Pillars Fund

Pillars Fund is a grant-making organization and Muslim community foundation named in reference to the five pillars of Islam,^[3] the third of which is Zakat.

Pillars Fund

Founded	2010; 15 years ago (2010)[1]
Type	Humanitarian aid
Tax ID no.	81-0983087[2]
Focus	Funding secular programs supporting American Muslims
Location	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Area served	United States
Product	Grants
Key people	Kashif Shaikh[1] Executive Director
Website	pillarsfund.org

Pillars Fund is governed by a Board of Advisors, many of whom are prominent American Muslims. The organization makes particular effort to ensure that donations go to projects that would not elicit controversy.^[3] It is one of the largest funders of Muslim issues in the United States.^[1]

History

Founded in 2010 in the mold of United Way and Jewish Federations of North America, and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Pillars is focused on funding secular non-profit programs supporting American Muslims in media, public relations, and leadership development.^[4]

Pillars Fund was founded as a giving circle housed under the Chicago Community Trust in 2010 and became an independent entity in 2016.^[4][1] It raised a million dollars in 2016.^[3]

As of 2017, it had invested more than $2 million in a number of programs.^[5] It typically awards fifteen of the hundreds of grant applications it receives each year.^[3]

Institutional funders

• Ford Foundation^[6]
• Nathan Cummings Foundation^[6]
• Open Society Foundations^[6]
• W. K. Kellogg Foundation^[7][6]

Spending

Pillars Fund funds a variety of approaches towards its stated goal of "amplifying the leadership, narratives and talents of American Muslims," with stated program areas of rights, wellness, understanding and leadership.

Grantees

• Auburn Theological Seminary's "Voices of Change, Voices of America" Program^[8]
• Hartford Seminary's Islamic Chaplaincy Program^[9]
• Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
• Unity Productions Foundation