Dechen Los Angeles - Sakya Buddhist Temple
Legal name: Dechen Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271771679
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2018
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2018
- Location
- Santa Monica, CA, United States
- Phone
- 3103414447
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $74,511
- Expenses
- $86,293
- Assets
- $541,439
- Liabilities
- $293,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Paul Haddon (CEO)
- Roz Haddon (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Paul Haddon (CEO)
- Roz Haddon (Vice President)
- Fred Tyler (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To advance the teachings of the Sakya and Karma Kagyu schools of Buddhism as embodied by His Holiness Sakya Trichin Ngawang Kunga Thegchin, His Holiness the Karmapa Thaye Dorje and the Fourth Karma Thinley Rinpoche, under the spiritual authority and guidance of Lama Jampa Thaye as master of the Sakya and Karma Kagyu schools of Buddhism.
What it reported doing in 2018
Weekly prayer meetings for members. Weekly prayer meetings occurred each Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday throughout of 2018
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
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: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- 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: -15.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.27; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $86K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.