Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
CAIR-FOUNDATION INC
CAIR-FOUNDATION INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 127 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,455,761 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,123,815). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $9.4M
- Funders on record
- 127
- Grants received
- $8.5M
- Net assets
- $6.7M
What Cair-Foundation Inc does
Mission
The corporation's mission is to enhance understanding of islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower american muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding through civil rights, government affairs, media relations, research, internships, publications, education (conferences, seminars, workshops), voter registration, outreach, and interfaith.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Civil rights and advocacy - counsels, mediates and advocates on behalf of muslims and others who have experienced religious discrimination and hate crimes. The department works to protect and defend the constitutional rights of american muslims, thereby supporting the rights of all americans. During 2024, the program had an intake of 1,679 complaints and 31 litigation cases.
$2,002,891 spent35% of program spendingOutreach and support - the foundation attends muslim and non-muslim events to educate the community about the work of the foundation. During the year, the organization provided education and information at 111 events.
$894,083 spent16% of program spendingMedia relations - works with local and national media to ensure an accurate representation of islam and muslims to the american public. The foundation monitors local, national and international media, in part to challenge negative stereotypes, but also to applaud and encourage positive representations of islam and muslims. Over the years, the foundation has become a respected and credible source for journalists and other media professionals. The foundation also offers an email list designed to be a source of information and news for the american muslim community. During the year, the organization engaged with 175 media companies.
$619,801 spent11% of program spendingChapter support - the foundation works with and provides training to affiliate chapters to help strengthen the work of the foundation's mission nationwide by advocating for american muslims across the country who have experienced discrimination, defamation, or hate crimes.government affairs - conducts and organizes lobbying efforts on issues related to islam and muslims. The department monitors legislation and government activities and responds on behalf of the american muslim community. The foundation issues action alerts as a means of generating a grassroots response to critical political, social and media-related issues.islamophobia/research and advocacy - conducts empirical research studies on subjects relevant to the american muslim community, including gathering and analyzing data for the annual civil rights report.community advocacy - non-legal advocacy work for the community.
$2,158,276 spentof which $16,000 as grants$419,041 earned by the program38% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,675,051.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $6.5M to $3.3M (−49%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 1% · 2021 18% · 2022 10% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of CAIR-FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Nihad Awad
Executive director
Board chair
Manal Fakhoury
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 34 funders to 49 funders, grant income rose $1.1M → $1.2M.
27 of 127 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of CAIR-FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 127 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
CAIR-FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
81% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CAIR-FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 47% · 2018 49% · 2019 25% · 2020 26% · 2021 39% · 2022 22% · 2023 22% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
33% of CAIR-FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
71% of CAIR-FOUNDATION INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $2.4M that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 24 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
CAIR-FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 978 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 978 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like CAIR-FOUNDATION INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Washington Trust Foundation Inc · exempt
- Cair National Legal Defense Fund Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CAIR-FOUNDATION INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds CAIR-FOUNDATION INC?
- CAIR-FOUNDATION INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 127 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,455,761 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,123,815). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CAIR-FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 127 organizations giving $8,455,761 in grants to CAIR-FOUNDATION INC, 67 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CAIR-FOUNDATION INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,123,815 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CAIR-FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 127 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing