White Forest Sangha
Legal name: White Forest Sangha Inc
Overview
Mission
A 501c3 charitable organization dedicated to the practice of Zen Buddhism in an urban lay environment. Your Support is Appreciated White Forest Sangha is a 501C(3) nonprofit organization providing Zen Buddhist meditation instruction, liturgical practice, scriptural study, and sangha fellowship to all. We are a Zen Buddhist community, organizing our practice around the needs of a lay sangha. We are committed to the exploration and development of authentic and legitimate Zen Buddhist practice outside of the traditional monastic model. Zen seeks to promote a peaceful community, country, and world through fostering a peaceful disposition in each individual. Tax ID 83-2602090.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization provides weekly meditation instruction, zen buddhist teachings, and liturgy services at least twice weekly. These programs are available in person as well as online. The primary expense incurred is monthly rent. The organization relies entirely on non-paid volunteers to deliver programs and to maintain physical space and materials. Board members are unpaid volunteers, but may be compensated for services outside their position on the board.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Investment-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 832602090
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Website reviewed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
- Headquarters
- Denver, CO, United States
- Rating
- 82
- 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 90
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 89
- Sustainability: 83
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.9%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- 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: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Public governance controls: 4 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 70.9%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 20.84; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 23.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -10% per year; rating input score 0; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 93.9% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $21K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 annual filings from 2020 to 2024
- 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.