CAIR California

Legal name: Council on American-islamic Relations California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770411194
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Anaheim, CA, USA
Phone
7147761847
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
History Museums
Affiliation
Islam

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,938,214
Expenses
$17,627,261
Assets
$22,933,890
Liabilities
$2,045,495

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HUSSAM AYLOUSH (BOARD MEMBER/CEO)
  • BASIM ELKARRA (SV/CC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RESHAD NOORZAY (SV/CC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • TAZHEEN NIZAM (SD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ZAHRA BILLOO (SFBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • HUSSAM AYLOUSH (BOARD MEMBER/CEO): $254,771 total reported compensation
  • ZAHRA BILLOO (SFBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $227,302 total reported compensation
  • NADEEM RIAZ (DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR): $162,232 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

EMPOWERING AMERICAN MUSLIMS, PROTECTING CIVIL RIGHTS, PROMOTING JUSTICE. A $200 non-refundable deposit is required upon acceptance into the program. Participants are not expected to cover program costs out of pocket. However, each participant is responsible for fundraising approximately $1,000 before the start of the program, with support from the CAIR-CA office. If the fundraising goal is not met, the participant will be responsible for covering the remaining balance. MYLP Participant Application. MYLP Participant Application The deadline for submitting a...

What it reported doing in 2024

Civil rights and immigrants' rightshandled 1,004 civil rights cases including workplace discrimination, law enforcement abuses, travel restrictions and hate crimes. While focusing primarily on american muslims, cair-ca has established a reputation as an advocate for any group or individual whose civil rights are in jeopardy and for partnering with local minority and legal aid organizations. We work with many partners to provide programs and legal services to the muslim community.handled 3,186 immigrants' rights cases including asylum, legal permanent residency, citizenship or reunification with families as well as victims of human trafficking, serious crimes and domestic violence. Cair-ca helped clients achieve independence, security and the opportunity to fully participate in american society.cair-ca served as fiscal lead of pass-through grant revenue directed towards partner organizations that supported the afghanistan supplement appropriations act to provide funding allocated to support immigration-related legal assistance for afghan newcomers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, 31% for grants, and 2% for affiliated organizations.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th 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: 89.2%; rating input score 89; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 27th 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: 6.9%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported · 0 of 6 affiliation controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $14.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $255K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 50 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 40 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.

Key Signals

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

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.