Dzokden
Overview
Mission
The specific purposes for which this corporation is organized are religious ones, to wit: Dzokden is dedicated to spreading and teaching Kalachakra emphasizing the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Jonang lineage, and consistent with the teachings, techniques and methods of Khentrul Jamphel Lodro (Jia Luo Show.)
What it reported doing in 2025
Promotion of Kalachakra Tantra Buddhism under the Jonang tradition through activities which includes, but is not limited to, providing religious instruction and places for community development and practice, special events for both new and established students, translation of sacred texts and spreading Tibetan Buddhism worldwide.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 830930746
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Rating
- 87
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and the filing reports that some governance safeguards are missing.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 90
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 21st 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; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Public governance controls: Limited
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -27.8%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 1.1; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 45.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -3.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $240K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 annual filings from 2022 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.