Radio Free Asia

Washington, DC · EIN 52-1968145 · 501(c)(3) · Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
Latest filing: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025 (tax year 2024) · View the filing · Correct or respond

Radio Free Asia reported $68.9 million in revenue and $70.5 million in expenses for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025. Of every $100 it spent, $62.03 went to program services, $37.97 to management and general costs and $0.00 to fundraising. Its largest source of revenue was contributions and grants: 100.0% of the total. Government grants made up 100.0%. The highest compensation it reported for one person was $314,482 (PRESIDENT). 124 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Revenue rose 27% between FY2020 and FY2025. Source: Form 990, FY2025.

Where $100 of spending went

The fiscal year ending September 30, 2025 · Form 990, Part IX, line 25 · total expenses $71M

Program services$62.03 $44M
Management & general$37.97 $27M
Fundraising$0.00 $0

For context, the median across 876 covered arts, culture & humanities charities: $79.98 programs, $13.89 management, $6.13 fundraising (medians computed separately, so they may not sum to $100).

Where $100 of revenue came from

The fiscal year ending September 30, 2025 · Form 990, Part VIII · total revenue $69M

Government grants$100.00 $69M

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

FY2025 filing. Median across 876 covered charities in this category, from their latest filings.
Measure	FY2025	Median
Program services Part IX 25(B) ÷ 25(A)	62.0%	78.5%
Management & general Part IX 25(C) ÷ 25(A)	38.0%	13.6%
Fundraising Part IX 25(D) ÷ 25(A)	0.0%	6.0%
Fundraising cost per $1 of contributions Part IX 25(D) ÷ Part VIII 1h	$0.00	$0.10
Contributions & grants share of revenue Part VIII 1h ÷ 12	100.0%	57.5%
Government grants share of revenue Part VIII 1e ÷ 12	100.0%	1.7%
Program service revenue share Part VIII 2g ÷ 12	0.0%	20.8%
Highest reported compensation Part VII-A, columns D–F	$314,482	$385,706
Highest compensation as share of expenses Part VII-A ÷ Part IX 25(A)	0.45%	2.03%
People paid over $100,000 Part VII, line 2	124	8
Net assets, in months of expenses Part X 33(B) ÷ monthly expenses	1.2	36.6
Independent voting board members Part VI 1a–1b	7 of 7	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 · Form 990, Part III · the three largest programs by expense

$41M expenses · 93.2% of program spending

Broadcasting and programming operations: Radio Free Asia broadcasts to china in mandarin, cantonese and uyghur languages. It also broadcasts to cambodia, laos, north korea, tibet, vietnam and myanmar. Its programming department oversees the reporting and editing done by all the language services, as well as the work of its overseas bureaus, outside contributors and consultants. The department also oversees wire room editors and researchers

$3.0M expenses · 6.8% of program spending

Benarnews & indo-pacific stability project (ipsp) : on march 1, 2015, U.S. Agency for global media (usagm) launched project benarnews which publishes in five languages - bengali, thai, bahasa malaysia, bahasa indonesia, and english. In april 2016, rfa was granted an award to develop multi-media counter terrorism products designed to address terrorism concerns in the indo-asia region

Highest reported compensation

FY2025 · 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
PRESIDENT Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$273,475	$0	$41,007	$314,482
COUNSEL/SECRETARY (UNTIL 6/18/25) Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$206,527	$0	$45,317	$251,844
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER/TREASURER Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$205,294	$0	$45,925	$251,219
EXECUTIVE EDITOR (UNTIL 9/14/24) Key employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$217,000	$0	$33,918	$250,918
SR. MANAGING EDITOR Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$209,410	$0	$37,998	$247,408
CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER Key employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$199,557	$0	$44,446	$244,003
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER/TREASURER Officer, 40.00 hrs/week	$211,883	$0	$28,290	$240,173
CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER Key employee, 40.00 hrs/week	$208,949	$0	$31,166	$240,115

124 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation from Radio Free Asia (Part VII, line 2). Compensation of current officers, directors and key employees totaled $2.3M (Part IX, line 5).

6 years of filings

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

RevenueExpenses

Filing	Revenue	Expenses	Programs	Net assets	Top pay
FY2025 ⓘ	$69M	$71M	62.0%	$7.2M	$314,482
FY2024 ⓘ	$75M	$76M	62.2%	$7.4M	$285,605
FY2023 ⓘ	$65M	$65M	63.0%	$3.4M	$247,577
FY2022 ⓘ	$51M	$51M	65.4%	$2.1M	$219,209
FY2021 ⓘ	$49M	$49M	65.8%	$1.7M	$313,068
FY2020 ⓘ	$54M	$54M	57.2%	$867K	$288,528

Governance answers, as filed

FY2025 · 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–1b7 · 7 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 4No
Over $15,000 of professional fundraising services Part IV 18No
Over $10,000 of activity outside the U.S. Part IV 14bYes
Employees Part I, line 5366

Largest outside contractors

FY2025 · Form 990, Part VII, Section B · businesses only

GUIDEPOINT SECURITY LLC Cyber security services	$1,370,003
GLOBALIZATION PARTNERS LLC Employment services	$718,598
BLUE RIDGE RISK PARTNERS LLC Insurance brokers	$352,158
SALTS FLATS LLC Digital assets management implementation	$289,000
GLOBAL PEO SERVICES LLC Employment services	$284,147

Individuals listed as contractors are left out. 10 contractors were paid more than $100,000 in all.

Private foundation grants it received

1 private foundation reported grants to Radio Free Asia totaling $44 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 Radio Free Asia's own Form 990. If one doesn't match the filing, that's our error and we'll fix it. If you work for Radio Free Asia, you can publish a response that is linked from this page.

Report a correction Respond as Radio Free Asia How this works

Similar-sized charities in this cause

Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Chicago, IL · revenue $66M · programs 84.4% · 2024
Vero Beach Museum of Art
Vero Beach, FL · revenue $69M · programs 60.8% · FY2025
Ravinia Festival Association
Highland Park, IL · revenue $66M · programs 80.6% · FY2025
The Colburn School
Los Angeles, CA · revenue $70M · programs 81.3% · FY2025
The Eames Institute
Petaluma, CA · revenue $65M · programs 81.6% · 2024

All arts, culture & humanities charities · Largest charities in District of Columbia

Questions people ask

How much of Radio Free Asia's spending goes to programs?

In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, Radio Free Asia reported that 62.0% of its $70.5 million in expenses went to program services, 38.0% to management and general and 0.0% to fundraising (Form 990, Part IX).

How much does Radio Free Asia pay its top executive?

The largest total compensation Radio Free Asia reported for one person in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025 was $314,482, for the role of PRESIDENT (Form 990, Part VII, including compensation from related organizations and other compensation).

Where does Radio Free Asia get its money?

Of $68.9 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, 100.0% came from contributions and grants (including 100.0% from government grants) and 0.0% from program service revenue (Form 990, Part VIII).

Is Radio Free Asia a registered charity?

The IRS lists EIN 52-1968145 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: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, object 202622229349301242 · read the filing
FY2024: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, object 202502239349300810 · read the filing
FY2023: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, object 202402269349301060 · read the filing
FY2022: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, object 202332279349303063 · read the filing
FY2021: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, object 202212249349301411 · read the filing
FY2020: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, object 202102259349302205 · read the filing

All filings for EIN 52-1968145: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Figures are as the organization reported them; we have not audited them.