Dawn Mountain

Overview

Mission

Dawn Mountain modernizes Tibetan Buddhist foundational training on love, trust, connectedness, and joyful appreciation of life and teaches them to people of all ages. We seek to inspire all we engage with to develop these skills, particularly mindfulness and compassion.

What it reported doing in 2024

As the largest portal for authentic Tibetan thought, practice, and meditation in Houston, Dawn Mountain teaches students locally in person and globally online via weekend workshops, lectures, classes, and regular meetings archived on YouTube. Programs are attended by a broad spectrum of ethnic, socioeconomic, and religiously-affiliated adults, teens, and children. Approximately 2,500 people were served in 2024. As our programs grow, they are archived online on YouTube. The annual viewership increased from 23,300 views in 2016 to 45,546 in 2024. The Research Institute supports translating, archiving, and preserving crucial parts of the Tibetan tradition in Western Languages with practice texts translated into chant-able English. We provide subsidies for people who are unable to pay for programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 98% of its reported program work directly.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760507052
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
Headquarters
Houston, TX, USA
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 30
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 23.6%; rating input score 24
  • Program expense ratio: 41.8%; rating input score 42
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 47.5%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 3.71; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.7% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 23.6% of revenue deployed · 41.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $63K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 annual filings from 2015 to 2024
  • 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.