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The Syed Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Syed Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$32k
Granted FY2024still arriving
74
Grants FY2024still arriving
12
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0183% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

International$94kReligion$62kHealth$22kPhilanthropy$20kHousing & Shelter$15kPublic Safety & Disaster$11kHuman Services$10kFood & Nutrition$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 74 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$150
Median grant
12
States reached
$4k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HHRD$4,200
UNRWA USA$4,100
DAR AL RAHMAHHOUSE OF MERCY$2,728
HASAN FOUNDATION$2,600
MUSLIM FAMILY SERVICES$1,500
ISLAMIC RELIEF$1,500
AL MUSTAFA TRUST$1,000
ISLAMIC CENTER OF HAWTHORNE$1,000
Individual grant recipient$800
MERCY USA FOR AID AND DEVELOPMENT$700
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FUND$700
FAJR SCIENTIFIC$650
IMRC$550
Individual grant recipient$550
Individual grant recipient$500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 79% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MUHSEN: $200 → 7%MUHSEN: $100 → 7%MUHSEN: $100 → 7%MUHSEN: $100 → 7%UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT: $100 → 14%UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHT PROJECT: $25 → 14%ZAMAN INTERNATIONA: $100 → 21%ZAMAN INTERNATIONA: $100 → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $9k → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $2k → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $2k → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $786 → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $500 → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $500 → 21%DREAM OF DETROIT: $200 → 21%HELPING HANDS: $2k → 8%DREAM OF DETROIT: $100 → 21%HELPING HANDS: $1k → 8%HELPING HANDS: $1k → 8%HELPING HANDS: $100 → 8%ACCESS: $100 → 21%ACCESS: $100 → 21%ACCESS: $50 → 21%ACCESS: $50 → 21%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
MI
NY
IN
PA
NJ
CT
CA
KY
VA
MD
TN
DC
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$276k · 88 repeat orgs$30k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +81% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

88 repeat relationships: 57 still active in FY2024, 31 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

88
47

Total granted

$276k
$18k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+81%
+27%

Still filing today

35%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
InternationalReligionHuman ServicesHealthPublic Safety & DisasterPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • IR
    ISLAMIC RELIEF USA
    8× · 2017–2024 · $23k · revenue +2%
  • DO
    Dream of Detroit
    8× · 2017–2024 · $15k · revenue +388%
  • ICNA RELIEF USA PROGRAMS INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $11k · revenue +234%

Funded once

  • I
    ICNA
    one grant, 2021 · $3k
  • ZS
    ZAINUL SYED CHARITY
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • UO
    University of Michigangraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +140%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
International Institute of Islamic Thought the Fairfax Institute
Education
2
American Muslim Instituition

Human Rights Project

Arts & Culture
3
Islamic Ummah Relief Corp

Develop long-term developmental projects aimed at providing a sustainable living for poor communities as well as supporting needy widows and orphans

Human Services
4
Al Ansaar Foundation for Humanity
Philanthropy
5
International Institute of Islamic Medicine

International Institute of Islamic Medicine (IIIM) acquires and disseminates knowledge of the rich history of Islamic medicine and fosters its contemporary application

Human Services
6
Foundation for Islamic Scholarship and Teaching
Education
7
The Noor Foundation
Philanthropy
8
Muslim Response Usa for Relief and Development

To provide material and financial assistance to relieve the sufferings of any and all persons affected by disasters. conflicts, disease. and hunger, irrespective of race. creed or ethnicity. To support schools and other learning centers…

International
9
Rehmat Foundation
Philanthropy
10
Cambodian Islamic Foundation
Education
11
Isaad foundation

Isaad Foundation aspires to preserve human dignity and to help achieve happiness, and to achieve the necessary needs for all individuals.

Philanthropy
12
Wisdom Islamic Studies and Education Inc
Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mercy-Usa for Aid & Developmentinc; the most unlike its peers is Nakadar Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

56 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 56 of the 154 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/56
Grantees still filing
38/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DAR AL RAHMAHHOUSE OF MERCY: $15,904 · OtherDAR AL RAHMAHHOUSE OF MERCYIndividual grant recipient: $14,950 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMUSLIM CENTER: $12,800 · OtherMUSLIM CENTERIndividual grant recipient: $11,743 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $11,190 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHELPING HAND FOR RELIEF: $10,510 · OtherHELPING HAND FOR RELIEFLIFE: $8,000 · Other+107 more: $102,664 · Other+107 moreTHE HASSAN FOUNDATION: $26,150 · InternationalTHE HASSAN FOUNDATIONISLAMIC RELIEF USA: $23,000 · InternationalISLAMIC RELIEF USAMERCY-USA FOR AID & DEVELOPMENTINC: $10,475 · InternationalMERCY-USA FOR AID & DEVEL…UNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC: $4,100 · InternationalUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMIT…+10 more: $6,248 · International+10 moreDream of Detroit: $15,096 · Human ServicesHELPING HANDS INC: $3,600 · Human Services+5 more: $1,456 · Human ServicesICNA RELIEF USA PROGRAMS INC: $11,225 · Public Safety & DisasterUnited Mission For Relief & Development: $500 · Public Safety & Disaster+1 more: $100 · Public Safety & DisasterISLAMIC ASSOCIATION OF GREATER DETROIT: $2,700 · ReligionZaytuna College Inc: $2,659 · ReligionTHE FELICITY FOUNDATION: $1,497 · ReligionRABATA INC: $706 · ReligionSIRAT CHICAGO: $531 · ReligionTAYSEER FOUNDATION: $425 · Religion+2 more: $250 · ReligionAMOUD FOUNDATION: $2,413 · PhilanthropyBANGLADESH AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MUSLIM AID FOR HUMA: $1,275 · PhilanthropyAmerican Muslim Community Foundation: $350 · Philanthropy+1 more: $50 · PhilanthropyHealth Unit on Davison Avenue: $2,100 · HealthHYDERABAD FOUNDATION USA INC: $1,204 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $350 · HealthFRIENDS OF INDUS HOSPITAL INC: $250 · Health
Other$187,761International$69,973Human Services$20,152Public Safety & Disaster$11,825Religion$8,768Philanthropy$4,088Health$3,904

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE HASSAN FOUNDATION: $26,150 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetISLAMIC RELIEF USA: $23,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetDream of Detroit: $15,096 over 8y, 7.0% of budgetICNA RELIEF USA PROGRAMS INC: $11,225 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMERCY-USA FOR AID & DEVELOPMENTINC: $10,475 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC: $4,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHELPING HANDS INC: $3,600 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetTHE ZAKAT FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $2,850 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetZaytuna College Inc: $2,659 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetAMOUD FOUNDATION: $2,413 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPAANI: $2,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHealth Unit on Davison Avenue: $2,100 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FELICITY FOUNDATION: $1,497 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetBANGLADESH AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MUSLIM AID FOR HUMA: $1,275 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL POLICY AND UNDERSTANDING: $1,263 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHYDERABAD FOUNDATION USA INC: $1,204 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetPURE HANDS INC: $1,185 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFAJR SCIENTIFIC: $1,150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBAITULMAAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSLIM LEGAL FUND OF AMERICA: $976 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTMO FOUNDATION: $950 over 7y, 2.4% of budgetABDUL SATTAR EDHI INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE QURAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICA: $775 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetRABATA INC: $706 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHuman Development Fund: $700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPI USA: $700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSIRAT CHICAGO: $531 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUnited Mission For Relief & Development: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMuhsen: $500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTAYSEER FOUNDATION: $425 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Muslim Community Foundation: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $350 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEQUALLYABLE FOUNDATION: $331 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetARAB COMMUNITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND S: $300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF INDUS HOSPITAL INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSUNRISE USA INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSLIM ENRICHMENT PROJECT: $150 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPAKISTAN CHILDREN RELIEF: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIndian American Muslim Council: $131 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT: $125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALMAGHRIB INSTITUTE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSLIM AID AMERICA: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT DIGNITY OUTREACH: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BEACON FOUNDATION INC A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION: $50 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMUSLIM COMMUNITY OF WESTERN SUBURBS OF DETROIT: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds THE HASSAN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ISLAMIC RELIEF USA ↗
  • Who funds Dream of Detroit ↗
  • Who funds ICNA RELIEF USA PROGRAMS INC ↗
  • Who funds MERCY-USA FOR AID & DEVELOPMENTINC ↗
  • Who funds UNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC ↗
  • Who funds HELPING HANDS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ZAKAT FOUNDATION OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds ISLAMIC ASSOCIATION OF GREATER DETROIT ↗
  • Who funds Zaytuna College Inc ↗
  • Who funds University of Michigan ↗
  • Who funds AMOUD FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PAANI ↗
  • Who funds Health Unit on Davison Avenue ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

American Muslim Commu…The Tabbaa FoundationNakadar FoundationThe Fountain of Knowl…Sattar Family Foundat…Dearborn Community Ce…Texas Instruments Fou…The Kashlan FoundationThe Symn FoundationZakia and Mian Family…Sahara FoundationAmin & Rubina Chikhal…
American Muslim Community FoundationCA58.5× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Muslim Community Foundation · The Tabbaa Foundation · Nakadar Foundation · The Fountain of Knowledg Foundation · Sattar Family Foundation · Dearborn Community Center · Texas Instruments Foundation · The Kashlan Foundation · The Symn Foundation · Zakia and Mian Family Charitable Foundation Inc · Sahara Foundation · Amin & Rubina Chikhalia Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Syed Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Syed Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    4get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 154 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Syed’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home