Human Rights Watch

Legal name: Human Rights Watch Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
132875808
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
1.212.290.4700
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Human Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,971,513
Expenses
$26,903,694
Assets
$208,028,742
Liabilities
$19,561,328

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FEDERICO BORELLO (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • MARK BONHAM (DIRECTOR)
  • GHISLAINE BRENNINKMEIJER (DIRECTOR)
  • GEORGE COELHO (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Human Rights Watch investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world. We are a global organization of human rights defenders, including country experts, investigators, journalists, lawyers, and academics, working to protect the most vulnerable and hold abusers accountable.

What it reported doing in 2024

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.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 37th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -41.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.73; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 11 filed program accomplishments · $19.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 27 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.