Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Apr 2002.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
72 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
22 people listed on the 990; $1.8M paid to officers and key staff.
Catherine Chen’s $239K as Executive Director & CEO is at the 44th percentile of top reported officer pay among 345 $10–100M international nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catherine Chen | $238,552 | $267,333 | $260,440 | $232,769 | $191,968 |
| Patrick McIntre | $196,701 | — | — | — | — |
| Alfonso Wright | $193,424 | $195,653 | $190,124 | $173,538 | $146,490 |
| Michelle Nicholson | $193,346 | $183,412 | $192,028 | $193,576 | $184,968 |
| Jennifer Jinks | — | $189,997 | $191,747 | $128,222 | — |
| Patrick McIntyre | — | $191,672 | $185,509 | $140,023 | — |
| Nancy Choi | — | — | — | — | $189,279 |
| Caren Benjamin | — | $157,272 | $182,925 | $174,841 | $179,979 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Fights sex and labor trafficking, restoring freedom to survivors.
Questions for Polaris Project
Your first name shows with your question. Polaris Project answers here, for everyone.
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National Human Trafficking Hotline
Polaris continued operating in the U.S. National human trafficking hotline (NHTH), with funding from the U.S. Department of health and human services, office on trafficking in persons (otip), the texas state governor's office, and private donations.
Learning, Innovation and Data Systems
The program develops a data driven understanding of human trafficking, generates research and data products for use by the anti-trafficking field, and supports polaris' monitoring and evaluation to ensure programs have their intended impact.
Strategic Initiative on Labor Trafficking
The strategic initiative on labor trafficking works to end labor trafficking of migrant workers in the agricultural sector between mexico and the U.S. In mexico, polaris' work includes support for the espansion of mexico's first national human trafficking hotline and building a source country worker data platform to collect information…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $3.7M | $3.7M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $2.7M | $2.4M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $8.9M | $10.1M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $5.2M | $3.6M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $3.7M | $6.5M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.3M | $996K | $191K | $97K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $5.9M | $4.6M | $872K | $448K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $158K | $116K | $29K | $12K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $1.3M | $994K | $251K | $101K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $661K | $488K | $123K | $50K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $122K | $0 | $122K | $0 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $1.3M | $815K | $435K | $90K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $9K | $2K | $7K | $61 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $877K | $445K | $312K | $120K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $826K | $556K | $210K | $60K |
| TravelLn 17 | $16K | $10K | $5K | $820 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $9K | $6K | $3K | $465 |
| InterestLn 20 | $28K | $0 | $28K | $0 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $366K | $255K | $84K | $28K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $108K | $75K | $25K | $8K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $13.1M | $9.4M | $2.7M | $1.0M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest | $11.1M | $13.2M | −$2.2M | −$141K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $10.2M | $15.0M | −$4.7M | $2.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $14.8M | $14.5M | $288K | $6.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $15.9M | $13.1M | $2.8M | $6.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $8.9M | $13.1M | −$4.2M | $3.7M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $15,934,306 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 10 of 10 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $15,934,306 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $13,092,018 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $10,122,155 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $6,510,836 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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