Noor Theatre

Legal name: Noor Theatre Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272594048
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2014
Location
New York, NY, US
Phone
3528174987
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$157,463
Expenses
$259,138
Assets
$164,731
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ARIANA SARFARAZI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • NILOU SAFINYA (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ARIANA SARFARAZI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $31,705 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER RAFFO (BOARD MEMBER): $150 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Noor Theatre champions Middle Eastern and SWANA (South West Asian/North African) playwrights and artists, developing and producing their work to enrich the American theatre landscape.

What it reported doing in 2024

Commissioning program: noor theatres commissioning initiative was created in order to help build the canon of work by artists of middle eastern and north african (mena) descent. Play commissions are awarded to playwrights, who embark on a full-length new play development process with noor. Highlight reading series: in fy 25-26, noor produced its 11th annual highlight reading series showcasing new work by artists of mena/swana descent. He works were selected pursuan to a comprehensive open submissions process in spring 2025, and the readings took place in summer and fall 2025 in nyc. Noor also continued to develope another commissioned piece, the 30 names of night, and recording a concept album for the musical fouad of nazareth. Noor is also actively laying the groundwork for possible productions of new placs developed and planning for the next iteration of arab voices global exchange initiative. Community engagements and partnerships: throughout fy25, noor produced various community-centered events, including broadywas first ever mena community night in partnership with roundabout thratre company for its production of englihs by iranian-american playwright sanaz toossi, casual community gatherings such as noors chai & chat series, ramadan iftars, celebrations of norooz (new year), and noor nights for multiple productions written by mena/swana throughout New York city.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -64.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $183K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.