Council on American-Islamic Relations

Legal name: Cair National Legal Defense Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
820922964
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Washington, DC, United States
Phone
202-488-8787
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights
Affiliation
Islam

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$249,901
Expenses
$203,133
Assets
$86,780
Liabilities
$267,155

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROULA ALLOUCH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LENA MASRI (DIRECTOR/SECRETARY): $198,948 total reported compensation
  • MARIAM ALADDIN-ALBAKAYE (CONTROLLER): $179,972 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To protect and defend the civil rights and civil liberties of American Muslims, and to promote justice and mutual understanding.

What it reported doing in 2024

During the tax year, the cair national legal defense fund ensured that the interests and positions of the american muslim community in the united states are represented, understood and respected; raised awareness within the american society about islam and the muslim community; acted as a legal and advocacy group to protect the civil rights of muslims; cooperated with other organizations having similar objectives and purposes; provided legal representation to muslims where their civil rights were being violated.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 97.2%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.08; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -19.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th 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: 79% of revenue deployed · 97.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported · 3 of 6 affiliation controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $199K · 4 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.