California · Nonprofit
U4I
U4I (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,212,668 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($786,046). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 88% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $972k
What U4i does
Mission
Working to advance civil liberties in iran by advocating for human rights, supporting civil soceity, and engaging citizens through technology.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Under Judicial SpotlightContinuing Toranjs mission started in 2013, U4I has partnered with the original team behind Toranjs success. This project looks specifically to empower advocates, social service providers, and at-risk women on how to address GBV and mitigate its harm. Taking into account lessons learned during several pilot and project cycles, Phoenix develops a new and improved mobile application, providing expanded legal and psychosocial support to survivors while raising awareness about GBV and gender discrimination through workshops and social media. The Phoenix (Toranj) app includes a feature where users can inform their trusted network if they are facing a threat of violence and can seek help in real time. This is useful not only for domestic violence situations but also for alerting friends, family, and attorneys during protests, arrests, or if threatened by neighbors, Basij, or the security forces.
$421,761 spent37% of program spendingSafe Activism and CampaignsSafe Activism aims to leverage U4Is extensive networks and experiences to protect those who remain in the country. Through interviews with hundreds of activists and digital security practitioners, Safe Activism compiles a list of tactics that activists in Iran can use to minimize the risk of arrest, navigate the interrogation process, and mitigate the consequences of incarceration. The projects main product is a 100+ page booklet which lists key best practices for stages before, during, and after arrest, based on the experiences of over 230 previously interrogated, incarcerated, or otherwise pressured Iranian activists. Safe Activism develops toolkits, videos, and other materials tailored to different activist groups based on their unique threat profiles.
$223,263 spent19% of program spendingOther programs - ned, and jina vpn.
$215,126 spent19% of program spendingPhoenix Continuing Toranjs mission started in 2013, U4I has partnered with the original team behind Toranjs success. This project looks specifically to empower advocates, social service providers, and at-risk women on how to address GBV and mitigate its harm. Taking into account lessons learned during several pilot and project cycles, Phoenix develops a new and improved mobile application, providing expanded legal and psychosocial support to survivors while raising awareness about GBV and gender discrimination through workshops and social media. The Phoenix (Toranj) app includes a feature where users can inform their trusted network if they are facing a threat of violence and can seek help in real time. This is useful not only for domestic violence situations but also for alerting friends, family, and attorneys during protests, arrests, or if threatened by neighbors, Basij, or the security forces.
$147,086 spent13% of program spendingGershad, an award-winning mobile app, allows Iranians to report on morality police, serving as an early warning system. Since its 2016 launch, public discourse on compulsory hijab in Iran has shifted significantly. Women's rights groups like My Stealthy Freedom have raised awareness. With 150,000+ downloads and global media coverage, Gershad raised awareness on women's rights. Efforts are made to reinvigorate Gershad by building its user community and enhancing features for government accountability. Focus is on community building to strengthen user-base and increase reliable reporting. Reports and analysis based on crowdsourced data will enhance transparency on human rights violations. Collaboration aims to improve user experience and counter censorship. Peer-to-peer functionality will be integrated to counter internet disruptions. The iOS app will be enhanced to reach more users impacted by the morality police.
$139,710 spent12% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,146,946.
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 2021 to 2022, from $268k to $1.0M (+283%).
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 75% · 2018 75% · 2020 97% · 2021 89% · 2022 83% · 2023 79% · 2024 84% · 2025 64%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of U4I’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Reza Ghazinouri
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $34k → $438k.
5 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 88% 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 U4I’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
U4I leans on a few funders — its largest provides 65% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
88% 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 U4I.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 97% · 2019 100% · 2020 57% · 2021 56% · 2022 71% · 2023 50% — 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
40% of U4I's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% 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
88% of U4I'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 $142k that is directly attributable, 93% of it comes from funders outside California, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
U4I runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 718 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 718 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like U4I
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
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for U4I: 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 U4I?
- U4I (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,212,668 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($786,046). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 88% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does U4I have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $1,212,668 in grants to U4I, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of U4I?
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $786,046 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like U4I 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.
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 12 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