Internet Society Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823285688
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fredericksburg, VA, USA
Phone
7034392120
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$32,709,029
Expenses
$33,868,292
Assets
$90,334,360
Liabilities
$1,747,434

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Andrew Sullivan (President and Chief Executive Officer (Thru 08/24))
  • Ilona Levine (Senior Vice President and General Counsel)
  • Sae-Young Park (Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer)
  • Sally Wentworth (President and Chief Executive Officer (As of 09/24))
  • Christopher Locke (Executive Vice President and Managing Director)
  • Sarah Armstrong (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Andrew Sullivan (President and Chief Executive Officer (Thru 08/24)): $771,861 total reported compensation
  • Sally Wentworth (President and Chief Executive Officer (As of 09/24)): $531,329 total reported compensation
  • Ilona Levine (Senior Vice President and General Counsel): $415,094 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Internet Society Foundation supports the vision of the Internet Society and its work for an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet for everyone.

What it reported doing in 2024

Philanthropic funding programs: fund initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. Focus areas include research, resilience & emergency response, strengthening communities/improving lives and livelihoods, building opportunities/leveraging technologies (bolt), and internet governance forum (igf) & other opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 77% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • 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: Pass
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -3.5%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.67; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 32.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 82.5% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $25.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $772K · 27 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 47 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 39 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 32 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.