Lotus Outreach

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800013909
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
8888319990
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$612,551
Expenses
$776,707
Assets
$73,584
Liabilities
$574

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PATRICIA WALTCHER (President)
  • PENELOPE TREE (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • GLENN FAWCETT (Executive Dir.): $91,004 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Lotus Outreach is a nonprofit organization, incorporated in California in 2002, dedicated to ensuring the education, health and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world. Lotus Outreachs purpose is to create a more just, peaceful world where all people--regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, and gender--can lead rich, meaningful lives that are free of physical and structural violence.Lotus Outreachs pursuit of this mission is manifested in the following core program areas: Improving access to quality education for marginalized youth.Economic empowerment of parents and young women.Human trafficking and gender-based violence prevention and aftercare.Improving health and sanitation for vulnerable communities.From one year to the next, Lotus Outreach programs reach over 30,000 marginalized women and children in some of the poorest regions of Asia.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Buddha Smiles program is designed to ensure access to quality education for children whose parents are illiterate and from low income sectors including migrant labor, poor weavers and for children of poor villagers that depend on government schools which lack resources to ensure such children are able to cope with their studies. Children from high-income families are able to send their children to private schools or at least, pay for after school tuition, so this program is aimed at ensuring equal access to quality education for low-income families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 83% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 23 filed program accomplishments · $622K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.