Skip to content

Illinois · Nonprofit

KARAM FOUNDATION

KARAM FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,840,794 to it, the largest being CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA ($1,694,515). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$1.8M
Funders on record
99
Grants received
$13M
Net assets
$2.6M
40/99 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 63%
01What it does

What Karam Foundation does

Mission

Karam Foundation is dedicated to help people help themselves. We seek to restore the dignity and quality of life for people affected by conflict by eliminating barriers to success through innovative education, entrepreneurial development, and community-driven aid.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. Building Leaders: Our programs empowering refugee youth and parents to create multiple pathways to leadership. From Innovative Education initiatives for refugee teens to awareness programs for mothers and fathers, our programs are designed to provide all-encompassing support. We respond to the barriers that Syrian refugees face by relieving burdens now, as well as allowing for opportunities to build for the future. Transforming Communities: Investing in the health and resilience of refugee Syrian families around the world allows them to thrive and become proactive community members. From targeted support to newly-settled refugees to emergency relief in times of crisis, we ensure that no families are rendered victims to their circumstances.

    $2,997,842 spentof which $1,322,165 as grants
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,997,842.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($4.0M) Expenses 100 ($2.8M) Net assets 100 ($2.9M)2018 Revenue 79 ($3.1M) Expenses 137 ($3.8M) Net assets 76 ($2.2M)2019 Revenue 132 ($5.2M) Expenses 133 ($3.7M) Net assets 127 ($3.7M)2020 Revenue 84 ($3.3M) Expenses 109 ($3.0M) Net assets 137 ($4.0M)2021 Revenue 72 ($2.8M) Expenses 91 ($2.5M) Net assets 146 ($4.2M)2022 Revenue 61 ($2.4M) Expenses 100 ($2.8M) Net assets 141 ($4.1M)2023 Revenue 115 ($4.6M) Expenses 134 ($3.7M) Net assets 161 ($4.7M)2024 Revenue 45 ($1.8M) Expenses 137 ($3.8M) Net assets 91 ($2.6M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (45)Expenses (137)Net assets (91)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $4.9M to $2.8M (−42%).

$3.0M
$2.3M
$3.8M
$4.1M
$4.2M
$4.2M
$4.9M
$2.8M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2020 7% · 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

98% of KARAM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 3,053 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$1.2M
’17
−$702k
’18
$1.5M
’19
$282k
’20
$291k
’21
−$373k
’22
$815k
’23
−$2.0M
’24
6.6
months of
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

Lina Sergie Attar

CEO

Board chair

Rasha Mansouri

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed8910810111111
Joined·+3+1+1+3+2+2+2
No longer listed·2031122
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 31 funders to 42 funders, grant income rose $908k → $2.9M.

21 of 99 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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 KARAM FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 99 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

KARAM FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 13% 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

72% 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 KARAM FOUNDATION.

13%
largest funder
34%
top three
~15
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 27% · 2019 47% · 2020 24% · 2021 29% · 2022 24% · 2023 12% — 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

31% of KARAM FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

KARAM FOUNDATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 22 states in all.

ME
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
WY
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
DE
NM
NC
DC
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

KARAM FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−113% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve6.6mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−11% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like KARAM FOUNDATION

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 Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

78% of spending goes to programs.

Program 78%Management 11%Fundraising 11%

Governance

8
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

87%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

IL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for KARAM FOUNDATION: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 KARAM FOUNDATION?
KARAM FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,840,794 to it, the largest being CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA ($1,694,515). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does KARAM FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 99 organizations giving $12,840,794 in grants to KARAM FOUNDATION, 40 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of KARAM FOUNDATION?
CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA is the largest funder on record, with $1,694,515 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like KARAM FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 99 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