Buddhist Digital Resource Center

Legal name: Buddhist Digital Resource Center Inc

Overview

Mission

The Buddhist Digital Resource Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeking out, preserving, documenting, and disseminating Buddhist literature. BDRC digitizes endangered Buddhist manuscripts for long-term preservation and creates digital tools to support access and research. Preservation. Current programs focus on the preservation of Tibetan literary heritage, the preservation of manuscripts in Southeast Asia, and the development of technology to support digital archiving and scholarly research. BDRC's preservation and access programs enact the organization's central aims: to repatriate the heritage of Buddhist cultures, make Buddhist literature available on a mass scale, and promote research on and engagement with culturally significant Buddhist texts. | | Preservation | Access |.

What it reported doing in 2025

Bdrc provides education about, conducts research into, and preserves and promotes buddhist traditions. Bdrc provides documentation and results of research to representatives of traditional buddhism, academic researchers, translators, and the general public. This is accomplished, in part, by assisting in the promotion of accurate translations and quality publications of buddhist literary heritage, based on the materials in its collection, and by carrying on cooperative documentation projects with other academics, researchers, and traditional buddhist scholars.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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
043491680
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
(857) 449-0510
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Buddhism
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$790,046
Expenses
$1,063,709
Assets
$3,283,361
Liabilities
$91,385

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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.2%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 67.2%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -34.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.09; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 90.2% of revenue deployed · 67.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $715K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $122K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JANN RONIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $121,986 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025.