Berkeley Zen Center
Overview
Mission
Zazen—meditation, or sitting in stillness—is the center of our practice, following and adapting the traditions of Soto Zen Buddhism. If you have been sitting at BZC for a few months and wish to contribute regularly to support the practice, we encourage you to become a member of Berkeley Zen Center. Please speak with one of the practice leaders or with the contact person identified at Saturday lecture to discuss membership and receive an application. More information about membership Dokusan and Practice Discussion Dokusan with our Abiding Teachers and one-on-one meetings with BZC Practice Leaders are available. Please see the Practice Leader page for contact information.
What it reported doing in 2015
Residential training: this program provides a structured environment for approximately 10 zen students, who live on the premises and follow a schedule of religious activities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237452822
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2015
- Website reviewed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2015
- Headquarters
- Berkeley, CA, United States
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Buddhism
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
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 the filing reports that some governance safeguards are missing.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 25
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $21.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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
- Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Public financial transparency: 0 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Impact reporting controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Public governance controls: 5 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.5%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 3.58; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 33.6%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 140 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $172K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 annual filings from 2010 to 2015
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.