National Zakat Foundation vs Islamic Relief
In short: The National Zakat Foundation collects Zakat from UK Muslims and gives it as grants to eligible Muslims in need in the UK. Islamic Relief Worldwide uses Zakat in the UK and overseas alongside its wider emergency and development work.
Last reviewed by CharityCompare editorial.
The main difference is where Zakat goes. NZF gives Zakat to Muslims in need in the UK: £6,316,003 to 25,945 people in 2024. Islamic Relief uses Zakat in the UK and overseas, and in 2024 it passed Zakat to NZF for UK distribution. NZF limits distribution costs to 10% of a giver’s Zakat; Islamic Relief’s policy caps its share at 12.5%.
National Zakat Foundation vs Islamic Relief: key differences
| What to compare | NATIONAL ZAKAT FOUNDATION (NZF) | ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE |
|---|---|---|
| Registered work and operating model | Collecting Zakat from UK Muslims and giving it as grants to eligible Muslims in need in the UK, plus Zakat education. | Emergency relief and development worldwide from the Islamic Relief federation’s international office, using Zakat in the UK and overseas. |
| What to consider | Its people-helped figure does not say whether household members are counted, and fund totals differ between pages of its 2024 report. Ratings it collects from recipients three months after a grant are self-reported. | Its Zakat policy excludes fundraising and governance costs from the 12.5% share, and its website describes taking 12.5% of Zakat to administer it. Its people-reached total covers all programmes, not only Zakat-funded work. |
| Access and practical checks | Applicants must be Muslim, over 18, living in the UK with legal status and entitled to Zakat, and can have one successful application a year. They apply online or through Community Zakat Programme hubs in mosques and community organisations. | Its Zakat policy encourages giving to a general Zakat fund, and it also offers named funds such as a UK Zakat Fund. It currently gives Zakat to Muslims only, a policy it says is under review. |
| Sourced result or evidence gap | £6,316,003: Zakat grants to 25,945 people in need. 2024, UK. A charity-reported output; it says it aims to distribute Zakat within a lunar year, on average within five to six months of a gift. | 13,132,741: People directly reached by all its programmes. 2025, 41 countries. A charity-reported output that allows for repeat reach and includes work funded by gifts other than Zakat. |
What the latest filings show
Figures from the accounts held in our dated dataset; the live register may contain newer filings. Ratios can span multiple years, as labelled. Clarity scores use our methodology. Cost to raise £1 of donations is not part of the score; legacies make it lumpy, and it is withheld where trading costs would distort it (how it works).
| Metric | NATIONAL ZAKAT FOUNDATION (NZF) | ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE |
|---|---|---|
| Latest accounts year in our snapshot | 2024 | 2024 |
| Financial snapshot refreshed | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 |
| Ratio reporting window | 3-yr avg | 3-yr avg |
| Overall score | 91/100 (5★) | 93/100 (5★) |
| Accountability & Finance | 100/100 | 100/100 |
| Spend on charitable activities | 92% of expenditure | 91% of expenditure |
| Fundraising efficiency | £13.8 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) | £14.9 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) |
| Cost to raise £1 of donations | 7p per £1 (2024) · 7p over 2022 and 2024 | 8p per £1 (2024) · 7p over 2022–2024 |
| Latest income | £10m | £276m |
| Fundraising spend | 8% of expenditure | 7% of expenditure |
| Reserves | 3 months | 2 months |
| Accounts filing | On time | On time |
| Data confidence | high | high |
| Charity number | 1153719 | 328158 |
NATIONAL ZAKAT FOUNDATION (NZF) on the register · ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE on the register
Considering National Zakat Foundation
- You want your Zakat to reach Muslims in need in the UK.
- You want the option to pay the distribution cost on top, so all of your Zakat reaches a recipient.
Considering Islamic Relief Worldwide
- You want your Zakat to fund relief overseas as well as in the UK.
- You also want to give to emergency appeals and orphan sponsorship.
National Zakat Foundation vs Islamic Relief: questions answered
National Zakat Foundation or Islamic Relief: where should I give Zakat?
There is no universal answer. NZF gives Zakat to eligible Muslims in need in the UK; Islamic Relief uses Zakat in the UK and overseas alongside its wider relief work. Decide where you want your Zakat spent, then read each charity’s Zakat policy. A financial rating is not an impact assessment.
How much of my Zakat goes on costs?
NZF says it does not use Zakat to raise funds or for core costs. Distribution costs, up to 10% of a giver’s Zakat, come from the Zakat or from an optional add-on, and 25% of givers paid the add-on in 2024. Islamic Relief’s Zakat policy allows it to use up to 12.5% of Zakat for delivery costs, excluding fundraising and governance.
Do the National Zakat Foundation and Islamic Relief work together?
NZF’s 2024 report says Islamic Relief gave it Zakat to distribute to Muslims in hardship in the UK. The report gives two different amounts for this, £500,000 on one page and £550,000 on another.
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.
Accountability & Transparency
Scored from filings
40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).
Financial Health
Scored from filings
30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).
Financial Efficiency
Scored from filings
20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).
Community Support
Scored from filings
10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.
Overall score
Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.