Witness Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134167155
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
7187832000
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Human Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,640,676
Expenses
$7,324,703
Assets
$12,645,359
Liabilities
$1,115,824

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SAMUEL GREGORY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SAMUEL GREGORY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $271,282 total reported compensation
  • KALIM PATWA (DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE & SYSTEMS): $187,693 total reported compensation
  • SONALI THIMMAYA (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $181,488 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Witness helps people use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. Witness is working towards a world where the communities we center, serve, and support can safely and effectively use video and technology to end human rights violations. A world where technology infrastructures account for the needs and aspirations of human rights defenders, instead of excluding or harming them, and the creative power of video and technology for catalyzing transformation can be realized.

What it reported doing in 2024

Technology threats and opportunities: building on a rich history of anticipating the challenges and opportunities posed by emerging technologies, witness remains laser-focused on ensuring that innovation operates in service of a healthy and informed society, while serving and protecting those who need it most. It engages actors across the human rights and technology ecosystem, bringing grassroots perspectives to global technology companies and scaling impact in the process. Witness utilizes an understanding of the real and unprecedented threats posed by emerging technologies to develop threat models, ensure companies take rights-respecting approaches, and collaborate on applied research. The organization is a thought leader and cross-sector convener, addressing the threats of synthetic media, deceptive ai, surveillance, and security facing the human rights movement at large.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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.

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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 28th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -57.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 69% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $271K · 20 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.