Durango Dharma Center
Legal name: Durango Sangha
Overview
Mission
Rooted in the living transmission of Theravada Buddhism, the purpose of the Durango Dharma Center is personal and collective liberation. We practice together to cultivate awakened minds and compassionate hearts. Building a culture of generosity and responsiveness, we aspire to cultivate the seeds of awakening for all beings.
What it reported doing in 2024
During 2024 the Durango Dharma Center continued its Monday night meditation gatherings online and in person. The Center also provided a wide array of in person programs for community members including daylong retreats, a camping retreat, beginning and experienced student enrichment classes and facilitated Kalyana Mitta and peer meet up groups. Senior teachers within the Theravadan tradition joined us throughout the year for various offerings.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% 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.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 841390629
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Website reviewed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Headquarters
- Durango, CO, USA
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Buddhism
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 60
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.5%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Public governance controls: 1 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -10.7%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 5.77; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26.8%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -19.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 90.5% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $176K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 annual filings from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.