Matthew Fox Legacy Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 472643408
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5108350655
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religion Related N.E.C.
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $335,723
- Expenses
- $402,308
- Assets
- $180,817
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Matthew Fox (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Dennis Edwards (Treasurer): $39,000 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 sustain and promote Matthew Fox's movement and tradition of Creation Spirituality including safekeeping of his writings and documents regarding the history of the Creation Spirituality movement. Chaos provides the balance for Cosmos. Students should recognize the difference between opposites (e.g., good and evil) and the dynamic tension of concepts like chaos and cosmos (or yin and yang, which is particularly important if students are using a contemplative practice based on the Chinese system). It refers to “disorder” now, but comes from a Greek word meaning “void” or emptiness. At this point, students should become familiar with both of these definitions. To begin with, ask the students what associations they make with chaos and darkness. If students come up with negative associations, encourage them to begin to think of how they can be seen positively. (6) Compassion (p.121):.
What it reported doing in 2024
Matthew Fox's movement and tradition of Creation Spirituality including safekeeping of his writings and documents and correspondence regarding the history of the Creation Spirituality movement which encompasses the Cosmic Mass, Yellawe and educational programs such as the Doctorate of Ministry and certificate programs in Creation Spirituality. Also to safeguard and promote his writings and books about Creation Spirituality.
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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 51
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61.6%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 51.4%; rating input score 51
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -19.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.7%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 61.6% of revenue deployed · 51.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $207K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $39K · 3 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $122K reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.