Suhbah Institute
Legal name: Suhbah Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 844497882
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
- Location
- Houston, TX, United States
- Phone
- 8329690193
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Islam
- Affiliation
- Islam
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $355,703
- Expenses
- $343,245
- Assets
- $120,518
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- SAFIYA RAVAT (Director): $37,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Suhbah means "companionship," "fellowship" and "mentorship" ... provide quality, accessible, and nurturing Islamic education that empowers individuals to grow in their relationships with others, themselves, and their Lord. It comes from the same root letters as the word “Sahaabah” – the companions of Prophet Muhammad (S). At Suhbah Institute, our mission is to provide quality, accessible, and nurturing Islamic education that empowers individuals to grow in their relationships with others, themselves, and their Lord. Inspired by the legacy of the Sahaabah, we strive to accompany and mentor our community on their journey of personal and spiritual growth, offering practical and relevant knowledge that adapts to the ever-changing circumstances of life. Our Vision.
What it reported doing in 2024
SUHBAH FOUNDATION aims to offer religious services, counselling and education to people at free of cost or by charging a reduced fee depending on their financial standing. SUHBAH FOUNDATION operates and focuses its resources locally to communities who meet the aforementioned criteria.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 56% for direct work, and 44% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 0
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.9%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 3.5%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 34.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 85.9% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported · 0 of 6 affiliation controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $306K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $38K · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.