CAIR Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
991013631
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9162855733
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Islam

Reported finances

Revenue
$416,809
Expenses
$363,791
Assets
$56,752
Liabilities
$3,734

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Emad Sabbah (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Basim Elkarra (Executive Dir.): $39,221 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

CAIR Action accomplishments include mobilizing and educating Muslim voters, influencing policy through advocacy and public awareness campaigns. The organization has been involved in advocacy to combat discrimination, reform immigration policies, and secure religious freedom, with recent work focusing on issues like the Gaza conflict and opposing national security overreach. They also champion increased political representation for Muslims, with efforts leading to dozens of Muslims elected to public office.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational & Advocacy. - Launched CAIRAction.org, resulting in:39K active users82K page views46K voter-guide downloads17 published press releases- Built a comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure supporting email action alerts, donations, voter outreach, and enhanced online engagement.- Developed 33 voter guides across 16 states, in partnership with more than 100 community advisors.- Researched and issued positions on over 1,490 candidates.- Integrated CAIR Action endorsements into partner organizations recommendations and platforms.- Held over 30+ educational community events nationwide, including in California, Florida, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland.Regards, GOTV Impact:23K voter calls made800 doors knocked

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.5%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 64.7%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.7%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.5% of revenue deployed · 64.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $236K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $39K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.