Direct Relief

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951831116
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Phone
8059644767
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,398,998,642
Expenses
$2,307,002,152
Assets
$1,292,290,030
Liabilities
$44,018,107

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS TIGHE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 12/24))
  • BYRON SCOTT - INTERIM CEO ((1/25-5/25)/PRESIDENT & COO)
  • JONATHAN STEINER - SENIOR (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE, CFO)
  • AMY WEAVER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (AS OF 5/25))
  • HEATHER BENNETT (VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT)
  • ADAN GROUMAN (VICE PRESIDENT, IT)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS TIGHE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 12/24)): $1,111,239 total reported compensation
  • BYRON SCOTT - INTERIM CEO ((1/25-5/25)/PRESIDENT & COO): $503,487 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN STEINER - SENIOR (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE, CFO): $399,446 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 90 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. Unlike many other nonprofit organizations, **Direct Relief does not rely on any funding from government grants.** Support comes entirely from private individuals, associations, foundations, and businesses who entrust Direct Relief with resources so that it can fulfill its humanitarian mission. How is Funding for Emergencies Handled? Direct Relief’s policy ensures that 100 percent of all designated contributions for specific programs or emergency responses are used only on expenses related to supporting that program or response.

What it reported doing in 2024

Disease prevention and treatment - to alleviate the disease burden in providers to assess immediate needs, understand the situation, and respond quickly and precisely. Direct relief's efforts are always in response to specific requests from local partners and in accordance with national and international responders to avoid duplication of efforts and prevent logistical bottlenecks, and ensure the most efficient use of resources.resource constrained communities around the world, direct relief supports a global network of locally-run health facilities with the medicines, medical supplies, and funding. In the fiscal year 2025, direct relief provided healthcare partners in 60 countries with 34 million courses of medication to treat conditions that include cancer, diabetes, and rare diseases. Direct relief also supports programs to advance breast cancer awareness and early detection, cervical cancer screening, as well as comprehensive diabetes prevention and treatment programs that include assistance for children with type 1 diabetes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 87% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.6%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $718.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 95.6% of revenue deployed · 99.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.3B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1375 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1367 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.