The Gangaji Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841239976
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ashland, OR, USA
Phone
5414823100
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$963,151
Expenses
$863,049
Assets
$1,576,427
Liabilities
$310,298

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • A VARNER (CHAIR/TEACHER): $227,258 total reported compensation
  • B DENEMPONT (VP - ED): $113,004 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The gangaji foundation serves the truth of universal consciousness, and the potential for the individual and collective recognition of peace inherent in the core of all being. It is the purpose of the gangaji foundation to forthrightly and respectfully present the teaching and transmission of gangaji, through the grace of sri ramana maharshi and sri h.w.l. Poonja.

What it reported doing in 2024

WEB-BASED PROGRAMS: The online event and community subscription program, With Gangaji, served well over 800 participants each month with meetings using Zoom calls, recordings, a community forum, and interactive content. Online Meetings and Retreats with Gangaji continued to be popular in 2024, and were attended by participants from all over the world. The Foundation produced three online Small Group Retreats that were attended by 135 participants. Two online Public Meetings were offered for an optional donation and nearly 1000 people enrolled.Streaming video and audio downloads of event recordings were made available to event attendees through the Gangaji Foundation website.The website received approximately 70,000 users from 150 countries in 2024. Articles and excerpts from Gangaji's talks are available for free on the website. Audio and video clips of satsang teachings continue to be made available free of charge.

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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 55
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.4%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.83; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 39.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.8% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $741K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $227K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.