Skip to the page content
Your donations
Passes our checks

Meedan Inc

EIN 20-4504068 · San Francisco, CA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood80 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

To strengthen journalism, digital literacy and information accessibility for global communities.

Income
$6.3 million
Spending
$5.1 million
Spent on programs
80%
Reserves
3.6 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 87%
Employees
16
Highest pay
$190,079, ceo

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 80 out of 100. Higher than 59% of charities in its peer group (science, $1m to $10m).

  • Reserves

    20 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 3.6 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 1% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    15 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 20% of income.

  • Income trend

    10 of 15

    Income fell 6% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    80% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 4 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 68% of charities in its peer group (science, $1m to $10m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    4 of 6 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (3)
  1. $3.4 million spent. Check / 3PFC: In 2025, Meedan continued development of Check, our open source platform for collaborative fact-checking and media analysis. Check powered 58 tiplines serving 143,631 unique users and supported 526,910 conversations between fact-checkers and their audiences in 34 languages and dialects. We also began building Suwali, a new AI-powered conversational tool that helps journalists and civil society organizations serve their communities with their own trusted content, in their own languages. By the end of the year we were testing Suwali with six pilot partners across Egypt, Lebanon, India, and the United States. With our Research program folded into this work, the team also published peer-reviewed research on evaluating AI systems, including a paper that won an Outstanding Paper Award at the Association for Computational Linguistics annual conference.
  2. $593,495 spent. Community Impact Programs: In 2025, we partnered with 79 media and civil society organizations operating in 57 countries, supporting 2,903 journalists across the Larger World. The work was organized along three verticals: elections, safe and inclusive information ecosystems, and crisis preparedness and response. We distributed funds directly to independent media and civil society partners, including regrants under our fiscal sponsorship of the Alliance for Trust in Media and a Press Forward local news grant to Deep South Today. Our partners also advanced climate justice work in Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Indonesia, helping their communities understand natural disasters and the long-term effects of climate change.
  3. $35,149 spent. Gendered Disinformation: Building on 2024 collaborative efforts to track gendered disinformation in South Asia and Latin America, in 2025 we supported 11 partner organizations working to counter gender-based violence online. These partners include feminist groups, civil society organizations, and digital safety experts who document gendered disinformation, develop counter-strategies, and adapt technology to meet these challenges at the regional and global level.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since March 2007.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.