Living Dharma

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931166811
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
7576515164
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Buddhism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$45,105
Expenses
$5,362
Assets
$817,293
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Catherine Ingram (President)

People named in this filing

  • Catherine Ingram (President)
  • Noah Baumwell (Director)
  • Sally Jahns (Director)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Living Dharma sponsors podcasts and public dialogues and retreats that focus on training in awareness and communication based in ethics and peaceful solutions in community life.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Living Dharma sponsored and produced six podcasts on fifteen major podcast platforms. We also offered ten free zoom sessions with between 20 - 30 students per session. Free podcasts were downloaded on average of 2,500 per month by repeat and unique listeners, mostly in the USA.

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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 30
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 7.1%; rating input score 7
  • Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • 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: 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: 88.1%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 152.42; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -18.2% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 7.1% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.