California · Nonprofit
ASYLUM ACCESS
ASYLUM ACCESS (California) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,342,416 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($8,051,000). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.8M
- Funders on record
- 62
- Grants received
- $30M
- Net assets
- $6.9M
What Asylum Access does
Mission
Asylum Access's mission is to make human rights a reality for refugees. We envision a world in which refugees can live safely, move freely, attend school, work and rebuild their lives.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
The organization ended its "mexico - hospitality route" in 2024.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Resourcing refugee leadership initiative:the resourcing refugee leadership initiative, convened by Asylum Access, aims to transfer power, ownership and resources where they belong: with refugees themselves. By establishing the first grantmaking fund managed by and for refugees, our initiative will help unlock $40 million in funding for refugee-led organizations to scale their operations and pursue access to documentation, economic opportunity, education, healthcare and food security.
$3,799,668 spentof which $2,783,718 as grants50% of program spendingAsylum Access mexico: Asylum Access mexico (aamx) is the largest provider of legal services to forcibly displaced communities in mexico. We reach approximately 20,000 forcibly displaced people each year through our direct legal, outreach and integration services in six different locations. This allows us to identify the most marginalized populations, their needs, and priorities at key points along the migration routes. Our legal and community advisors help forcibly displaced people navigate the asylum process and access their rights to employment, healthcare and education, and their right to be free from detention. Aamx also has strategic alliances with various civil society organizations, international agencies, and government institutions. We actively participate in coordination mechanisms with authorities. We have the required experience and know-how to elaborate recommendations for good practices, and to promote the development of innovative methodologies to modernize and update the processes and protocols of government authorities in matters of international protection for forcibly displaced communities.
$1,706,664 spentof which $1,599,592 as grants23% of program spendingAsylum Access thailand: Asylum Access thailand is dedicated to providing friendly, effective and comprehensive support to the various forcibly displaced communities that live in thailand. We help forcibly displaced people navigate the complex asylum process and connect them to further assistance from local partners. Our team also supports forcibly displaced people with training and resources to start their own initiatives to benefit and strengthen their communities. Asylum Access thailand also works in close coalition with other thai and regional human rights organizations. Through these partnerships, we collectively advocate for changes in thai law and policy that will allow forcibly displaced people and their families to live openly, move freely, rebuild their lives and contribute to their new communities.
$704,895 spent$83 earned by the program9% of program spendingAsylum Access malaysia: Asylum Access malaysia's refugee legal aid program assists forcibly displaced communities to successfully navigate the unhcr refugee status determination process (rsd), thereby improving their chances of living safely and moving freely in malaysia. In addition to direct legal services, we offer know-your-options workshops to provide basic legal and practical information to help refugees navigate the rsd process and avail themselves of other legal protections that may prevent detention and help them adjust to life in malaysia. We also work in partnership with forcibly displaced communities to ensure access to work rights even in the midst of a difficult legal environment. We address unfair work practices through mediation with employers and filing cases with the labor and industrial courts.
$702,290 spentof which $622,649 as grants9% of program spendingGlobal systems change: Asylum Access works to transform the global system of displacement response so it prioritizes the human rights of forcibly displaced people and recognizes their power. We advocate for these changes by building and supporting partnerships that help transform the refugee response sector into one that is transparent, accountable, equitable and that ultimately leads to greater respect, protection, and promotion of refugees' human rights. We work together to explore opportunities to partner with local civil society actors, including refugee-led organizations around the world as we: (1) engage with powerful processes and institutions such as unhcr, world bank, and governments with global influence to make them more inclusive and prioritize improvements in the laws and practices in refugee hosting countries, (2) catalyze campaigns towards greater equity and accountability in the refugee response sector, (3) partner with local civil society organizations and refugee-led organizations in strategic countries for capacity bridging initiatives that strengthen our collective pursuit of refugee human rights on the ground, and (4) demand and support the inclusion of…
$654,976 spentof which $24,068 as grants9% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,568,493.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $4.8M to $17M (+255%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 46% · 2018 25% · 2019 18% · 2020 10% · 2021 3% · 2022 29% · 2023 21% · 2024 21% · 2025 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of ASYLUM ACCESS’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 27 funders, grant income rose $609k → $9.9M.
16 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ASYLUM ACCESS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ASYLUM ACCESS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
75% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ASYLUM ACCESS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 62% · 2019 63% · 2020 36% · 2021 29% · 2022 43% · 2023 40% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
38% of ASYLUM ACCESS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
74% of ASYLUM ACCESS's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $7.9M that is directly attributable, 56% of it comes from funders outside California, across 14 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $22M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ASYLUM ACCESS receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $30M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 718 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding ASYLUM ACCESS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.8M on record.
- Department of State$6.8M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like ASYLUM ACCESS
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Asylum Access Berhad · exempt
- Asylum Access Mexico · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ASYLUM ACCESS: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ASYLUM ACCESS?
- ASYLUM ACCESS (California) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,342,416 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($8,051,000). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ASYLUM ACCESS have?
- IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $30,342,416 in grants to ASYLUM ACCESS, 38 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ASYLUM ACCESS?
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $8,051,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ASYLUM ACCESS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Asylum Access →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 62 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing