CAIR-Chicago

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364469855
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, United States
Phone
(312) 212-1520
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Liberties
Affiliation
Islam

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,992,486
Expenses
$1,308,623
Assets
$3,866,628
Liabilities
$2,678

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AHMED REHAB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • AHMED REHAB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MAZEN KUDAIMI (BOARD CHAIR)
  • GLORIA BASHIR (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance. CAIR-Chicago is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit Muslim civil rights organization registered independently in Illinois. CAIR is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR-Chicago functions as an independent organization that sets its own strategy and goals. We work to attain equal opportunity for, and normalize the image of, Muslims in America through defending civil rights, fighting bigotry, and promoting tolerance. Our Civil Rights Department provides pro bono legal services to Muslims who have faced discrimination as a result of their race, religion, or ethnicity. **Learn more about Our Values****see what they say about us**. OUR MISSION.

What it reported doing in 2025

Defending civil rights, fighting bigotry, and community outreach.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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 program spending has grown recently. 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: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 30
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 41.3%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 59.7%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 34.3%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.95; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 41.3% of revenue deployed · 59.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 filing controls reported · 0 of 6 affiliation controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $781K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.