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 nonprofit carried out 90% of its reported program work directly.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454728496
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Website reviewed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
- Headquarters
- Berkeley, CA, United States
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Buddhism
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports that some governance safeguards are missing and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 23
- 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
- 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: 0 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Impact reporting controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Public relationship transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
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
- Public governance controls: 4 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -13.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve 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.