Sung Nghiem Zen Center
Overview
Mission
Promote and conduct buddhist practices
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 432032081
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Headquarters
- Garden Grove, CA, USA
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Buddhism
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports that some governance safeguards are missing.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 12
- Sustainability: 67
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 62%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $34.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
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
- Public monitoring controls: Limited
- Public policy transparency: Limited
- Public financial transparency: Limited
- Impact reporting controls: Limited
- Public relationship transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Public governance controls: Limited
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 25.2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 4.92; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 26.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 62% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 1 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $89K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
- Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2010 to 2025
- 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.