Compassion Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
815048309
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Half Moon Bay, CA, USA
Phone
6504404696
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,184,934
Expenses
$1,657,884
Assets
$977,934
Liabilities
$122,660

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THUPTEN JINPA LANGRI (PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN)
  • STEPHEN BUTLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHEN BUTLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $182,499 total reported compensation
  • JULIE ANN LEARMOND-CRIQUI (HEALTHCARE DIRECTOR): $144,536 total reported compensation
  • SHARI A CARLSON (LAW/PUBLIC SERVICE DIRECTOR): $139,089 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Leading provider of compassion training for professions serving the public under challenging circumstances (ex. Health care, law enforcement, corrections, educators, social services). Leveraging intellectual property and extensive faculty resources from stanford university school of medicine where the course was developed in 2009, compassion institute's global network of compassion educators improve human health, happiness, and interpersonal relationships in communities challenged by stress, conflict, and/or violence.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public programs - compassion training programs designed for personal and societal well-being delivered to people across the globe. Our flagship program is compassion cultivation training (cct), an 8-week program developed with the general public in mind, drawing on insights and techniques from psychology, neuroscience, and contemplative practice. We teach cct, cct derivatives and certify teachers to teach cct globally.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.5%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 68.3%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -39.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 39.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.5% of revenue deployed · 68.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $182K · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $121K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.