Northern California Vipassana Center

Overview

Mission

Teach vipassana meditation as taught by sn goenka.

What it reported doing in 2025

Northern California vipassana centers primary mission is to conduct vipassana meditation courses. The center conducts 10 day courses several times a month serving approximately 1000 students per year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680426714
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Headquarters
Cobb, CA, USA
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 6
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 43.5%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 60%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $466.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 28.8%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 5.56; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 43.5% of revenue deployed · 60% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $384K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 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.