How Much of Islamic Relief USA Actually Goes to Charity?

Islamic Relief USA is the largest Muslim charity in the United States by revenue, raising $147.2 million in 2024. It is also one of the most searched Islamic charities by donors wanting to know where their money goes before they give. The answer is in the public record: Islamic Relief USA files an IRS Form 990 every year, and the numbers are available to anyone who looks.

Here is what the 2024 filing shows.

The headline numbers

Of every dollar Islamic Relief USA spent in 2024, 80 cents went to programmes. That leaves 20 cents in overhead: 2 cents for administration and 18 cents for fundraising. Those are the actual figures from the 990, not estimates or self-reported ratios.

The 80% programme rate puts Islamic Relief USA in a solid but not exceptional position among US Muslim charities — our review of the 10 best US Muslim charities shows several organisations achieving 92–100%. But context matters: running a $147 million operation across 40 countries with emergency response capacity, staff in conflict zones, and a complex logistics infrastructure costs more than running a smaller, simpler organisation. The relevant comparison is not against a community mosque that reports zero overhead; it is against other large-scale humanitarian organisations operating at similar complexity and geographic reach.

What the fundraising cost means

The figure most donors focus on is admin. Islamic Relief USA’s admin costs are $3.5 million, or 2.2% of total expenditure: genuinely low for an organisation of this size. But the 18% fundraising cost is worth understanding, because that is where the overhead comes from.

Fundraising expenses include direct mail, digital campaigns, events, staff, and the full cost of donor acquisition and retention. For a charity that raised $147 million, spending $27 million to generate that revenue represents a cost-per-dollar-raised of approximately 18 cents. That ratio is not unusual for a large nonprofit that relies on ongoing individual donor engagement, but it is something a donor focused purely on programme efficiency should factor in.

The important question to ask is whether the fundraising cost is productive: is the money raised worth the cost of raising it? A charity that spends $18 to raise $100 and directs $80 of that to programmes is delivering better absolute programme value than a charity that spends $1 to raise $10 and directs $8 to programmes. Scale matters alongside ratio.

Where the programme money goes

Islamic Relief USA’s 2024 programme spend of $124.2 million was allocated across these areas:

The top two categories, food security and emergency response, account for over $63 million: more than half the total programme spend. Water and sanitation, health, and education make up the remainder. This is a coherent portfolio for a humanitarian organisation covering active crisis regions.

Revenue over time

Islamic Relief USA has grown substantially over the past decade, from $65.3 million in 2013 to a peak of $165.2 million in 2023, pulling back to $147.2 million in 2024. The growth reflects both the organisation’s fundraising capacity and the scale of humanitarian need it has responded to, including major emergency appeals for Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, and ongoing crisis response across Africa and Asia.

The organisation holds $228 million in total assets, providing a financial cushion that allows it to deploy emergency response before donor funds have fully arrived, an operational capability that smaller organisations cannot match.

Zakat and Shariah compliance

Islamic Relief USA explicitly separates zakat collections from general donations, directing zakat funds to recipients who fall within the eight Quranic categories. Its Shariah compliance assessment by Zakat+ found no non-halal funding connections, no Israel-connected concerns, and no significant legal disputes. Funding sources are individual donations, corporate partnerships, and foundation grants, with no identified interest-bearing instruments.

The verdict

Islamic Relief USA earns a Halal Score of 7.7/10 and a transparency rating of 90/100, the highest transparency score among the major US-based Muslim charities in the Zakat+ database — see our full most trusted Islamic charity ranking to see how it compares across the full 900. The 80% programme rate is solid, the admin cost is low, and the fundraising cost is the primary source of overhead. For donors giving at scale who value global reach, emergency response capacity, and a well-documented operational history, Islamic Relief USA remains one of the most established and accountable options available.

If your priority is maximum programme efficiency, charities like Helping Hand for Relief and Development (92%) and Muslim Aid America (94%) deliver more per dollar to beneficiaries at meaningful scale. If your priority is global reach, brand recognition, and a long operational track record, Islamic Relief USA has no equal among US-based Islamic charities.

Source: Islamic Relief USA IRS Form 990, fiscal year 2024. EIN 95-4453134. Available at ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer and the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. All scores and assessments by Zakat+.