Pillars Fund
EIN 810983087 · Chicago, IL · — · foundation
Address200 W MADISON 3RD FLOOR, Chicago, IL 60606-3414
Mission · 990 Part I
“To strengthen relations with American Muslims and all Americans. Pillars Fund strategically supports nonprofit organizations that amplify the talents and leadership of American Muslims and improve the communities they serve.”
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
- Top-officer compensation: 10.7% of revenue
- Net assets are 3.4× annual revenue
- High reserves with low investment income (potential idle capital)
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
Filing observations & context
1 concerningSpecific datapoints from Pillars Fund's most recent IRS Form 990 that warrant a closer look. Each item is computed directly from the org's own public filing — we explain what the datapoint is, what it might mean, and the legitimate reasons it could be present. Read these as context, not conclusions.
- Grant recipients on Schedule I aren't fully identifiedconcerning
0 Schedule I grants lack a recipient name/EIN; 18 list an EIN that doesn't match any IRS-registered org.
What this meansOn Schedule I — where the org lists every grant it made to other organizations — three or more rows are missing the recipient name + EIN, or the listed EIN doesn't match any organization registered with the IRS.
Why it matters (and what it might not mean)Schedule I exists so donors can trace a charity's grants to actual recipient organizations. Missing or unverifiable recipient details make that trace impossible, which a donor's right to do. In many real cases this is a data-entry shortfall (e.g. small recurring grants without the recipient EIN looked up) — but it's also where the most opaque fund flows hide, so we surface it.
show underlying numbers
{ "grants_without_id": 0, "grants_with_unverifiable_ein": 18, "total_grants": 45, "sample_unverifiable": [ { "name": "ACTION CENTER ON RACE", "ein": "821199695" }, { "name": "American Muslim Health Prof", "ein": "711013651" }, { "name": "Asian American Jou", "ein": "953755203" } ] }
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 $4.78MForm 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.
- Compensation & benefits$1.66M · 34.7%
Form 990 Part IX lines 5–10 — total staff compensation: salaries & wages, payroll taxes, and benefits across everyone the org pays (program, clinical, and support staff), plus any pay to officers, directors, and key employees. The per-person split — including which officers, if any, are paid — is in the Compensation history section below. For orgs running clinics, schools, or in-house programs, most of this is program work, not admin.
- Program & operations (other)$3.12M · 65.3%
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
Pillars Fund reports $2.40M 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↓ -37.8% YoY$2.40Mprior: $3.86MΔ −$1.46M3y CAGR +2.7%
Total revenue per Form 990 Part I line 12.
- Contributions↓ -37.8% YoY$2.40Mprior: $3.85MΔ −$1.46M3y CAGR +2.7%
Form 990 Part I line 1h — gifts, grants, and contributions received.
- Investment income→ 0.3% YoY$1Kprior: $1K
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↑ 10.3% YoY$4.78Mprior: $4.34MΔ +$446K3y CAGR +27.5%
Form 990 Part I line 18 — total functional expenses.
- Top-officer compensation↑ 22.5% YoY$257Kprior: $210KΔ +$47K3y CAGR +17.6%
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↑ 37.0% YoY$1.66Mprior: $1.21MΔ +$448K3y CAGR +39.7%
Officer comp + other salaries + payroll tax — total people-cost of running the org.
- Net assets↓ -22.4% YoY$8.24Mprior: $10.63MΔ −$2.38M3y CAGR +49.4%
Form 990 Part X line 33 — assets minus liabilities at year end.
- Months of reserve↓ -29.7% YoY20.7 moprior: 29.4 moΔ −8.7 mo3y CAGR +17.2%
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.
Financial context · plain math
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.
Top-officer compensation: elevated share of revenue
10.7%ContextTop-officer comp was $257K on revenue of $2.40M — 10.7%.
ContextThis is the line on Form 990 Part VII Section A that aggregates compensation for officers, directors, key employees, and the five highest-paid employees. It is NOT just the CEO. Orgs running clinics with senior medical staff (IMAN's Federally Qualified Health Center, for example), licensed professional teams, or multi-physician practices will legitimately show higher numbers here. Read the per-individual breakdown before judging.
Source: Form 990 Part VII Section A (top-officer compensation total)
See compensation history below for the per-individual breakdown →Net assets are 3.4× annual revenue
3.4×Context$8.24M of net assets against $2.40M of FY 2023 revenue.
ContextFoundations, endowments, and grant-makers (AMCF, Pillars Fund, etc.) intentionally hold multi-year reserves so they can grant strategically over time. A 5–20× ratio is normal for an endowment-shaped balance sheet. Read this in the context of the org's mission — operating charity vs. foundation — not as a default red flag.
Source: Net assets (Form 990 Part X line 33) ÷ revenue (Part I line 12)
High reserves with low investment income (potential idle capital)
0.05% returnContextNet assets of $8.24M produced only $1K of investment income in FY 2023 — under 0.5% return on the reserve.
ContextAn endowment-shaped balance sheet whose capital isn't earning is worth a question — but a grant-making foundation that pays out reserves on a 2–3 year cadence may rationally hold cash for upcoming commitments instead of locking it in invested capital. Read this alongside the org's grant cadence.
Source: Investment income (Part VIII line 4) ÷ revenue
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
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Multi-year history
click to expand| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net assets | Contributions | Officer/KE comp | Inv. income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $2.4M | $4.8M | $8.2M | $2.4M | $257K | $1K |
| 2022 | $3.9M | $4.3M | $10.6M | $3.9M | $210K | $1K |
| 2021 | $11.1M | $2.4M | $11.1M | $11.1M | $116K | $1K |
| 2020 | $2.2M | $2.3M | $2.5M | $2.2M | $158K | $0 |
| 2019 | $2.2M | $2.1M | $2.6M | $2.2M | $155K | $0 |
| 2018 | $1.5M | $1.1M | $2.4M | $1.5M | $150K | $0 |
| 2017 | $1.9M | $692K | $2.0M | $1.9M | $113K | $0 |
| 2016 | $1.1M | $275K | $802K | $1.1M | $50K | $0 |
Ethical supplier stack — strength on record
No widely-flagged vendors were detected on Pillars Fund's public website during our most recent scan. This covers analytics, payment, and SSO vendors visible in the rendered HTML, the donor-page network log, and the site’s DNS records — but not back-office tools (CRM, accounting, ad-tech) that don’t appear publicly. On the publicly-scannable supplier surface, Pillars Fund is among the cleanest in the cohort.
Even with a clean public-side stack, the Ihsan Standard engagement track offers a further audit at zero org cost during the pilot: the Khulafāʾ al-Arḍ Stewardship Audit (environmental footprint of sites and vendors). See the Attestations & Audits section above.
Method: automatic vendor detection from public website HTML — scope is limited to what the org makes visible on the site. See standards for the full vendor rubric.
Compensation history
Form 990 Part VII Section A · 8 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 2023
5 paid · 8 unpaid board · total $870K| Name | Title | From org | Related orgs | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashif Shaikh | Executive Dir. | $242K | $0 | $15K | $257K |
| Kalia Abiade | Vp Programs | $178K | $0 | $6K | $185K |
| Arij Mikati | Managing Dir. | $153K | $0 | $12K | $165K |
| Nadia Ismail | Managing Dir. | $145K | $0 | $6K | $151K |
| Nyimas Fauzi | Programs | $103K | $0 | $10K | $112K |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arij Mikati Managing Dir. | $155K | $0 | $0 | $5K | $8K | $168K | — |
Kalia Abiade VP Programs | $180K | $0 | $0 | $5K | $651 | $186K | — |
Kashif Shaikh Executive Dir. | $255K | $0 | $0 | $8K | $15K | $278K | — |
Grants made · Schedule I
The organizations and people Pillars Fund re-granted money to, as reported on IRS Form 990 Schedule I. Total disbursed across these50 grants: $3.4M.
| Recipient | Amount | Purpose | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
Inner City Muslim Action Net EIN 364167433 | $155K | Program Support | 2024 |
Detroit Revival Engaging Mus EIN 464246696 | $145K | Program Support | 2024 |
Defending Rights and Dissent EIN 270042821 | $135K | Program Support | 2024 |
Muslim Wellness Foundation EIN 472533025 | $135K | Program Support | 2024 |
Institute for Social Policy EIN 383633581 | $130K | Program Support | 2024 |
CUNY School of Law EIN 113235349 | $130K | Program Support | 2023 |
CUNY School of Law EIN 113235349 | $125K | Program Support | 2024 |
Georgia Muslim Voter Project EIN 811446781 | $125K | Program Support | 2024 |
Detroit Revival Engaging Mus EIN 464246696 | $125K | Program Support | 2023 |
Inner City Muslim Action Net EIN 364167433 | $125K | Program Support | 2023 |
Institute for Social Policy EIN 383633581 | $125K | Program Support | 2023 |
Muslim Wellness Foundation EIN 472533025 | $125K | Program Support | 2023 |
Sirat Chicago EIN 474847984 | $125K | Program Support | 2023 |
Allied Media Projects EIN 010559608 | $100K | Program Support | 2024 |
Muslim Anti-Racism Collab EIN 472444781 | $100K | Program Support | 2024 |
Pillars of the Community EIN 452323183 | $100K | Program Support | 2024 |
New American Leaders Inc EIN 043519203 | $75K | Program Support | 2024 |
Tides Center EIN 943213100 | $65K | Program Support | 2024 |
MSA West EIN 465478214 | $60K | Program Support | 2024 |
Community Partners EIN 954302067 | $60K | Program Support | 2023 |
NEO Philanthropy Inc EIN 133191113 | $60K | Program Support | 2023 |
ACTION CENTER ON RACE EIN 821199695 | $55K | Program Support | 2023 |
Project South EIN 581956686 | $55K | Program Support | 2023 |
ACTION CENTER ON RACE EIN 821199695 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
Community Partners EIN 954302067 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
Faith In Action Network EIN 942206497 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
IL Muslim Civic Coalition EIN 832647003 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
INTL MUSEUM MUSLIM CULTURES EIN 364495799 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
NEO Philanthropy Inc EIN 133191113 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
Project South EIN 581956686 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
Reviving Islamic Sisterhood EIN 811236990 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
The Appellate Project EIN 843852810 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
The BOT Leland Stanford EIN 941156365 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
Women Make Movies Inc EIN 132740460 | $50K | Program Support | 2024 |
Leland Stanford Junior Univ EIN 941156365 | $50K | Program Support | 2023 |
Malikah EIN 471277862 | $30K | Program Support | 2024 |
Maristan EIN 471863760 | $30K | Program Support | 2024 |
American Muslim Health Prof EIN 711013651 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
Blue Tin Production LLC EIN 843133322 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
Emgage Foundation Inc EIN 261441032 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
Huron University Found EIN 208179397 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
Maine Peoples Resource Cente EIN 222586108 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
Muslim Campus Life EIN 994828190 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
National Immigration Project EIN 952926663 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
National Pship for New Amer EIN 453419142 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
UC Regents EIN 946036493 | $25K | Program Support | 2024 |
Defending Rights and Dissent EIN 270042821 | $25K | Program Support | 2023 |
Malikah EIN 471277862 | $25K | Program Support | 2023 |
Maristan EIN 471863760 | $25K | Program Support | 2023 |
American Muslim Adv Council EIN 364720454 | $20K | Program Support | 2024 |
▸Verticals · detected automatically
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Verticals · detected automatically
click to expandSignals automatically extracted from public website data on https://pillarsfund.org— 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
The 990 is completed by an independent accounting firm, reviewed by the executive director and board of directors prior to filing.
- Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12cFY 2024
The directors reaffirm at the annual board meeting that there are no conflicts of interest.
- Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15aFY 2024
Executive director compensation is approved by the board annually during the budget process. Other Key staff compensation is also approved by the board annually during the budget process.