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 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
432032081
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Garden Grove, CA, USA
Phone
7146360118
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Buddhism
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$154,249
Expenses
$115,335
Assets
$567,116
Liabilities
$398,127

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

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: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 12
  • Sustainability: 68
  • 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

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
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.2%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage 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.

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: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

People named in this filing

  • ONA L RADY (President)

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 2025.