California · Nonprofit
BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION
BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 205 organizations whose IRS filings report $36,847,215 to it, the largest being MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC ($10,398,000). 129 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2023
- $35M
- Funders on record
- 205
- Grants received
- $37M
- Net assets
- $89M
What Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation does
Mission
Tzu means compassion, chi means relief; to care with compassion, to give with joy! The foundation's mission is to execute charitable humanitarian services through eight major programs: charitable, medical care, education, humanitarian, international relief, stem cell & marrow donor registry, environmentral protection, and community volunteers to the community in need both domestic and abroad. Buddhist in action.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.
Program
Philanthropic and benevolent activities include participation in local community assistance through convalescent home visits, individual case relief, special education, youth outreach, prison outreach, meal distribution for the homeless, and book distribution.Medical services related activities include the conduct of medical research and studies for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and other medical conditions, the establishment of nonprofit clinics and laboratories, the promotion of public health awareness, and the maintenance of a bone marrow registry .Instructional activities include operating the "Tzu Chi Academy," a weekend and afterschool program that provides children's education in history, culture, language, moral principles, life, arts, and humanities; and delivering Dharma Master Cheng Yen's teachings by holding lectures, exhibitions, public meetings, classes, and conferences.Disaster relief activities include humanitarian aid and medical services provided nationally and internationally. The Foundation is constantly bringing relief and urgent assistance to survivors of natural and human-made disasters, including fires, floods, pandemic and…
$32,687,826 spentof which $1,055,586 as grants$3,813,292 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $32,687,826.
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Debra T Boudreaux
CEO
Board chair
Mei Ju Hsieh
Chairman
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 39 funders to 90 funders, grant income rose $424k → $6.5M.
27 of 205 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 72% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 205 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 59%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
79% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 18% · 2019 26% · 2020 48% · 2021 18% · 2022 47% · 2023 63% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
48% of BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
72% of BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $10M that is directly attributable, 62% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $27M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 234 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 234 religion nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2023
Government funding BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8.7M on record — $8.7M federal, $500 state.
- Department of State$8.3M
- Department of the Treasury$348k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$500
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- BUDDHIST TZU CHI MEDICAL FOUNDATIOn · exempt
- Buddhist Tzu Chi Education Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION?
- BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 205 organizations whose IRS filings report $36,847,215 to it, the largest being MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC ($10,398,000). 129 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 205 organizations giving $36,847,215 in grants to BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION, 129 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION?
- MORGAN STANLEY GLOBAL IMPACT FUNDING TRUST INC is the largest funder on record, with $10,398,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Buddhist Tzu Chi →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2023–2023), and the filings of 205 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing