Nisar Foundation Inc.

Nisar Foundation Inc. is a small, closely-held family foundation based in Edison, NJ, governed by just two uncompensated trustees, Mohammed Nisar and Noor Nisar, with no listed program officers or staff. It is not built for open, competitive grantseeking: the foundation's own IRS filing lists application_instructions as blank, and third-party grant trackers (GrantExec, Grantable) independently describe it as invite-only with zero live opportunities posted. Applicants should treat this as a relationship-first funder rather than a portal-and-deadline funder.

The grantee list reveals the trustees' actual priorities more clearly than any public guidelines: giving is concentrated on Islamic religious and educational institutions and Central New Jersey community organizations, including Zaytuna College (the Muslim liberal arts college in Berkeley, CA, which received a combined $52,300 across two gifts), Islamic Relief, the Rahmani Charitable Trust, CAIR of NJ, World Kashmir Awareness, and several local masjids (Masjid Muhammed, Masjid Quba). This is consistent with the foundation's own stated mission: "Donations to qualified organizations to use it for education and help for needy people." Organizations with an existing footprint in NJ's South Asian-Muslim community, or a national Islamic charitable/educational profile, are the closest fit.

For first-time applicants, the realistic path is a warm introduction — through a shared mosque, an existing Nisar Foundation grantee, or a South Asian-American nonprofit network — followed by a short, direct letter or phone call rather than a formal LOI. Grant sizes are modest for most partners: of the 18 named recipients in the foundation's grant schedule, 17 received under $30,000, with the bulk in the $600-$9,200 range. A small number of recipients (Zaytuna College, and a $195,707 line item to "Misc Charity," likely a donor-advised or community fund pass-through) capture disproportionate dollars, suggesting larger asks are reserved for long-standing or umbrella relationships rather than new applicants. Several small grantees recur year over year, indicating that a modest first gift followed by continued engagement is more realistic than a single large ask.

Nisar Foundation Inc.'s asset base has nearly tripled in five years — from $2.16M (2019) to $2.30M (2021) to $6.41M (2024) — driven mainly by net investment income ($127,595 in 2021 alone, when giving was $0) plus modest annual contributions ($53,000 in 2022, $66,000 in 2023) rather than large one-time transfers. Distributions were effectively dormant from 2019-2021 (total_giving of $0, $0, and $219), then resumed: $177,141 across 13 grants (2022), $156,014 across 16 grants (2023), and roughly $256,515 across 19 grants (2024, per Instrumentl and Grantable's aggregation of the foundation's 990-PF grant schedule; this figure is not yet reflected in the underlying database's 2024 grant total). That 2024 figure is a 64% jump over 2023 and the foundation's largest annual payout on record.

The foundation's own multi-year grant schedule (2022-2024, as compiled in this platform's database) lists 29 individual grants to 18 distinct recipients totaling $329,857, an average of $11,374 per grant. That average is skewed heavily by one line: "Misc Charity," which received $195,707 across two grants — 59% of all recorded giving, and almost certainly a donor-advised fund or umbrella charitable vehicle rather than an operating nonprofit. Excluding that outlier, the remaining 27 grants to 17 named organizations total roughly $134,150, averaging closer to $4,970 per grant — in line with third-party sources citing a ~$4K median award. The largest named, identifiable grantee is Zaytuna College at $52,300 combined ($28,300 + $24,000, likely the same institution recorded under two spelling variants in different filing years), followed by the Rahmani Charitable Trust ($18,000) and JPMorgan Chase-routed gifts ($15,200, likely a donor-advised fund conduit). Geographically, New Jersey dominates with 13 of 29 grants and roughly 75% of total dollars per Grantable's analysis, followed by California (5 grants, largely to Zaytuna College), New York (4), Washington DC (2), Texas (2), and single grants each to Illinois, Ohio, and Virginia. Smallest recorded gifts run as low as $100 (CAIR of NJ) and $600 (The Citizens Foundation).

All five peers sit within roughly $2,500 of Nisar Foundation's $6.41M asset base and share its NTEE classification of Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking — the category IRS uses for family foundations and donor vehicles rather than operating charities. None of the peers in this data set publish annual giving figures or grant schedules as accessible as Nisar Foundation's, and only Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation maintains a discoverable public website, underscoring that this asset tier of family foundation typically operates with minimal public-facing infrastructure. Nisar Foundation's advantage for grantseekers is that its actual giving pattern is unusually well-documented through its 990-PF grant schedule, making it easier to identify genuine alignment (Islamic education/relief, NJ community organizations) than with peers whose priorities are largely opaque.

No news coverage, press releases, or announcements specific to Nisar Foundation Inc. were found via web search as of August 2026 — searches for the foundation's name alongside trustees Mohammed Nisar and Noor Nisar returned no dedicated news results (search results were dominated by the unrelated NASA-ISRO NISAR satellite mission). The foundation's own website, listed in IRS records as https://nisarfoundation.org/, returned an HTTP 403 error on every attempted fetch (https, http, and www variants), meaning current program details, contact forms, or announcements on the site could not be verified through automated tools; a direct browser visit or phone call is needed to confirm current content.

The most concrete recent activity is financial: total assets grew 23.9% year-over-year to $6.41M in 2024 (up from $5.17M in 2023), and the foundation issued 19 grants totaling an estimated $256,515 in 2024 — its highest grant count and dollar total in the years covered by available filings (2015, 2019-2024), a 64% increase over the $156,014 distributed in 2023. Leadership has remained unchanged since the foundation's IRS ruling date of April 2016 (201604), with Mohammed Nisar and Noor Nisar continuing as the sole trustees, both uncompensated. No staff additions, program launches, or public statements were identified. Given the foundation's small, all-volunteer structure and lack of media presence, grantseekers should not expect proactive public announcements of funding cycles or priorities — direct outreach remains the only reliable way to get current information.

Nisar Foundation Inc. has no published application form, LOI process, or grant portal — application_instructions on file with the IRS are blank, and grant-database aggregators (GrantExec, Grantable) independently confirm it runs zero live opportunities. Treat every outreach as a cold-to-warm relationship build, not a form submission:

• Lead with mission language, not generic appeals. The foundation's own stated purpose is narrow and specific: "donations to qualified organizations to use it for education and help for needy people" / "for humanity and help for needy people." Proposals that mirror this language and demonstrate direct service to underserved individuals — rather than infrastructure, research, or advocacy — are more likely to resonate.
• Emphasize fit with the existing grantee network. Islamic educational institutions (Zaytuna College), mosques, Islamic relief and charitable organizations (Islamic Relief, Rahmani Charitable Trust, Zakath Foundation of America), and NJ-based community groups (CAIR of NJ, Celebrate Marcy) make up the bulk of confirmed grantees. Organizations serving the same community, or with a connection to an existing grantee, have a meaningfully better shot than an unconnected national nonprofit.
• Start small. Seventeen of eighteen named recipients received under $30,000, and most received under $10,000. A first ask in the $1,000-$10,000 range is realistic; larger flagship-level support (the $195,707 "Misc Charity" line, Zaytuna College's $52,300 cumulative) appears reserved for established, likely multi-year relationships.
• Call rather than email cold. With no online submission channel, the foundation's listed phone number, (732) 548-1833, is the most direct verified contact point. Confirm the current best contact before sending any written materials, since the website could not be verified as active via automated tools.
• Time outreach for the fourth quarter. Private foundations organized on a calendar fiscal year typically finalize distributions before year-end; reaching out by September or October gives the two-trustee board time to consider a request before their filing year closes.
• Don't expect a formal review timeline or rejection notice. With no program staff, follow-up is likely to be informal and slow. A single respectful follow-up after 60-90 days is appropriate; repeated unsolicited follow-ups are unlikely to help given the foundation's minimal capacity to process inbound requests.
• Common mistake to avoid: submitting a lengthy formal grant application or budget-heavy proposal packet. Given the trustees' limited bandwidth (both list minimal hours on the 990-PF), a concise one-to-two-page letter of introduction is more likely to be read than a full application.