Soji Zen Center
Legal name: Soji-dedicated to the Study of Soto Zen Buddhism Inc C/o Brenda Waters
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201154956
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2010–2023
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2023
- Location
- Lansdowne, PA, United States
- Phone
- 9178565659
- Rating
- 40
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religion Related
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $114,720
- Expenses
- $72,333
- Assets
- $127,847
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
People named in this filing
- JOHN GRUBER (CHAIRMAN)
- MICHAEL PALUMBARO (VICE CHAIRMAN)
- BRENDA WATERS (SECRETARY / TREASURER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Soji Zen Center is dedicated to ensuring the Dharma is available to everyone, regardless of race or socio-economic status, and applies Zen wisdom to everyday life through Zen Buddhist practice and related service/community support. Roshi Jules Shuzen Harris, Ed.D. (1939-2023)** was a Zen priest, psychotherapist, and the founding teacher and abbot of Soji Zen Center. Throughout his life, Shuzen Roshi promoted the integration of traditional Buddhist teachings and Western psychology, emphasizing the importance of applying Zen wisdom to everyday life. He founded Soji Zen Center in 2005 to support his mission of ensuring the Dharma is available to everyone, regardless of race or socio-economic status. His teachings continue to flourish through the many students practicing at Soji today. A lifelong spiritual seeker, Shuzen began his formal study of Zen Buddhism after meeting the...
What it reported doing in 2023
Provide meditation and literacy training (english and math) to individuals in a partnerships for employment program which matches participants from the philadelphia prison system and ex-offenders with green jobs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Membership-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
- Distribution model
- No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 0
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 76
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
- Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 36.9%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 5 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2023
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.