Cair National Legal Defense Fund Inc
EIN 820922964 · Washington, DC · — · foundation
Address453 NEW JERSEY AVE SE, Washington, DC 20003-4034
Mission · 990 Part I
“PROVIDES LEGAL SUPPORT TO MEMBERS OF THE MUSLIM-AMERICAN POPULATION”
The IRS Form 990 for FY 2024 is due ~Nov 15 of the year after the fiscal close, followed by 3–6 months of IRS processing and 6–12 months before the cleaned data is published. FY 2024 should begin appearing here around mid-to-late 2025. A gap between today and the latest filing does not mean the org hasn't filed.
▸Additional financials & ratios
Attestations & Audits
Org-supplied disclosures that have been verified by the Ihsan Standard Editorial Council. Every standard has a Gold tier (★) reached via an Ihsan Standard or accepted third-party audit. An empty section means the org has not yet filled it in — not that they fail the standard.
- Zakat methodology disclosurenot yet attested
- Zakāt al-Fitr timeline commitmentnot yet attested
- Qurbānī / Udhiya timeline enforcementnot yet attested
- Kaffāra fulfillment commitmentnot yet attested
- Annual zakat distribution reportnot yet attested
- Orphan-fund segregation (Qurʾānic amāna)not yet attested
- Restricted-purpose fund segregation (honoring the amāna)not yet attested
- Per-donation tracking & fulfillmentnot yet attested
- Supplier-stack cleanup plan filednot yet attested
- Full supplier-stack audit completednot yet attested
- Taʿāwun Procurement Audit — Muslim community vendor pledgenot yet attested
- Khulafāʾ al-Arḍ Environmental Stewardship Auditnot yet attested
Where the money went · FY 2023
Form 990 Part IX (Statement of Functional Expenses) split into the four functional buckets, plus automated anomaly detection across the most-asked donor questions.
Expense breakdown · FY 2023
Total $192KForm 990 Part IX line items we have on file for this filing (compensation totals + fundraising lines). The full functional-expense col-A/B/C/D split (grants, program, admin, fundraising) was not in the structured extract — the residual sits in “Program & operations” below. Reading note: compensation is NOT the same as “admin overhead” — for orgs running clinics (like IMAN’s FQHC), schools, or in-house programs, most of compensation is program work.
- Program & operations (other)$192K · 100.0%
Total expenses minus compensation and fundraising — the residual covering program supplies, occupancy & utilities, professional fees, beneficiary services, medical supplies (for clinics), travel, equipment, and depreciation. ProPublica's structured extract did not include the Part IX functional split for this filing year; the breakdown PDF reconciles which specific lines went where.
Fundraising efficacy · not the primary lens for this org
Cair National Legal Defense Fund Inc reports $0 in contributions on only $0 of fundraising spend — a ratio that suggests this org isn't fundraising-driven in the conventional sense. The Form 990 “fundraising expense” line item is meant to capture solicitation costs (telemarketing, direct mail, digital ad spend); for universities, masjids, foundations, and orgs primarily supported by major gifts or program revenue, that line is small or zero, and the resulting “ratio” reads as meaningless.
The right operational-efficiency lens for an org like this is reserves, payroll composition, and program-expense ratio — see the financial-anomalies section and the multi-year trend dashboard.
Year-over-year trends · through FY 2023
Arrow color = direction × good-when-upPer-metric direction and magnitude vs. the prior fiscal year. Where the data goes back far enough, the 3-year compound annual growth rate is included — useful for separating one-off spikes from sustained trends.
- Revenue↑ 1047.3% YoY$85Kprior: $7KΔ +$77K3y CAGR +8.6%
Total revenue per Form 990 Part I line 12.
- Contributions→ n/a$0prior: $0
Form 990 Part I line 1h — gifts, grants, and contributions received.
- Investment income→ n/a$0prior: $0
Form 990 Part VIII line 4 — interest, dividends, and other investment earnings on the org's reserve. For orgs with material reserves, a healthy investment-income trend indicates capital is actually working; near-zero income on a large reserve raises the 'idle capital' question.
- Total expenses→ 1.2% YoY$192Kprior: $189K3y CAGR +23.8%
Form 990 Part I line 18 — total functional expenses.
- Top-officer compensation→ n/a$0prior: $0
Form 990 Part IX line 5 — aggregate compensation for officers, directors, key employees, and the five highest-paid employees. Growing in line with revenue is expected for healthy orgs; growing faster than revenue is the question worth asking.
- Total compensation & benefits→ n/a$0prior: $0
Officer comp + other salaries + payroll tax — total people-cost of running the org.
- Net assets↓ -89.1% YoY-$227Kprior: -$120KΔ −$107K
Form 990 Part X line 33 — assets minus liabilities at year end.
- Months of reserve↓ -86.9% YoY-14.2 moprior: -7.6 moΔ −6.6 mo
Net assets ÷ (annual expenses ÷ 12). The trend matters more than the absolute number: a falling reserve year-over-year is the early warning sign of fragility, even if it's still above the 3-month floor.
Items worth a closer look
Automated checks across Form 990 Part IX and Part VII Section B. We publish the math and the source; we do not adjudicate intent. Many of these have legitimate explanations specific to the org’s mission — read each card’s context note before forming a judgment. The org has full right of reply.
Thin operating reserve
-14.2 moNotableMonths of reserve in FY 2023: -14.2. Best-practice nonprofit governance treats 3 months as the lower bound, 6–12 months as a healthy range.
ContextThin reserves make orgs fragile to a single bad fundraising year. Pass-through grant-makers and acute-relief orgs sometimes run this tight by design.
Source: Net assets ÷ (total expenses ÷ 12)
Engagement-track path:if a specific explanation fits the org (new-org ramp, capital campaign, FQHC medical-staff payroll, multi-year grant schedule), the org can sign in, attach the supporting filing detail, and a contextual note will publish alongside the relevant card. The numbers stay — the reader gets the reasoning.
▸Multi-year history
click to expand
Multi-year history
click to expand| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net assets | Contributions | Officer/KE comp | Inv. income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $85K | $192K | $-227143 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 2022 | $7K | $189K | $-120107 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 2021 | $103K | $70K | $52K | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 2020 | $66K | $101K | $95K | $0 | $7K | $22 |
| 2019 | $434K | $264K | $327K | $342 | $7K | $0 |
| 2018 | $198K | $46K | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 2017 | $7K | $664 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Ethical supplier stack — not yet scanned
scan pendingWe have not yet run the public-website vendor scan for Cair National Legal Defense Fund Inc. A blank section here is not evidence of a clean supplier stack — it means we don’t have data yet.
Coverage as of today: ~6 / 1,917 cohort orgs scanned. The Ihsan Standard rendered-site scanner is being rolled out across the cohort; the Supplier-Stack Audit (engagement track) covers vendors that don’t appear in public HTML at all (CRM, accounting, ad-tech back-office).
Compensation history
Form 990 Part VII Section A · 2 filings on record
Every officer, director, key employee, and highest-compensated employee with reported pay. Recent year is shown by default — switch tabs for prior years or the unique-people roll-up.
FY 2024
2 paid · 2 unpaid board · total $379K| Name | Title | From org | Related orgs | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lena Masri | Director/secretary | $12K | $173K | $14K | $199K |
| Mariam Aladdin-albakaye | Controller | $0 | $148K | $31K | $180K |
Compensation detail · Schedule J
IRS Form 990 Schedule J requires officers and key employees with reportable compensation above $150,000 to break out base salary, bonuses, deferred compensation, and non-taxable benefits. From FY 2024.
| Name · title | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Benefits | Total (org) | Related orgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LENA MASRI DIRECTOR/SECRETARY | $0 | $12K | $0 | $0 | $0 | $12K | $187K |
MARIAM ALADDIN-ALBAKAYE CONTROLLER | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $180K |
▸Verticals · detected automatically
click to expand
Verticals · detected automatically
click to expandSignals automatically extracted from public website data on the org's site— please verify against the source link before relying on any single tag. “Unknown” means no evidence was found, not that the org doesn’t offer it.
In their own words · Schedule O
Supplemental narratives the org wrote on IRS Form 990 Schedule O — program-activity descriptions, governance explanations, and answers to specific 990 line items. Useful primary-source context that doesn’t fit into the structured fields elsewhere on this page.
- FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 11BFY 2024
CAIR NATIONAL LEGAL DEFENSE INC'S OUTSIDE CPA FIRM PREPARES THE FORM 990. THE FORM IS THEN REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY THE ORGANIZATION'SPRESIDENT. THE FORM IS PROVIDED TO THE FULL BOARD FOR ACCEPTANCE BEFORE FILING.
- FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 12CFY 2024
THE ORGANIZATION HAS A WRITTEN CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY THAT APPLIES TO ALL DIRECTORS, PRINCIPAL OFFICERS, AND MEMBERS OF COMMITTEES WITH GOVERNING BOARDDELEGATED POWERS. THE POLICY IS DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE ORGANIZATION'S INTERESTS WHEN CONSIDERING TRANSACTIONS OR ARRANGEMENTS THAT MIGHT BENEFIT THE PRIVATE INTEREST OF AN OFFICER OR DIRECTOR OR RESULT IN AN EXCESS BENEFIT TRANSACTION. EACH DIRECTOR, OFFICER, AND COMMITTEE MEMBER IS REQUIRED TO ANNUALLY SIGN A STATEMENT AFFIRMING THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED, READ, UNDERSTAND, AND AGREE TO COMPLY WITH THE POLICY. WHEN A POTENTIAL CONFLICT ARISES, THE INTERESTED PERSON MUST DISCLOSE THE EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF THE FINANCIAL INTEREST AND ALL MATERIAL FACTS TO THE BOARD OR APPROPRIATE COMMITTEE. THE INDIVIDUAL MAY MAKE A PRESENTATION BUT THEN LEAVES THE MEETING WHILE THE MATTER IS DISCUSSED AND VOTED UPON. THE DISINTERESTED BOARD OR COMMITTEE MEMBERS DETERMINE WHETHER A CONFLICT EXISTS AND, IF SO, EVALUATE WHETHER THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION IS FAIR AND IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE ORGANIZATION. THE BOARD OR COMMITTEE MAY APPOINT A DISINTERESTED PERSON OR GROUP TO INVESTIGATE ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED ARRANGEMENT. ALL DISCLOSURES, DISCUSSIONS, DETERMINATIONS, AND VOTES ARE RECORDED IN THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING. THE ORGANIZATION CONDUCTS PERIODIC REVIEWS TO ENSURE OPERATIONS REMAIN CONSISTENT WITH ITS CHARITABLE PURPOSES AND THAT COMPENSATION AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS DO NOT RESULT IN INUREMENT, PRIVATE BENEFIT, OR EXCESS BENEFIT TRANSACTIONS.
- FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION C, LINE 19FY 2024
THE ORGANIZATION'S GOVERNING DOCUMENTS, CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC UPON REQUEST.