Although the organisation has an arm that operates as a commercial business, the bulk of BIRN's work is done by its non-profit sector, which is bankrolled by close to a dozen philanthropic institutions -- including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Balkan Trust for Democracy -- and European governments, The Netherlands and Norway.
Iako udruga ima ogranak koji funkcionira kao komercijalan posao, veliki dio rada BIRN-a obavlja neprofitni sektor kojeg financira oko deset filantropskih institucija -- uključujući Zakladu braće Rockefeller i Balkansku zakladu za demokraciju -- i europske vlade, Nizozemske i Norveške.