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California · Nonprofit

MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION

MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $206 to it, the largest being CHINTAMANI FOUNDATION ($206). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$119k
Funders on record
1
Grants received
$206
Net assets
$198k
0/1 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 0%
01What it does

What Mahakaruna Foundation does

Mission

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to provide service to the refugee and destitute peoples of Buddhist countries, to preserve Buddhist teachings and the cultural/religious heritage of those who follow the teachings.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.

Programs

  1. Support for the education, training, housing, medical and physical care, and food for Buddhist teachers/practitioners.

    $52,657 spentof which $52,657 as grants
    36% of program spending

  2. Provided funds to assist with the reconstruction and repair of a monastery that was severely damaged by fire

    $27,173 spentof which $27,173 as grants
    18% of program spending

  3. Provided support for Buddhist education programs in Asia

    $22,696 spentof which $22,696 as grants
    15% of program spending

  4. Akshobhya meditation practice and mantra recitation by monastics holding vows of poverty was done for 165 beings, and 60 sacred images of the Buddha Akshobhya were created.

    $17,837 spentof which $17,837 as grants
    12% of program spending

  5. Provided funds for monastics holding vows of poverty to conduct religious ceremonies on behalf of all beings.

    $11,655 spentof which $11,655 as grants
    8% of program spending

  6. The lives of 57 yaks were ransomed so that these animals can live out their lives in peace, while supporting nomadic families with milk and hair (they will now not be slaughtered for meat or used as beasts of burden).

    $5,193 spentof which $5,193 as grants
    4% of program spending

  7. Support for monasteries which provide housing, food, education, and other care to monastics holding vows of poverty

    $4,642 spentof which $4,642 as grants
    3% of program spending

  8. General support of monastics holding vows of poverty (food, clothing, housing)

    $4,088 spentof which $4,088 as grants
    3% of program spending

  9. Provided funds to help with the repair and reconstruction of a water system for a Himalayan community.

    $1,000 spentof which $1,000 as grants
    1% of program spending

The 9 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $146,941.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20212021 Revenue 100 ($91k) Expenses 100 ($8k) Net assets 100 ($339k)2022 Revenue 86 ($78k) Expenses 126 ($10k) Net assets 120 ($407k)2023 Revenue 105 ($95k) Expenses 3137 ($258k) Net assets 72 ($243k)2024 Revenue 131 ($119k) Expenses 1992 ($164k) Net assets 58 ($198k)
2021202220232024
Revenue (131)Expenses (1992)Net assets (58)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $407k to $268k (−34%).

$339k
$407k
$268k
$198k
2021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.

$82k
’21
$68k
’22
−$164k
’23
−$45k
’24
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.

Funder
'21
total
funders
1

From the IRS filings of MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION’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.

Where its funders are

100% of MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.

CA

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like MAHAKARUNA 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

Amitabha Foundation78%Alliance for Bhikkhunis Inc77%Paramita Buddhist Monastery76%Love All Beings Foundation75%Moonlight Humanity Foundation75%Sanghapala Foundation74%The Maitrii Project74%Samye Memorial Intl Buddhism Foundation74%

Nationally

Amitabha Foundation78%Drikung Kagyu Foundation USA Inc78%Alliance for Bhikkhunis Inc77%The Buddhayana Foundation Inc77%Paramita Buddhist Monastery76%Love All Beings Foundation75%Moonlight Humanity Foundation75%The Neydo Foundation75%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Public support

95%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MAHAKARUNA 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.

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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 MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION?
MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $206 to it, the largest being CHINTAMANI FOUNDATION ($206). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 1 organization giving $206 in grants to MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION.
Who is the largest funder of MAHAKARUNA FOUNDATION?
CHINTAMANI FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $206 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like MAHAKARUNA 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 Mahakaruna →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 1 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