American Wisdom Association

Overview

Mission

To promote buddhist beliefs and provide buddhist understanding to the community

What it reported doing in 2024

The temple provides buddhist teaching to its members and provides a place to practice mediations

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262958941
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Billerica, MA, USA
Phone
6462833433
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Buddhism
Affiliation
Buddhism

Reported finances

Revenue
$370,655
Expenses
$137,884
Assets
$1,777,062
Liabilities
$24,077

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

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 6
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.3%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 62.8%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.89; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 37.3% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $109K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 annual filings from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

People named in this filing

  • GUI ZHI JIANG (PRESIDENT)
  • YU MING JIN (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024.