Center for the Practice of Zen Buddhist Meditation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942900065
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Sequim, WA, USA
Phone
6505214518
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Buddhism
Affiliation
Buddhism

Reported finances

Revenue
$673,276
Expenses
$589,856
Assets
$3,477,823
Liabilities
$76,326

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cheri Huber (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cheri Huber (President): $70,800 total reported compensation
  • Ashwini Narayanan (Secretary): $60,960 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Colmore (Treasurer): $12,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote spiritual growth and well being within the Zen Buddhist tradition

What it reported doing in 2025

Maintain meditation facilities and meeting places to promote activities within the Zen Buddhist tradition.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 9
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $255.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.9%; rating input score 95; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.4%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.9; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.3% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $546K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.