New York · Nonprofit
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC (New York) receives grants from 756 organizations whose IRS filings report $307,976,062 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($47,149,072). 475 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 756
- Grants received
- $308M
- Net assets
- $188M
What Human Rights Watch Inc does
Mission
Human rights watch ("hrw") defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human rights watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Asia division of human rights watch, inc. Monitors and promotes human rights in asian countries from afghanistan to the east. Human rights watch sends investigative missions to collect information and reports its findings to the public.
$8,598,998 spent12% of program spendingMiddle 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.
$8,254,965 spent12% of program spendingThe europe & central asia division of hrw monitors and promotes human rights in asian countries from afghanistan to the east. Human rights watch sends investigative missions to collect information and reports its findings to the public.
$6,861,914 spentof which $2,671,879 as grants10% of program spendingAfrica division of human rights watch, inc. Monitors and promotes human rights in sub saharan africa. Human rights watch sends investigative missions to collect information and reports its findings to the public.
$6,738,546 spentof which $819,058 as grants10% of program spendingChildren's rights
$4,664,374 spent7% of program spendingWomen's rights
$4,530,522 spent6% of program spendingDisability rights
$3,354,408 spent5% of program spendingUnited states
$3,159,186 spent5% of program spendingAmericas
$3,094,272 spentof which $494,014 as grants4% of program spendingLgbt's rights
$1,521,560 spent2% of program spendingOther programs:other program services include our work on refugees, the environment, technology rights and investigations, advocacy, legal and policy, and public engagement.
$18,999,349 spent$991 earned by the program27% of program spending
The 11 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $69,778,095.
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 $202M to $242M (+20%).
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.
89% of HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (96% 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 FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 217 funders to 258 funders, grant income rose $25M → $41M.
79 of 756 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 756 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
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
49% 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 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 30% · 2019 23% · 2020 22% · 2021 17% · 2022 14% · 2023 21% — diversifying over time.
“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
43% of HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC draws 54% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 40 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $129M arriving through sponsors registered in 26 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
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 190 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 190 international nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $52 on record.
- DIRECT STATE SERVICES - NON-SALARY$52
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 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Part of a family of 12 related entities
- The Australian Foundation for Human Rights Watch · exempt
- Human Rights Watch Brazil · exempt
- Human Rights Watch Canada · exempt
- French Association in Support of Human Rights Watch · exempt
- Association for the Protection of Human Rights - Ev · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: 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 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC?
- HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC (New York) receives grants from 756 organizations whose IRS filings report $307,976,062 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($47,149,072). 475 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC have?
- IRS filings report 756 organizations giving $307,976,062 in grants to HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC, 475 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $47,149,072 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Human Rights Watch →
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 756 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing