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← WITNESS INSTITUTE INC

Form 990 for tax year 2024

Filed by WITNESS INSTITUTE INC.

Totals

Total revenue
$316,052
Total expenses
$487,795
Contributions and grants received
$316,052
Grants paid
$100,296
Program service revenue
$0
Investment income
$0
Other revenue
$0
Total assets, end of year
$34,150
Total liabilities, end of year
$87,633
Net assets or fund balances, end of year
-$53,483
Program services expenses (Part IX)
$369,618
Management and general expenses
$45,977
Fundraising expenses
$72,200
Program service expenses (Part III)
$369,618

Program services were 75.8% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

  • 1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

    $316,052

  • 8c · Net income from fundraising events

    total $0

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

  • 2 · Grants to domestic individuals

    total $83,430 · program services $83,430

  • 3 · Grants to foreign organizations and individuals

    total $16,866 · program services $16,866

  • 5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

    total $175,000 · program services $140,000 · management and general $8,750 · fundraising $26,250

  • 9 · Other employee benefits

    total $27,907 · program services $22,326 · management and general $1,395 · fundraising $4,186

  • 10 · Payroll taxes

    total $12,718 · program services $10,174 · management and general $636 · fundraising $1,908

  • 11a · Fees: management

    total $36,000 · program services $28,800 · management and general $3,600 · fundraising $3,600

  • 11c · Fees: accounting

    total $13,601 · management and general $13,601

  • 11e · Fees: professional fundraising services

    total $36,000 · fundraising $36,000

  • 24a · Other expenses: The Witness Fellowship Progr

    total $74,195 · program services $58,499 · management and general $15,476 · fundraising $220

  • 24b · Other expenses: Public Learning Programs

    total $12,078 · program services $9,523 · management and general $2,519 · fundraising $36

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

  • 1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

    beginning of year $72,130 · end of year $7,921

  • 4 · Accounts receivable

    beginning of year $54,950 · end of year $26,229

  • 17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

    beginning of year $8,821 · end of year $87,633

  • 27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

    beginning of year $33,259 · end of year -$97,483

  • 28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

    beginning of year $85,000 · end of year $44,000

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

Withheld by Nonprofiteer: this text may name a private individual.

Activities or mission (Part I)

Withheld by Nonprofiteer: this text may name a private individual.

  • Witness Toolkit Website and Memory Circles: We continued to develop our new website to serve as a digital repository for our content, so that our community of Fellows, alumni, advisors, and program partners can access the texts and tools we have developed over the past several years. We designed the site to serve as well for others seeking accessible, engaging, and effective tools and resources for conversations about contemporary issues, as we explore new public programs. We also piloted the Memory Circles program in three initial small groups exploring moral education through study, discussion, and practice, inspired and informed by Professor Wiesel.

    Expenses $172,500

  • The Witness Fellowship:The Witness Fellowship trains the next generation of emerging leaders in the approach of Nobel laureate, author, and human rights activist Elie Wiesel. In 2024 we grew our community of Fellows from 28 to 38, supported new connections between and among cohorts, and supported each Fellow to develop a project to translate what theyve learned into impact in their communities. We held our annual in-person retreat in August, where we deepened our work together with a combination of study, practices, discussion, and storytelling. We also offered all-cohort programs special guest speakers, and began to offer some alumni key contract professional roles to support our work

    Expenses $152,643

  • All other programs and initiatives.

    Expenses $44,475

As filed on the 2024 return. A text marked withheld matched a screen for wording that may name a private individual, such as an honorific or "in memory of". Most of what it withholds names no one; it is withheld so that what does is never shown.

Listed in Part VII

  • Ariel Burger

    Executive Director

    Total calculated
    $192,859
    From this org
    $106,616
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $86,243
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us · ignoring case and punctuation

    Base
    $106,616
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    not reported
    Nontaxable benefits
    not reported + $86,243 related
    Filer's total
    $106,616 + $86,243 related
  • Elisha Wiesel

    President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Todd Sukol

    Vice President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

None.

Answered no

  • 5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
  • 5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
  • 6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
  • 6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
  • 7 · Other non-fixed payments
  • 8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type
form_990
Tax year
2024
Filed
12 November 2025
IRS schema version
2024v5.2
Source object
202513179349302381

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