Bodhgaya Religious Tr 123193

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330607593
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5108091016
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$789,396
Expenses
$725,000
Assets
$11,845,257
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tarthang Tulku (President CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tsering Gellek (Trustee): $6,497 total reported compensation
  • Pema Gellek (Trustee): $4,800 total reported compensation
  • Yangchen Gellek (Trustee): $2,400 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

In perpetuity sponsorship of annual Buddhist Tibetan Nyingma World Peace Ceremonies at Bodh Gaya India including: daily offerings to monastic participants; ceremony offerings of butter lamps candles tsog food flowers; and daily food offerings to the local poor. Head Lama of the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center 501c3 Church Yeshe De Project religious text books and art are transported to Bodh Gaya where they are freely distributed to monastic and lay practitioners.

What it reported doing in 2024

The 10 day ceremony was held at the Bodh Gaya stupa Jan 11-20 2024. Daily attendance averaged 7399 monks nuns and high lamas as well as 2700 lay people. Daily offerings included flowers food for the local poor; tea rice and biscuits for the assembly and lay people were also offered. Sacred text readings were sponsored at local monasteries. Yeshe De Publication books and sacred art were freely distributed to all attendees daily during the ceremony. Head Lama of TNMC prepared budgets ahead of time and expenses were conducted under supervision by TNMC personnel. TNMC was reimbursed after the final actual expenses were reported.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.34; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 52.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 54.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.8% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $725K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $6K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.