Being an avid Islamic Relief donor for years, when I noticed the salaries of the CEOs in the past couple of years, it just didn't sit well with me. Thank you for taking the time to do the research for us, I will probably cease my donations to Islamic Relief and choose a different avenue for donations, unless they clean up their act. Extremely disappointed that what I was suspecting is actually true to a degree.
I hope more donors, Shuyukh and others communicate this to IRUSA.
Yes IRUSA’s 990 offers very generous salaries to many senior executives. I did not point this out in my articles since it may not be a problem in and of itself if you are offering value for the cost. However their overall expenses look bloated to me.
I see no religiously valid reason to give zakat to IRUSA. The same goals can be accomplished (and even more, as less $ are spent on admin) by donating to Islamic Relief Worldwide (the UK organization).
Interestingly, IRUSA admits as much in its answer to question 8 in its webpage: "https://irusa.org/admin-explained/" Basically, it says the only reason to give to IRUSA as opposed to Islamic Relief Worldwide is that US taxpayers can get a tax deduction.
Now, getting a tax deduction is nice, but that is not the purpose of giving zakat. And we should not be picking zakat recipient simply because we can get nice tax deductions. I'm guessing the best zakat is to give cash to one's poor neighbors. We certainly won't get tax deductions doing that!
IRW at least has a zakat policy approved by scholars, it has its own problems from my perspective but it is better than IRUSA, where they are flying by the seat of their pants. The best zakat is typically local distributors, but you need to do your own research on them. I did a review of uplift in Southern California. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations when it comes to IRUSA's peers. I wrote about IRUSA's cost structure because it was so obviously deficient.
Ahmed, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this.
I searched exactly what you searched "Uplift Charity" and I did not get any IRUSA Ad links at all. I believe they showed up because you are signed in and Google probably tracked your history as you researched Islamic Relief. Try searching using incognito mode and see what comes up.
You mention that they spend on advertising - are you arguing that charities shouldn't ? How else will charities reach new or existing donors ?
Fair enough. In my attempt to give them benefit of doubt, would I be wrong to assume that they are using non-zakat funds for advertising? You cited their own reported pretty large numbers for Google/Facebook ads, but I dont see where they say this comes from Zakat-designated funds.
Being an avid Islamic Relief donor for years, when I noticed the salaries of the CEOs in the past couple of years, it just didn't sit well with me. Thank you for taking the time to do the research for us, I will probably cease my donations to Islamic Relief and choose a different avenue for donations, unless they clean up their act. Extremely disappointed that what I was suspecting is actually true to a degree.
I hope more donors, Shuyukh and others communicate this to IRUSA.
Yes IRUSA’s 990 offers very generous salaries to many senior executives. I did not point this out in my articles since it may not be a problem in and of itself if you are offering value for the cost. However their overall expenses look bloated to me.
Jazak Allahu Khayran for this article.
I see no religiously valid reason to give zakat to IRUSA. The same goals can be accomplished (and even more, as less $ are spent on admin) by donating to Islamic Relief Worldwide (the UK organization).
Interestingly, IRUSA admits as much in its answer to question 8 in its webpage: "https://irusa.org/admin-explained/" Basically, it says the only reason to give to IRUSA as opposed to Islamic Relief Worldwide is that US taxpayers can get a tax deduction.
Now, getting a tax deduction is nice, but that is not the purpose of giving zakat. And we should not be picking zakat recipient simply because we can get nice tax deductions. I'm guessing the best zakat is to give cash to one's poor neighbors. We certainly won't get tax deductions doing that!
Very useful info. JAK. How about Panney Appeal USA?
Please be sure to subscribe if you have not already. I hope to get there eventually.
AssalamuAlaikum Brother. Jazakallah khair for your efforts with this article. Question: Is this the same for Islamic Relief elsewhere, i.e. Canada?
Waiyyakum. No. IR Canada is run independent of IRUSA as ai understand it
Could you please provide an alternative to IRUSA that works with least expensive costs and in proper adherence with Islamic Jurisprudence?
IRW at least has a zakat policy approved by scholars, it has its own problems from my perspective but it is better than IRUSA, where they are flying by the seat of their pants. The best zakat is typically local distributors, but you need to do your own research on them. I did a review of uplift in Southern California. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations when it comes to IRUSA's peers. I wrote about IRUSA's cost structure because it was so obviously deficient.
Ahmed, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this.
I searched exactly what you searched "Uplift Charity" and I did not get any IRUSA Ad links at all. I believe they showed up because you are signed in and Google probably tracked your history as you researched Islamic Relief. Try searching using incognito mode and see what comes up.
You mention that they spend on advertising - are you arguing that charities shouldn't ? How else will charities reach new or existing donors ?
Ads won’t always come up. If you search for Islamic Relief other charities may come up.
Non-zakat funds can be used for advertising.
Fair enough. In my attempt to give them benefit of doubt, would I be wrong to assume that they are using non-zakat funds for advertising? You cited their own reported pretty large numbers for Google/Facebook ads, but I dont see where they say this comes from Zakat-designated funds.
I linked to the page where they say that (confirming what their executive told me), so yes you would be wrong to assume that.