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New York · Nonprofit

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC (New York) receives grants from 133 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,001,857 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($6,000,000). 68 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$3.6M
Funders on record
133
Grants received
$30M
Net assets
$3.5M
68/133 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 70%
01What it does

What Women's Refugee Commission Inc does

Mission

To improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. The women's refugee commission envisions a world in which refugees are safe, healthy and reliant and seeks to drive change in humanitarian practice.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Economic empowerment & self reliance: most refugees deeply want to provide for themselves and their families-to work, to use their skills, and to make their own decisions about their finances, their lives, and their futures. The women's refugee commission works to ensure that humanitarian programs provide refugee women and youth access to cash assistance opportunities and help them safely earn a living. This, in turn, increases refugees' self-reliance and resilience. Our economic empowerment and self-reliance work involves developing guidance on cash assistance and livelihood opportunities for refugee women, as well as building refugees' self-reliance and resilience.

    $1,154,201 spent
    27% of program spending
  2. Migrant rights and justice (mrj): the migrants rights and justice (mrj) program works to ensure fair access to asylum in the u.s. For those fleeing persecution and violence, promotes the use of alternatives to detention especially of asylum-seeking children and families, humane conditions in detention facilities when they are used, and access to legal services for their asylum claims. The mrj program successfully advocated against the family separation policy, for better protections for unaccompanied minors arriving in the u.s., and for release of families when feasible. Wrc, working with partners, assisted in the reunification of thousands of children who had been separated from their families and has drafted a more humane asylum policy for the incoming administration.

    $781,733 spent
    18% of program spending
  3. Gender and social inclusion: ensuring equal access and opportunity for all requires recognizing that some groups face additional obstacles and barriers. The women's refugee commission promotes the full inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups, such as refugee women, people with disabilities, the lgbtqi community, and adolescent girls, in identifying solutions and designing programs that meet their unique needs and build upon their capacities. Our gender and social inclusion work includes learning directly from refugees from traditionally marginalized groups about their needs and working to advance gender equality.

    $729,718 spentof which $31,283 as grants
    17% of program spending
  4. Advocacy: wrc's advocacy team works to ensure that u.s. And international laws, policies, and practices protect the human rights of women, youth, and lgbtqia+ people who are displaced by conflict and crisis. Wrc engages with u.s. Elected officials and federal government agencies, the united nations refugee agency, and other international actors in geneva, and un bodies in new york, including the united nations security council. Rooted in the principles of resilience and gender equality and supporting the leadership of local actors, the advocacy team works with stakeholders across all sectors to ensure that prevention and responses to forced displacement reflect the needs and priorities of those who are most affected.

    $147,264 spent
    3% of program spending
  5. Communications: through its communications department, wrc uses traditional media, digital media, events, and strategic communications planning to help advance its program, advocacy, and development goals as well as to advance wrc strategic plan. Communications works cross-departmentally and in partnership with external organizations and displaced persons to foster a continuum of engagement across its key audiences - practitioner, policymaker, donor, media, and npr to elevate wrc's brand and reinforce our expertise in the humanitarian and human rights sectors.

    $477,970 spent
    11% of program spending
  6. Gender-based violence: around the world, up to six of every ten women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. During war or other humanitarian crises-such as the brutal conflict currently occurring in syria-the risks to women and girls are heightened. With the breakdown of moral and social order that occurs during emergencies, women and girls are particularly vulnerable to physical abuse and exploitation, rape and human trafficking. Perpetrators may be family members, neighbors or others in the community, members of armed groups or, in some instances, humanitarian workers. Even after a crisis abates, gender-based violence (gbv) may continue at high levels as communities struggle to heal and rebuild. Wrc is part of the multi-stakeholder initiative, call to action to address gbv in emergencies. This includes supporting the government lead (canada in 2018 - 2020/ denmark in 2021 -2023), supporting rollout at the country level, analyzing partner commitments to address gaps, and capturing progress against the call to action roadmap indicators. Wrc also leads global efforts on researching sexual violence against displaced men, boys, and lgbtqia+ populations and has…

    $130,998 spent
    3% of program spending
  7. Globalcampaign

    $586,307 spentof which $61,279 as grants
    14% of program spending
  8. Inter-agency working group (iawg): wrc serves as the secretariat for the inter-agency working group on reproductive health in emergencies and leads efforts on family planning, safe access to abortion care, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health services. Wrc is also leading inter-agency efforts to research and understand how conflict and displacement impact the practice of child marriage to identify the drivers of such and identify programs and services that mitigate risks and reduce the practice of child marriage.

    $164,502 spent
    4% of program spending
  9. Sexual & reproductive health

    $146,009 spentof which $37,541 as grants
    3% of program spending

The 9 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,318,702.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($7.2M) Expenses 100 ($7.0M) Net assets 100 ($5.4M)2018 Revenue 192 ($14M) Expenses 103 ($7.3M) Net assets 224 ($12M)2019 Revenue 156 ($11M) Expenses 131 ($9.2M) Net assets 261 ($14M)2020 Revenue 63 ($4.6M) Expenses 136 ($9.6M) Net assets 167 ($9.0M)2021 Revenue 114 ($8.3M) Expenses 139 ($9.8M) Net assets 140 ($7.5M)2022 Revenue 106 ($7.7M) Expenses 135 ($9.5M) Net assets 105 ($5.7M)2023 Revenue 161 ($12M) Expenses 127 ($9.0M) Net assets 154 ($8.3M)2024 Revenue 88 ($6.3M) Expenses 129 ($9.1M) Net assets 114 ($6.1M)2025 Revenue 49 ($3.6M) Expenses 89 ($6.3M) Net assets 65 ($3.5M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (49)Expenses (89)Net assets (65)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $5.8M to $13M (+117%).

$5.8M
$13M
$15M
$11M
$9.7M
$6.9M
$11M
$8.1M
$4.5M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 40% · 2018 8% · 2019 36% · 2020 5% · 2021 29% · 2022 45% · 2023 20% · 2024 42% · 2025 33%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

95% of WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 11,814 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$208k
’17
$6.7M
’18
$2.1M
’19
−$5.0M
’20
−$1.5M
’21
−$1.8M
’22
$2.7M
’23
−$2.7M
’24
−$2.7M
’25
2.8
months of
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

Sarah Costa

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed262124252022202424
Joined·+2+8+1+1+10+3+9+6
No longer listed·75068556
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 44 funders, grant income rose $2.7M → $7.9M.

30 of 133 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 133 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

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left

55% 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 WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC.

20%
largest funder
48%
top three
~11
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 58% · 2018 44% · 2019 31% · 2020 14% · 2021 11% · 2022 32% · 2023 76% — 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

42% of WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC draws 65% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 23 states in all.

WA
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
WY
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
NE
MO
MD
DE
AZ
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $14M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC's funding base is broadening — from 19 funders to 44 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−76% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve2.8mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−8% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,349 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8.2M on record.

Federal$8.2M
grants $8.2Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Top agencies
  • Department of State$6.4M
  • Agency for International Development$1.1M
  • Department of Health and Human Services$647k

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 WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

69% of spending goes to programs.

Program 69%Management 16%Fundraising 15%

Governance

17
board members
94%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

97%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 28 states

NH
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
RI
CA
UT
KY
WV
VA
MD
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
MS
AL
GA
FL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC?
WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC (New York) receives grants from 133 organizations whose IRS filings report $30,001,857 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($6,000,000). 68 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC have?
IRS filings report 133 organizations giving $30,001,857 in grants to WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC, 68 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC?
The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $6,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION 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.

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 133 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