The nonprofit organization overseeing the development of the anonymous Tor network has published its financial report for the 2021 fiscal year (from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021). During this period, the project received $7.4 million in funding (for comparison, $4.8 million was received in the 2020 fiscal year). Of this amount, approximately $1.7 million was raised through the auction of the painting "Dreaming at Dusk," created by artist Itzel Yard based on the private key of the first onion service, Dusk.
Approximately 38% ($2.8 million) of the project's funding comes from grants provided by U.S. government-controlled foundations, which is 15% less than the previous year (for comparison, in 2015, this figure was 85%, and in 2017 — 51%). As for other funding sources, 36.22% ($2.68 million) come from individual donations, 16.15% ($1.2 million) from private foundations, 5.07% ($375,000) from grants from governments of other countries, and 2.89% ($214,000) from corporate support.
Among the largest contributions from U.S. government funds in 2020-21, $1.5 million from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, $570,000 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), $384,000 from the Small Business Administration, $224,000 from the National Science Foundation, and $96,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services are noted. Support from government entities in other countries was provided by the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (SIDA).
Expenses for the reporting period totaled $3.987 million according to the Form 990 report or $4.782 million based on audit results (the Form 990 report does not include in-kind contributions, such as free service provisions). 87.2% was spent on supporting the development of Tor and related applications and network infrastructure, as well as salaries for permanently employed staff. 7.3% ($291,000) accounted for costs related to fundraising, such as bank fees, postage, and salaries for personnel responsible for fundraising. 5.4% ($215,000) went to organizational expenses, such as the director's salary, office supplies, and insurance.
Source: opennet.ru
