Penny Appeal USA

Legal name: Penny Appeal USA Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475165837
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
(888) 755-1556
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief
Affiliation
Islam

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,168,898
Expenses
$8,271,737
Assets
$4,852,799
Liabilities
$1,197,576

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • REHAN DAWER (CEO AND CHAIR)
  • JOHN ROBBINS (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (TO FEB '24))

Highest reported compensation

  • MOSTAFA MAHBOOB (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $181,346 total reported compensation
  • REHAN DAWER (CEO AND CHAIR): $163,253 total reported compensation
  • MUSTAFA HASSAN (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $160,975 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Penny Appeal works alongside communities at the grassroots level to meet urgent needs while building long-term independence through level to ensure: Relief for every individual’s urgent needs with dignity (Zakat/Sadaqah); Resilience to strengthen families with tools and support (Zakat/Sadaqah); Empowerment through advocacy with allies so policies protect all of us (Grants/Sadaqah).

What it reported doing in 2024

Feed our world- each year, our feed our world program provideslife-saving, nutritious meals to the poor and needy. The range of fowprograms help combat food malnutrition in crisis-hit countries acrossasia, africa and the middle east as well as here at home.heal humanity- our program is dedicated to providing much neededhealthcare facilities and medical aid to those most in need. Hhprograms help build and refurbish healthcare facilities as well asprovide medical essentials needed for patients who lack that access.income generation- as part of our efforts to eradicate poverty in asustainable way, our income generation programs focus on providingrural communities with the tools and skills they need to escape povertyonce and for all. You can help break the cycle of poverty by providingfamilies with the resources they need to sustain themselves.through our thirst relief programs, we're providing safe water toenable locals to drink, wash, clean and irrigate their crops as well ashydrate their animals. Our thirst relief programs lead to healthierlives, better educated communities and a route out of poverty.other programs

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Multi-channel. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 27% for direct work, 53% for grants, and 20% for affiliated organizations.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 85.2%; rating input score 85; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 86.2% of revenue deployed · 75% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported · 1 of 6 affiliation controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $181K · 12 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $528K reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.