Council on American-Islamic Relations

Legal name: Cair-foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770646756
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
202-488-8787
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Civil Rights
Affiliation
Islam

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,379,629
Expenses
$8,609,119
Assets
$7,611,749
Liabilities
$950,692

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NIHAD AWAD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • EDWARD MITCHELL (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • NIHAD AWAD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $272,620 total reported compensation
  • CARY HOOPER (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $220,536 total reported compensation
  • LENA MASRI (NATIONAL LITIGATION DIR/GEN. COUNSEL): $198,948 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of CAIR is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil rights, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chapter 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.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.2%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 65.9%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.2%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 11 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 62.2% of revenue deployed · 65.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported · 3 of 6 affiliation controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $273K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.