Prison Mindfulness Institute

Legal name: Prison Dharma Network Inc

Overview

Mission

Provide prisoners, prison staff, and prison volunteers with evidence-based mindfulness tools for self-transformation and personal and professional development, with a dual focus on transforming individual lives and the corrections system to mitigate harm to families, communities, and social wellbeing.

What it reported doing in 2024

Prison Ministry Programs and Education

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% 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
043270385
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Website reviewed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
Headquarters
South Deerfield, MA, United States
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religion Related N.E.C.
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

The verdict

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 44
  • Accountability: 48
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.9%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Public financial transparency: 1 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 20
  • Impact reporting controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
  • Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • Public governance controls: 3 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.5%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 3.92; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 67.9% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $509K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 7 annual filings from 2015 to 2024
  • 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.