Ewam Choden
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 941743471
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
- Location
- Kensington, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5105377363
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $129,204
- Expenses
- $113,829
- Assets
- $517,741
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Losang Kunga Gyurme (President)
- Brian Laczko (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Losang Kunga Gyurme (President): $33,549 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Founded and continuously overseen by Lama Kunga since 1973, Ewam Choden was one of the earliest Tibetan Buddhist centers on the west coast. The Ewam Choden Tibetan Buddhist Center is located in Kensington, a residential community in California.
What it reported doing in 2024
Under the guidance of the accomplished Vajrayana master and resident teacher, Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche, the center offers a wide variety of classes and activities. Lama Kunga Rinpoche gives regular empowerments and teachings, along with a weekly compassion meditation practice on Sunday mornings. He also holds an occasional series of language classes in speaking, reading, and writing the Tibetan language. The Center hosts visiting Lamas and holds events for special occasions, such as, significant dates in the Tibetan calendar, and Losar, the Tibetan New Year.In the past, Ewam Choden has been visited by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the heads of three other major schools of Tibet, as well as many other lamas. Ewam Choden continues to expand its practice on numerous levels. Students are involved in translating Tibetan texts into English, and Rinpoche has worked diligently in this
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 97% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 78
- Sustainability: 63
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.2%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 11.9%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.55; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.2% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $94K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $34K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2012 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.