Mathematical Metaphysics Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
884338840
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Sanford, NC, USA
Phone
2019825687
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Engineering and Technology

Reported finances

Revenue
$275,932
Expenses
$213,346
Assets
$35,591
Liabilities
$11,000

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEX ZHU (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • ALEX ZHU (PRESIDENT)
  • JERRY SUN (SECRETARY)
  • BLAKE BORGESON (BOARD MEMBER)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Through the discovery of calculus, isaac newton revolutionized the field of natural philosophy, the branch of philosophy concerned with understanding the natural world, to such an extent that it was rebranded as a field of science called "physics". Prominent mathematicians like david spivak believe that we are at the cusp of discovering a new branch of mathematics that can do for metaphysics the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of consciousness, the relationship between mind and matter, and the nature of identity, among other things what calculus did for natural philosophy. The mathematical metaphysics institute (mmi) aims to facilitate the development of this new branch of mathematics, by building an interdisciplinary mathematical and scientific research community oriented toward finding rigorous foundations for metaphysics, and making grants to support existing research in this direction. Mmi also aims to utilize the fruits of this research to (1) facilitate cro

What it reported doing in 2024

Academic grants for concretizing and disseminating metaphysical insights from eastern spiritual traditions in existing academic frameworks. * under mmi funding, mark miller (former postdoc of andy clark, the author of surfing uncertainty), completed a paper exploring how near-death experiences might reduce fear of death from a predictive processing standpoint, and additionally published a paper comparing jhanas (blissful meditation states described in buddhism) and speaking in tongues from a predictive processing standpoint * david spivak wrote a blog post about an idea he came up with called plausible fiction, which provides conceptual clarity for understanding self-fulfilling prophecies, and suggests pointers for how to model them mathematically

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 96% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $205K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.