The Gyan Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 943149226
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Silver Spring, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3013577362
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $438,042
- Expenses
- $472,241
- Assets
- $1,081,007
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Gyana Vajra Sakya (President & CEO)
People named in this filing
- Gyana Vajra Sakya (President & CEO)
- Elizabeth Krainer (Treasurer)
- Adam Boyer (Secretary)
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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Gyan Foundation is dedicated to preserving and disseminating the teachings of the Buddha in general and those of the glorious Sakyapa tradition in particular.
What it reported doing in 2025
Sakya Temple of Peace (Canberra, Australia) - Assisted with the construction of the Sakya Temple of Peace. The goal of the Sakya Temple of Peace is to become a national center of peace and healing, and a place where people from all walks of life can learn meditation and hear the precious teachings of the Buddha. The Sakya Temple of Peace will also serve as an important meeting place for the Australian Tibetan Community; a place to preserve, promote and practice the Tibetan language and culture. They also have a growing number of enthusiastic Australian students who are currently studying the Tibetan language, and engaged in various religious translation works.
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 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 50
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 97.9%; rating input score 98
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 20th 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.29; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -10.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $462K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.