The Top Zakat-Eligible Charities of 2026
Out of 95 charities in our database that publicly state they accept zakat, these ten are the top scorers within each major cause area on our evaluation — impact, alignment with Muslim donor priorities, and governance — with high data confidence behind every score. We verify that the zakat claim exists and that the organization checks out; whether a given charity satisfies your school's zakat criteria is a question for you and your scholar. List refreshed annually before Ramadan.
How this list is built
Start with what this list is not: a fatwa. Good Measure Giving tags a charity ZAKAT-ELIGIBLE when the organization itself publicly states that it accepts zakat — a zakat donation option, a zakat policy page, a zakat fund. We verify the claim exists; we do not rule on whether the charity's programs satisfy the fiqh criteria of your school. That judgment belongs to you and the scholars you trust.
From the 95 zakat-accepting charities in our database, this list takes the top scorers in each major cause area on the GMG Score — impact (weighted by what kind of organization it is), alignment with causes urgent to Muslim communities, and governance risk — and keeps only those with high data confidence, meaning the scores rest on verified filings and substantial public information rather than thin marketing copy.
We group by cause area rather than rank #1 through #10 across causes — a refugee-relief organization and a prison-reentry program aren't competing on the same field, and the right charity for your zakat depends on which need you feel most responsible for. Within each group, the featured organizations are the highest GMG scorers; close runners-up are named, and full evaluations for all 95 zakat-accepting charities are in the database.
Humanitarian and emergency relief
Direct relief to people in crisis is the cause area with the broadest scholarly agreement on zakat use — feeding, sheltering, and treating people who clearly fall within the fuqara and masakin categories. Four organizations stand out this year.
International Aid Charity posts the highest GMG Score among all zakat-accepting charities this cycle, delivering humanitarian relief and social support to marginalized communities with highly efficient financial management. ICNA Relief works where many international donors overlook: domestic humanitarian aid and social services for vulnerable populations across the United States. UNRWA USA supports relief and development for Palestine refugees through education and food assistance. Islamic Relief USA is one of the largest Muslim relief organizations in the country, with domestic and international programs and the reporting infrastructure of a major NGO.
Close behind: Penny Appeal USA and Zakat Foundation of America, the latter with zakat at the center of its identity and a published zakat distribution policy.
Education
Education sits in genuinely disputed zakat territory — scholars differ on when schooling for poor students qualifies — but the organizations themselves are among the most rigorous in our database, and many donors direct zakat here under the guidance of scholars who accept it, or give sadaqah instead.
The Citizens Foundation USA supports a school network educating 280,000 children — nearly half of them girls — in low-income communities across Pakistan, and publishes the kind of operational and financial detail that makes evaluation straightforward. OBAT Helpers pairs education with empowerment and healthcare initiatives aimed at lifting marginalized communities out of poverty.
Also notable: Developments in Literacy, which operates schools and teacher training for underserved children in Pakistan with a deliberate focus on girls' education.
Health and medical relief
Medical care for people who cannot afford it maps cleanly onto zakat's purposes when the patients served are poor or displaced — and both featured organizations work primarily in crisis and low-resource settings.
SAPA (the Sudanese American Physicians Association) strengthens healthcare infrastructure and delivers life-saving emergency services to communities in crisis. The Syrian American Medical Society Foundation provides medical relief and mental health support to vulnerable populations regardless of background or affiliation.
Also notable: IMANA, which channels the work of roughly 500 volunteer Muslim medical professionals into direct patient care worldwide with exceptionally high fundraising efficiency.
Community services and legal aid
Whether legal-defense and advocacy work can take zakat is one of the live disagreements in contemporary fiqh — most scholars restrict zakat to direct material relief for individuals in the asnaf, while some accept the defense of vulnerable Muslims under fi sabilillah or gharimin. We include this category because the organizations score among the strongest in our database and publicly accept zakat; whether to direct your zakat or your sadaqah here is exactly the kind of question to take to your scholar.
Tayba Foundation serves a population almost no one else does: education and holistic re-entry support for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. The Muslim Legal Fund of America defends the constitutional rights of Muslims through specialized legal defense and civil-rights advocacy.
And a note on the institution closest to home: many donors' best zakat or sadaqah destination is their own community — the mosque that runs a zakat fund, the local social-services organization that knows which families are struggling. National lists like this one are for the portion of your giving that looks outward.
How to use this list
Treat this as a vetted starting point, not a verdict. Before giving zakat to any organization: confirm its current zakat policy on its own website (policies change), check which programs zakat specifically funds and whether the organization segregates zakat from general donations, and — if your school's positions matter to you — ask the organization directly how it handles the questions scholars dispute, like administrative costs and long-term development spending.
If you haven't calculated what you owe yet, our zakat calculator covers cash, gold, stocks, retirement accounts, crypto, business assets, and real estate. And if you want the evaluation method behind these picks, the companion guide on how to evaluate a Muslim charity walks through the full framework.
This list is refreshed annually ahead of each Ramadan as new filings and pipeline data come in. Scores move; the 2026 edition reflects evaluations as of June 2026 and will be refreshed before Ramadan 2027.
Charities featured in this guide
- International Aid Charity
Humanitarian relief and social support to marginalized communities with highly efficient financial management — the top GMG Score among zakat-accepting charities this cycle.
- ICNA Relief
Domestic humanitarian aid and social services for vulnerable populations across the United States.
- UNRWA USA
Supports humanitarian relief and development for Palestine refugees through education and food assistance programs.
- Islamic Relief USA
One of the largest Muslim relief organizations in the US — domestic and international humanitarian aid and poverty alleviation programs.
- The Citizens Foundation USA
Supports a school network educating 280,000 children — nearly half of them girls — across Pakistan's low-income communities.
- OBAT Helpers
Education, empowerment, and healthcare initiatives aimed at lifting marginalized communities out of poverty.
- SAPA
The Sudanese American Physicians Association — healthcare infrastructure and life-saving emergency services for communities in crisis.
- Syrian American Medical Society Foundation
Medical relief and mental health support for vulnerable populations, regardless of background or affiliation.
- Tayba Foundation
Education and holistic re-entry support for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.
- Muslim Legal Fund of America
Defends the constitutional rights of Muslims through specialized legal defense and civil-rights advocacy — note the scholarly debate on zakat for legal/advocacy work.
Our tag records a verifiable fact — this charity publicly states it accepts zakat — not a fiqh ruling that its programs satisfy the criteria of any school. Scholars genuinely differ on categories like education, advocacy, and administrative costs. Consult a scholar you trust for binding guidance on your own zakat.
Good Measure Giving takes no commission, referral fee, or payment from any charity listed. Rankings come from the same scoring pipeline applied to every organization in our database, and the full methodology is public.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you know these charities are zakat-eligible?
- We verify that each charity publicly states it accepts zakat — a zakat donation option, fund, or policy on its own website. That is a factual check, not a fiqh ruling. Whether an organization's programs satisfy your school's zakat criteria is a question for you and your scholar; our companion guide on zakat eligibility explains the categories and the disputes.
- Why isn't a well-known charity I give to on this list?
- Three common reasons: it doesn't publicly claim to accept zakat (so it isn't tagged ZAKAT-ELIGIBLE), its public data is too thin for high confidence, or it scored below the cutoff this cycle. Absence is not an accusation — you can look up any charity in our database to see its full evaluation.
- Can I split my zakat across several of these charities?
- Yes. Scholars broadly permit distributing zakat among multiple eligible recipients, and many recommend it when needs differ. Some advise giving each organization enough to be meaningful rather than fragmenting into trivial amounts.
- Is zakat to these organizations tax-deductible too?
- All listed organizations are US 501(c)(3) nonprofits, so donations are generally tax-deductible. Tax deductibility and zakat validity are independent questions — one is IRS policy, the other is fiqh — but here they typically coincide.
- Should I give zakat before or during Ramadan?
- Zakat is due when your wealth has been above nisab for one lunar year — your personal anniversary date, which may fall in any month. Many people deliberately align payment with Ramadan for the multiplied reward of giving in that month, which is permissible and common; what matters is not delaying past your due date.
- When will the 2027 edition be published?
- We refresh this list annually before Ramadan, when new IRS filings and our latest evaluation data are in. The scores behind it update continuously on each charity's page in the meantime.
Sources & further reading
This guide presents broadly held positions in Sunni fiqh and names the schools where they differ. The references below are where we drew them from — read each position in its own words. None of this is a fatwa.
- Zakat Eligibility of Islamic Organizations — Dr. Hatem al-Haj (AMJA), via MuslimMattersThe contemporary scholarly debate behind the disputed categories (education, advocacy) noted in this list.
- Refugee Zakat Fund — FAQs — UNHCRFatwas from 16+ institutions authorizing zakat for refugees — context for the humanitarian and refugee-focused organizations here.
- Our methodology — Good Measure GivingHow the GMG Score behind this list is computed.