| Founder(s) | Halil Demir |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Origins | Chicago, Illinois, US |
| Area served | 43 countries |
| Focus | Healthcare, education |
| Revenue | $1,377,230 (2007)[1] |
| Motto | The Leader in Empowering Lives Through Zakat |
| Website | www.zakat.org |
Zakat Foundation of America is a Chicago-based, Muslim, non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating the immediate needs of the poorest communities and to establish long-term development projects that ensure individual and community growth. It provides support for emergency relief & post-disaster rehabilitation; development/perpetual charity programs such as food & water related development projects, education & skill training, healthcare & nutrition, construction & renovation, microcredit; orphan & orphanage sponsorship; assistance funds for family funds, widow/orphan funds and scholarship funds; and seasonal programs such as Ramadan Iftars and Udhiya/Qurbani. Zakat Foundation of America is recognized and registered under 501(c)(3) as a non-profit charity organization; therefore all donations are tax exempt.
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Zakat Foundation of America (ZF) is an international charity organization that helps generous and caring people reach out to those in need. Zakat Foundation has a goal is to address immediate needs and ensure the self-reliance of the poorest people around the world with Zakat and Sadaqa dollars of privileged Muslims and the support of other generous donors.
Zakat Foundation of America has set to accomplish its mission by:
Zakat Foundation of America was established in 2001 during a time when humanitarian organizations faced increased scrutiny in their activities and procedures, leading to new standards in transparency and accountability. As a US-based, Muslim-run charity organization that serves needy communities both at home and abroad, Zakat Foundation shows the inclusive beauty of Islam through programs that reach the destitute worldwide.
Zakat Foundation of America has differentiated itself from a traditional US-based Muslim charity approach of exclusively supporting communities abroad and reaches poor and indigent communities within the United States as well. Since its establishment, Zakat Foundation has progressed from mostly offering immediate emergency aid and Seasonal Programs to a focus on severing the roots of poverty, utilizing Zakat and Sadaqa donations to develop long-term, sustainable solutions.
Zakat Foundation of America pursues this mission with compassion and strict standards of efficiency and accountability.[2]
Emergency Relief – Responding quickly to natural and man-made disaster anywhere in the world. Zakat Foundation of America strives to be quick with relief activities to provide victims with supplies and services to not only survive but also to recover in the aftermath.
Seasonal Programs & Aqeeqah – Maintaining the tradition of giving during the most blessed times of the year.
Sadaqa Jariyah – Sadaqa Jariyah/Perpetual Charity provide donors with the chance to establish work that goes on beyond this life.
Orphan Sponsorship & Orphanage Sponsorship – Providing orphaned children with hope, love and prospects for the future. These programs provide orphaned children nutritious food, clothing, educational opportunities, comprehensive healthcare and shelter.
The Zakat Foundation of America implements and operates programs on an as needed basis in 43 countries through its offices and partners in Africa, Asia, Caucusus, Easter Europe, Indian Sub-Continent, Middle East, and the Americas.
In 2008 and again in 2010, Zakat Foundation of America was awarded Charity Navigator's highest four star rating.[3] The Zakat Foundation has demonstrated exceptional financial health, outperforming most of its peers in its efforts to manage and grow its finances in the most fiscally responsible way possible.
Since its establishment in 2001, Zakat Foundation of America has produced two documentary videos and a Zakat handbook. The first documentary provides an update about the situation in Pakistan after the 2005 Great Pakistan earthquake and Zakat Foundation of America's involvement in helping bridging the gap for those in need across the world. The movie offers glimpses of the Aashiana and Rumi International School.
In 2008, world-renowned war journalist and Zakat Foundation of America volunteer Kevin McKiernan produced and filmed a documentary about Fu-Xing school, bringing to attention the Muslim community in the Gansu province. Through interviews with students of Fu-Xing and their parents, McKiernan aptly captures the struggles and prejudices faced by Muslims in China, as well as the dreams of the youth and their hopes for education to change the future.
Published in 2007, The Zakat Handbook: A Practical Guide for Muslims in the West is comprehensive guide to the obligatory pillar of Islam has been compiled and presented so that Muslims can better understand the concepts and principles of Zakat and to aid in its calculation so that the needy may obtain their rights of wealth from those whom Allah has financially blessed.[4]