United Nations Foundation
Legal name: United Nations Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 582368165
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Phone
- 202.887.9040
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Single Organization Support
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $77,013,346
- Expenses
- $141,106,169
- Assets
- $285,077,061
- Liabilities
- $66,207,376
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ELIZABETH COUSENS (PRESIDENT & CEO)
- DYMPHNA VAN DER LANS (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CCA)
- PRIYA VORA (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DIAL)
Highest reported compensation
- ELIZABETH COUSENS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $507,474 total reported compensation
- HENRY F DE SIO JR (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $411,074 total reported compensation
- DAVID OHANA (CHIEF COMMN. OFFICER): $384,444 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We build novel innovations and partnerships to support the United Nations and help solve global problems at scale.
What it reported doing in 2024
Climate, energy & environment: the united nations foundation's climate & environment program works with the united nations and partners to address environmental challenges like climate change. It works with a wide network of partners to generate fresh ideas, resources, and partnerships to promote solutions for a healthy planet, including through advocacy.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 72
- Accountability: 87
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 87.8%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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: 91.6%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -83.2%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.02; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $123.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $507K · 27 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.1M reported
- Consistency: 45 of 46 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 102 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 31 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.