Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 411721381
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- St Paul, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6519179556
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Cultural, Ethnic Awareness
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $535,540
- Expenses
- $548,788
- Assets
- $2,307,855
- Liabilities
- $176,551
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- TENZIN LHAMO (President)
- TASHI NYIMA (Vice President)
- GELEK NAMGYAL (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- TENZIN LHAMO (President)
- TASHI NYIMA (Vice President)
- TENZIG WANGDUE (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
To improve the quality of life of the tibetan community in Minnesota; to preserve tibetan cultural, educational & religious traditions; & to preserve & promote the values of the unique tibetan cultural heritage under the auspices of his holiness the dalai lama.
What it reported doing in 2025
TIBETAN TRADITIONAL DANCE & MUSIC GROUPS: Children's & adult's dance groups practice & perform the dances of Tibet. A group of youths is also learning to play traditional instruments. Their performances are a highlight of Tibetan celebrations. The dance group has also performed at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the St Paul Winter Carnival, many schools & colleges, & other venues. There were 7 performances during 2025.
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 83% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.4%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 95.6%; rating input score 96; 46th 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.21; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.4% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $462K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 19 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.