Land of Medicine Buddha
Legal name: Land of Medicine Buddha Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 770281122
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Soquel, CA, USA
- Phone
- 831.462.8383
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,081,894
- Expenses
- $1,070,996
- Assets
- $3,660,611
- Liabilities
- $980,438
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BREIGE WALBRIDGE (MEMBER/CHAIR/PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- BREIGE WALBRIDGE (MEMBER/CHAIR/PRESIDENT): $25,781 total reported compensation
- STEVE CARLIER (MEMBER): $18,900 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Land of Medicine Buddha is a sanctuary that offers traditional and contemporary programs based in Tibetan Buddhist practice for awakening and nurturing a culture of compassion, wisdom, and well-being. Land of Medicine Buddha was started at Lama Yeshe’s request, as a campus for his Universal Education Project. It continues in it’s mission to serve all sentient beings under the visionary guidance of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Through past decades it has persevered through many obstacles and we are so thankful to the lineage of hard working staff, students, teachers, directors, volunteers, and benefactors that have enabled the continued success of Land of Medicine Buddha. Land Acknowledgment.
What it reported doing in 2024
We provided both secular and buddhist courses and retreats. 1,278 people came to the center during the year to receive a variety of services from our organization. In 2024, the organization joined a regional teaching group with geshe legstok supporting all the four fpmt centers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 66
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 60%; rating input score 60; 12th 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: 1%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.42; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 88% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $827K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $26K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.