Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
Legal name: Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043374479
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Lincoln, MA, USA
- Phone
- (781) 259-4466
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religion Related N.E.C.
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,130,940
- Expenses
- $860,314
- Assets
- $3,088,111
- Liabilities
- $52,922
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- NICHOLAS RIBUSH (PRESIDENT/TR)
Highest reported compensation
- NICHOLAS RIBUSH (PRESIDENT/TR): $111,499 total reported compensation
- ALISON MURDOCH (DIRECTOR): $10,971 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide education on the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche to the general public. The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive is an affiliate of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, an international Buddhist organization that now numbers over 130 centers, projects and services in 31 countries worldwide. (Please note that LYWA is a separate organization, with its own programs and finances.) LYWA is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible, non-profit corporation dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings and totally dependent upon your donations for our continued existence. See our Privacy Policy here. Read more here about how you can support the work of the Archive. You can make a donation today or become a Member and join the ever-growing community of LYWA Members and.
What it reported doing in 2024
Translate, edit, reproduce, publish and distribute educational materials on the teachings of lama yeshe and lama zopa rinpoche to the general public.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 52
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 51.5%; rating input score 51
- Program expense ratio: 63.3%; rating input score 63
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 23.9%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.59; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 51.5% of revenue deployed · 63.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $545K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.