Direct Relief
Santa Barbara, CA · EIN 951831116 · FY2023 is the latest filing on record · pre-cached
Direct Relief's 1% compensation share isn't a badge of honor, it's a red flag for anyone who understands how effective organizations actually operate.
Direct Relief is a massive organization, bringing in $2.3 billion in revenue and spending $2.1 billion in its latest fiscal year. It maintains a healthy operating reserve of 6.6 months, which is better than 58% of its peers. The organization's revenue comes entirely from donations, indicating strong donor support.
Myth
A low compensation share means more money goes to the cause.
Reality
Direct Relief spends only 1% of its budget on compensation, placing it in the 10th percentile among peers. While this might seem efficient, it raises questions about how such a large operation can effectively manage its programs and infrastructure with such minimal investment in its people, especially given its $2.1 billion in expenses.
Multi-year trend
Operating reserve months
Net assets ÷ monthly expenses — how long the org could run on savings alone.
Operating margin
(Revenue − expenses) ÷ revenue, per fiscal year.
How it compares to peers
Percentile rank among 75 International, Foreign Affairs organizations. Higher is framed as better on every bar here — including reserves and staff investment, which conventional overhead-ratio scoring would penalize.
Dashed line = peer median (50th percentile)
Ask about Direct Relief
Answers are grounded only in this org's filed financial data above -- it won't guess at their programs, leadership, or anything not shown on this page.
Source: latest Form 990 PDF via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.