Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC
RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,368,325 to it, the largest being LAURA AND JOHN ARNOLD FOUNDATION ($1,100,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $2.4M
- Net assets
- $802k
What Rights Behind Bars Inc does
Mission
Rights Behind Bars works alongside incarcerated people to challenge the cruel and inhumane conditions of confinement.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Rights Behind Bars engages in civil litigation and supports community advocacy challenging conditions of confinement around a range of issues including but not limited to disability rights and workers rights.
$907,820 spentof which $1,793 as grants$1,231,090 earned by the program100% of program spendingNot described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spendingNot described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $907,820.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2024 to 2025, from $267k to $802k (+201%).
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.
23% of RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 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.
Chief executive
Samuel Weiss
Executive Director and Chair of Board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 10 funders, grant income rose $5k → $704k.
5 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 64% · 2021 78% · 2022 57% · 2023 43% — 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
50% of RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $376k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like RIGHTS BEHIND BARS 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for RIGHTS BEHIND BARS 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 RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC?
- RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,368,325 to it, the largest being LAURA AND JOHN ARNOLD FOUNDATION ($1,100,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $2,368,325 in grants to RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC?
- LAURA AND JOHN ARNOLD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like RIGHTS BEHIND BARS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 16 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