Unfettered Mind

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954264256
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Windsor, CA, USA
Phone
7072256811
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$68,499
Expenses
$85,747
Assets
$377,422
Liabilities
$4,965

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DONNA MCLAUGHLIN (PRESIDENT)
  • KENNETH MCLEOD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KENNETH MCLEOD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $42,088 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Public education on the benefits, techniques and services available as the result of the study of buddhism.

What it reported doing in 2025

Developed and published print, audio, and digital educational materials on the principles and practices of buddhism. During the year, the organization completed and relaunched its website, providing approximately 600 pages of freely accessible meditation instruction, articles, audio recordings, podcasts, and other educational resources. The organization also published a new translation of the diamond sutra and distributed a monthly email newsletter to approximately 4,000 subscribers featuring guidance on spiritual practice and the application of buddhist principles to contemporary life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -25.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.4; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 49.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $64K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $42K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.