Virginia · Nonprofit
MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE
MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE (Virginia) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,307,557 to it, the largest being TIDES FOUNDATION ($4,000,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $8.3M
- Net assets
- $8.3M
What Mind & Life Institute does
Mission
Bridging science and contemplative wisdom to foster insight and inspire action toward flourishing.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Research institutes: in 2024, the mind & life summer research institute (sri) returned to the garrison institute in upstate new york under the theme "awakening compassion in times of division." the weeklong program explored how compassion can bridge divides at personal, interpersonal, and societal levels. Over 140 participants from 19 countries including scholars, scientists, contemplatives, and changemakers - gathered for dialogue, contemplative practice, and collaborative inquiry. The event featured a diverse faculty and engaged the participation of five tibetan monastics, deepening interreligious and intercultural perspectives on compassion in action. More than half of attendees identified as black, indigenous, or people of color, underscoring mind & life's commitment to inclusion and accessibility. Participant surveys described sri 2024 as "transformative," highlighting its impact on both professional development and personal insight.
$474,860 spent$185,645 earned by the program20% of program spendingGrant programs: in 2024, mind & life offered two major grant programs - the varela grants and peace grants - continuing to support pioneering contemplative research around the globe. * the francisco j. Varela grants celebrated their 20th anniversary, awarding 10 new grants totaling $222,900 across 28 countries. Projects examined topics such as racial empathy, compassion-based therapy among latine communities, and indigenous contemplative science in ecuador. * the peace grants supported two research projects focused on compassion fatigue mitigation in conflict zones and mindfulness-based leadership interventions in education, advancing scientific understanding of prosociality, empathy, and ethics.
$636,099 spentof which $431,164 as grants$523,731 earned by the program27% of program spendingMind & life podcast:in 2024, the mind & life podcast, hosted by science director wendy hasenkamp, surpassed one million lifetime downloads and released 12 new episodes. Topics ranged from emotional intelligence and climate trauma to ethical leadership, further bridging contemplative wisdom and modern science. Listeners from around the world continued to describe the podcast as a "space of refuge and an essential resource for understanding mindfulness in everyday life.
$527,003 spent$136,170 earned by the program23% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$687,568 spent30% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,325,530.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2018 to 2019, from $7.0M to $9.2M (+32%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 7% · 2021 5% · 2022 12% · 2023 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Thupten Jinpa Langri
Chair of board
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $281k → $878k.
15 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% 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 MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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
MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
73% 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 MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 57% · 2019 62% · 2020 60% · 2021 43% · 2022 32% · 2023 28% — diversifying over time.
“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
32% of MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
71% of MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE'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 $2.4M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 15 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 11,263 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
74%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE: 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 MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE?
- MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE (Virginia) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,307,557 to it, the largest being TIDES FOUNDATION ($4,000,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $8,307,557 in grants to MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE?
- TIDES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MIND & LIFE INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Mind & Life Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 40 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