: Form 990, FY2025 (3 mo.).

Where $100 of spending went

The 3-month short period ending September 30, 2025 · Form 990, Part IX, line 25 · total expenses $102M

Program services$68.67 $70M
Management & general$13.71 $14M
Fundraising$17.62 $18M

For context, the median across 469 covered international, foreign affairs & national security charities: $89.04 programs, $8.28 management, $2.68 fundraising (medians computed separately, so they may not sum to $100).

Where $100 of revenue came from

The 3-month short period ending September 30, 2025 · Form 990, Part VIII · total revenue $85M

Contributions & grants (non-government)$95.65 $81M
Program service revenue$0.00 $991
Investment income$3.50 $3.0M
Other revenue$0.85 $717K

The 990 scorecard · same measures for every charity, no grades

FY2025 filing. Median across 469 covered charities in this category, from their latest filings.
Measure	FY2025	Median
Program services Part IX 25(B) ÷ 25(A)	68.7%	86.1%
Management & general Part IX 25(C) ÷ 25(A)	13.7%	8.0%
Fundraising Part IX 25(D) ÷ 25(A)	17.6%	2.6%
Fundraising cost per $1 of contributions Part IX 25(D) ÷ Part VIII 1h	$0.22	$0.03
Contributions & grants share of revenue Part VIII 1h ÷ 12	95.7%	96.6%
Government grants share of revenue Part VIII 1e ÷ 12	0.0%	0.0%
Program service revenue share Part VIII 2g ÷ 12	0.0%	0.0%
Highest reported compensation Part VII-A, columns D–F	$559,479	$341,362
Highest compensation as share of expenses Part VII-A ÷ Part IX 25(A)	0.55%	1.06%
People paid over $100,000 Part VII, line 2	118	10
Net assets, in months of expenses Part X 33(B) ÷ monthly expenses	23.1	7.5
Independent voting board members Part VI 1a–1b	25 of 25	100.0%

A median is context, not a target: hospitals, universities, food banks and grantmakers spend in very different ways. What these measures can and can't tell you.

What the money paid for, in its own words

FY2025 (3 mo.) · Form 990, Part III · the three largest programs by expense

$8.6M expenses · 12.3% of program spending

Asia division of Human Rights Watch, inc. Monitors and promotes Human Rights in asian countries from afghanistan to the east. Human Rights Watch sends investigative missions to collect information and reports its findings to the public

$8.3M expenses · 11.8% of program spending

Middle east & north africa - for more than two decades, Human Rights Watch has worked to expose and curb a wide range of Human Rights violations in the middle east and north africa. With a staff of more than 30 people, we report on 17 countries in the region from our localoffices in tunisia, lebanon, israel, jordan, as well as from our other international offices

$6.9M expenses · 9.8% of program spending · grants $2.7M

The europe & central asia division of hrw monitors and promotes Human Rights in asian countries from afghanistan to the east. Human Rights Watch sends investigative missions to collect information and reports its findings to the public

$46M all other programs (line 4d)

Highest reported compensation

FY2025 (3 mo.) · Form 990, Part VII, Section A · roles as filed; names are in the filing, not here

Role	From this org	From related orgs	Other	Total
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$494,642	$0	$64,837	$559,479
FORMER IT DIRECTOR Former, 0.00 hrs/week	$452,925	$0	$25,039	$477,964
FORMER COO Former, 0.00 hrs/week	$395,835	$0	$31,830	$427,665
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Key employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$322,980	$0	$77,544	$400,524
CHIEF ADVOCACY OFFICER Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$350,609	$0	$18,457	$369,066
GENERAL COUNSEL Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$303,560	$0	$64,069	$367,629
CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATING OFFICER Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$314,260	$0	$44,044	$358,304
DEPUTY PROGRAMS DIRECTOR Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$268,907	$0	$72,606	$341,513

118 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation from Human Rights Watch (Part VII, line 2). Compensation of current officers, directors and key employees totaled $3.6M (Part IX, line 5).

7 filings since FY2020

Form 990, Parts I, VII, IX and X · each row is that year's own filing, linked

RevenueExpensesShort periods (after a fiscal-year change) are in the table, not the chart.

Filing	Revenue	Expenses	Programs	Net assets	Top pay
FY2025 (3 mo.) ⓘ	$19M	$27M	71.2%	$188M	—
FY2025 ⓘ	$85M	$102M	68.7%	$196M	$559,479
FY2024 ⓘ	$78M	$108M	72.7%	$196M	$599,312
FY2023 ⓘ	$94M	$102M	65.9%	$215M	$2,799,333
FY2022 ⓘ	$93M	$92M	68.7%	$219M	$689,405
FY2021 ⓘ	$97M	$84M	71.2%	$237M	$640,970
FY2020 ⓘ	$70M	$84M	72.0%	$191M	$657,425

Governance answers, as filed

FY2025 (3 mo.) · the organization's own yes/no answers; explanations, if any, are in Schedule O of the filing · what each means

Voting board members, and how many are independent Part VI, lines 1a–1b25 · 25 independent
Audited financial statements Part XII 2bYes
Conflict-of-interest policy Part VI 12aYes
Whistleblower policy Part VI 13Yes
Document retention policy Part VI 14Yes
Independent process for top executive pay Part VI 15aYes
Board given the 990 before filing Part VI 11aYes
Family or business ties among insiders Part VI 2No
Aware of a significant diversion of assets Part VI 5No
Excess benefit transaction with an insider Part IV 25aNo
Loans to or from insiders outstanding Part IV 26No
Lobbying, or a 501(h) election in effect Part IV 4Yes
Over $15,000 of professional fundraising services Part IV 18Yes
Over $10,000 of activity outside the U.S. Part IV 14bYes
Employees Part I, line 5493
Volunteers Part I, line 625

Largest outside contractors

FY2025 (3 mo.) · Form 990, Part VII, Section B · businesses only

SALESFORCE INC Technology database services	$1,122,089
BRIGHT VISIONZ INC Marketing consulting fees	$922,400
LANDSEER SERVICES LLC Investment consulting fees	$750,000
COMMUNITY COUNSELLING SERVICE Consulting fees	$570,644

Individuals listed as contractors are left out. 31 contractors were paid more than $100,000 in all.

Private foundation grants it received

191 private foundations reported grants to Human Rights Watch totaling $23M on their tax year 2023 Form 990-PF returns. See which foundations, on WHOFUNDS.

Source: WHOFUNDS open grant graph, matched from Form 990-PF Part XV.

Correct a figure or respond

Every number above is copied from Human Rights Watch's own Form 990. If one doesn't match the filing, that's our error and we'll fix it. If you work for Human Rights Watch, you can publish a response that is linked from this page.

Report a correction Respond as Human Rights Watch How this works

Similar-sized charities in this cause

Cis Development Foundation
East Brunswick, NJ · revenue $82M · programs 99.7% · FY2025
Oxfam-America
Boston, MA · revenue $85M · programs 71.2% · FY2026
The Central European University
New York, NY · revenue $82M · programs 99.7% · FY2025
International Rice Research Institute
Alexandria, VA · revenue $86M · programs 85.3% · 2024
The Rhodes Trust
United Kingdom, · revenue $81M · programs 91.7% · FY2025

All international, foreign affairs & national security charities · Largest charities in New York

Questions people ask

How much of Human Rights Watch's spending goes to programs?

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, Human Rights Watch reported that 68.7% of its $101.6 million in expenses went to program services, 13.7% to management and general and 17.6% to fundraising (Form 990, Part IX).

How much does Human Rights Watch pay its top executive?

The largest total compensation Human Rights Watch reported for one person in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 was $559,479, for the role of EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (Form 990, Part VII, including compensation from related organizations and other compensation).

Where does Human Rights Watch get its money?

Of $85.0 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, 95.7% came from contributions and grants and 0.0% from program service revenue (Form 990, Part VIII).

Is Human Rights Watch a registered charity?

The IRS lists EIN 13-2875808 as a 501(c)(3) organization (publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(a)(vi))), and its records show contributions as tax-deductible. Form 990 filings on record here cover tax years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. A filing shows what the organization reported; it doesn't by itself show whether a program works.

Sources

FY2025 (3 mo.): Form 990 for the 3-month short period ending September 30, 2025, object 202612309349300726 · read the filing
FY2025: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, object 202601359349308190 · read the filing
FY2024: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, object 202531359349307193 · read the filing
FY2023: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, object 202421389349301467 · read the filing
FY2022: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, object 202331339349301123 · read the filing
FY2021: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, object 202211319349302626 · read the filing
FY2020: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, object 202141339349305559 · read the filing

All filings for EIN 13-2875808: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Figures are as the organization reported them; we have not audited them.