Vipassana Community Foundation

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to provide resources for the spread of Vipassana meditation around the globe, by providing grants and capacity building investments to new and existing centers worldwide.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, VCF disbursed 83 grants totaling $2,057,830. Grants were distributed to these nine new countries: Cyprus, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, Poland, Taiwan, Tunisia and Vietnam; as well as 20 prior country recipients: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, India, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Peru, Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka, Uganda, U.S. and Venezuela.In 2024, VCF continued supporting center expansion worldwide with various grants to centers in North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. The section below provides highlights of some of our major programmatic grants internationally (listed in order of size of grants).Grants to Verein fr Vipassana Meditation in Austria (VMA) to support the ongoing construction of the Dhamma Mudita Meditation Center. To support the establishment of the first meditation center in Austria three grants totaling $788,695 were disbursed to VMA: $329,620 on July 2, 2024; $130,000 on November 6, 2024; $329,075 on December 17, 2024. These grants were awarded to support the development and construction progress of two accommodation buildings for meditators, a kitchen/dining building and costs related to interior facilities.Grant to Rocky Mountain Vipassana Association (RMVA) to support the development of the Dhamma Sela Meditation Center in Colorado. To finance the complete fire water delivery system of the center a $250,000 grant was awarded to RMVA on July 12, 2024. This project includes procuring cisterns, installing a solar-powered pump, laying piping to two cisterns, and placing a temporary hydrant. Grants to Sayaji U Ba Khin Vipassana Foundation in California to support the general operation of the Dhamma Mahavana Meditation Center. To ensure the center's continued development and service to students, two grants totaling $102,950 were disbursed: $12,950 on February 21, 2024 and $90,000 on December 11, 2024. The first grant was issued to cover travel expenses of meditation teachers, and the second grant to cover general operating costs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
263577879
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Fresno, CA, United States
Phone
3609784930
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Protestant
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,456,647
Expenses
$2,237,208
Assets
$4,567,259
Liabilities
$0

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

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 the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 96.5%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 57.5%; rating input score 58; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.9%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.04; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 89% of revenue deployed · 96.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 25 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 9 annual filings from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Parker Mills (President)
  • Dawn Branam (Vice President)
  • Rick Crutcher (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.