MLFA is thrilled to announce that the Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) Project Approval Committee selected MLFA to receive its IRUSA Domestic Grant 2024 for the Community Development category! This grant will support the work of our Nonprofit Governance Department.
With this grant, the Nonprofit Governance Department plans to do several things. First, MLFA plans to increase the number of legal screenings provided to Muslim 501(c)(3) organizations. These are provided to clients registered in Texas and Indiana only due to attorney licensing. We hope to hire more attorneys from additional states to be able to help more clients across the country. By elevating leadership excellence and strengthening U.S. Muslim nonprofit operations within the legal parameters, we will more effectively steward these organizations and deepen the understanding and prioritization of nonprofit laws and governance, risk, and compliance.
Second, MLFA plans to provide more comprehensive nonprofit and leadership trainings virtually and/or in-person nationwide. These include trainings on special topics requested by clients as well as planned trainings offered by MLFA throughout the year; everything from trainings just for Imams, to trainings for Islamic content creators, to trainings on general 501(c)(3) laws and best practices for Muslim nonprofits. MLFA wants to provide thought leadership for the U.S. Muslim nonprofit community.
Finally, MLFA plans to create more capacity to provide more smaller scale “Bylaws Reviews” for those organizations located in states in which our attorneys are not licensed. With this service, attorneys provide their brief legal assessment of the organization and address current policies and procedures where the nonprofit may need to make changes. They will also answer general legal questions from the organization.
MLFA was established in 2001 to protect the civil liberties of Muslims in America from flagrant abuses of power by federal agencies and unconstitutional targeting of Muslims. Over twenty years of unwarranted government surveillance raids, the freezing of Muslim nonprofit organization’s assets (most times without any evidence to substantiate support of nefarious activity), has caused great financial, social and psychological turmoil for American-Muslim civil society. MLFA serves to protect and defend the rights of the American Muslim community and others facing discrimination by engaging in litigation, national security injunctions, and nonprofit legal screenings and consultations. Through litigating cases, MLFA aims to set legal precedent and create “good law.” Our service over fees model ensures that with each case we accept, we are serving our entire nation.
