Vivekananda Retreat Ridgely

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954651314
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2014
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Stone Ridge, NY, United States
Phone
(845) 687-4574
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Hinduism
Affiliation
Hinduism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$141,235
Expenses
$184,946
Assets
$1,146,041
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shelley Brown MD (Vice President)
  • Swami Sarvadevananda (President & CEO)

People named in this filing

  • Pravrajika Gitaprana-D Baloff (Treasurer)
  • Peter Hirshman (Director)
  • Mitu Hirshman (Director)

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 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To preserve and continue the universal teachings of Swami Vivekananda through a residential retreat that offers opportunities to deepen personal spiritual practice through day visits and extended stays. The Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, founded in 1997, is a residential retreat dedicated to preserving and continuing the universal teachings of Swami Vivekananda. The 82 acre retreat provides opportunities to deepen one’s personal spiritual practice in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, visit an historical location associated with the life of Swami Vivekananda, and access a living spiritual tradition established by Swami Vivekananda and his teacher, the Indian saint, Sri Ramakrishna. Retreatants are welcome for day visits and extended stays. WordPress › Error There has been a critical error on this website.

What it reported doing in 2014

Church, Spiritual Retreat Center, Spiritual Instruction Classes in Meditation, Scripture of the World.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 67.6%; rating input score 68
  • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -30.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.2; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.8% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 67.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $125K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2010 to 2014
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.