Human Rights Foundation Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Global advocacy - hrf defends human rights through global advocacy, executing innovative campaigns and deploying international legal mechanisms to influence institutions and policymakers.in 2024, hrf's impact litigation program filed eleven complaints, two urgent appeals, and one joint petition before the un, and received two favorable decisions from the un working group on arbitrary detention. For the 2024 sessions of the un human rights council, hrf submitted 10 universal periodic reviews. Hrf's tyranny tracker (formerly, the political regime project) continued to track authoritarianism across the world, finishing research reports for 96 countries. The tyranny tracker classifies countries as democratic, hybrid authoritarian, or fully authoritarian using a unique methodology developed by hrf.hrf's global advocacy continued to address regional issues and international developments. In 2024, the ukraine solidarity fund and belarus solidarity fund reached fundraising amounts of $2.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively, in grants for civil society organizations. In the wake of widespread protests responding to dictator nicols maduro proclaiming a fraudulent victory in 2024, the venezuela solidarity fund raised $419,000 to provide direct financial assistance to courageous individuals and organizations working to secure a peaceful transition to democracy. Meanwhile, the chinese community party (ccp) disruption initiative continued to work against xi jinping's brutal regime, hosting a uyghur youth mobilization workshop and uniting with the hong kong diaspora at the uk-hk symposium. Hrf's korea desk's efforts to combat the oppressive dictatorship in north korea continued with the launch of nk insider (nkin), the first english-language news platform about north korea written by north korean defectors. In its first year, nkin published 169 articles that reached 4,900 readers in 105 countries. Also under hrf's korea desk, the flash drives for freedom initiative granted more than 22,000 north koreans access to 42,000 hours of footage and 1 million hours of reading materials. Finally, the mena desk supported civil society organizations by granting $10,000 to grassroots organizations in lebanon to provide immediate relief to lebanese citizens currently displaced by conflict.hrf further expanded its research on issues intersecting with authoritarianism in 2024. The policy team published two briefs exposing the correlation between human trafficking and authoritarianism. In its second successful year, the combating kleptocracy program exposed how dictatorships use financial secrecy and influence campaigns to smother democratic opposition and enrich themselves, with op-eds, reports, and an interactive "kleptocracy laundromat" expo booth. Meanwhile, the celebrities & dictators program brought attention to the necessity of abstaining from participation in dictators' attempts to improve their images through tourism, sports, and music.hrf is unique in its direct support of dissidents advocating for human rights. In 2024, the financial freedom program gave grants to 96 projects through the bitcoin development fund and long term activist support, supporting initiatives to make financial technologies more secure, private, and resilient to better serve human rights activism.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
• Fundraising efficiency: $18.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Pass
  • Conducts field audits: Fail
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Pass
  • Conducts site visits: Fail
  • Requires grant agreements: Pass
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -2.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.43; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 21.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 33.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings