Nyingma Mandala

Legal name: Nyingma Association of Mandala Organizations

Overview

Mission

The Nyingma Mandala is a community of students and practitioners dedicated to preserving and transmitting Tibet’s living wisdom tradition, supporting ceremonies and pilgrimage, and practicing traditional Dharma. Relying on the mandala structure, the organizations of the Nyingma Mandala support and balance each other, united by the central vision and teachings of the Head Lama of TNMC. The Nyingma Association of Mandala Organizations (NAMO) coordinates and supports the mandala organizations. After TNMC, the first four organizations founded to carry out the work of the Nyingma community were Dharma Publishing, the Tibetan Aid Project, the Nyingma Institute, and Nyingma Centers. All four were legally established between 1972 and 1976. The Odiyan Country Center, a part of TNMC, was established in 1975. Since that time, the mandala of organizations has expanded dramatically.

What it reported doing in 2024

Supporting activities of Head Lama Mangalam Research Center for Buddhist Languages. Staff support for Mangalam Press a publisher of academic texts in the field of Buddhist studies; promote and cultivate relationships with academic programs and faculty. Support staff of Nyingma orgs including Head Lama of TNMC dba Dharma College Mangalam Research Center for Buddhist Languages and .Center for Creative Inquiry.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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
454728496
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Berkeley, CA, United States
Phone
7074952960
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Buddhism
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$183,956
Expenses
$209,443
Assets
$23,084
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.2%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • 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: -13.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -45.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $208K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $5K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 4 annual filings from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Pema Gellek (Director): $4,800 total reported compensation
  • Yangchen Gellek (Director): $2,400 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024.