Wisconsin · Nonprofit
INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC
INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $433,356 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($327,321). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $159k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $433k
- Net assets
- $68k
What Institute for Zen Leadership Inc does
Mission
To combine Zen meditation and leadership training in order to develop wiser, more resilient leaders who can create healing and thriving in their relationships, organizations, and society. To foster Zen training and develop further instructors of Zen Leadership.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
In 2025, the Institute delivered 5 multi-day leadership programs serving 61 people including the ZL Leadership curriculum and a masterclass. We offered 31 full or partial scholarships to these programs, having a total value of $9820.49. The programs were delivered online. All programs were open enrollment. Additionally, IZL faculty presented at 9 other programs for the IZL alumni with an estimate of 108 attendees. We partnered with the California Institute of Integral Studies in delivering a program on Resonance and Zen Leadership. We also developed an online Learning Management System to better support our programs and alumni. We formed a Teaching Committee of 21 IZL instructors to work with them more closely on how they can be points of growth for the Institute. The Institute's President continued to raise visibility for IZL's programs as a regular contributor to Forbes.com with a reach of tens of thousands and as guest faculty or speaker in non-IZL events.
$35,465 spent$24,468 earned by the program30% of program spendingThe FEBI mind-body personality instrument was used throughout our programs, and IZL has supported over 200 certified coaches, selling 651 FEBI licenses. In addition, 11 new FEBI coaches were certified. We have offered 5 partial scholarships with a total amount of $1040. We also piloted a FEBI practice group that worked with FEBI coaches on extensions to FEBI and making it their signature tool.
$47,287 spent$36,297 earned by the program40% of program spendingIn 2025, the Institute delivered 2 Healthy Embodied Agile Leadership (HEAL) programs serving 11 medical doctors. One of the programs was online while the other was in-person. We have offered 5 partial scholarships with a total of $2549. Our HEAL Director also founded the Open Field Health Collaborative for bringing HEAL training to facilitating new models of medical practice and community health.
$35,465 spent$16,618 earned by the program30% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $118,217.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $162k to $92k (−43%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
51% of INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
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.
Board chair
Kate Watters
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $48k → $12k.
4 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 76% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 84% · 2021 73% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
100% of INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $433k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC's revenue fell 26% between 2020 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,334 religion nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC
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 Wisconsin
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC: 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 INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC?
- INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $433,356 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($327,321). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $433,356 in grants to INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC?
- NETWORK FOR GOOD is the largest funder on record, with $327,321 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INSTITUTE FOR ZEN LEADERSHIP INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 4 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing