Dear Shambhala Friend,
In a recent email it was announced that the Shambhala Day campaign raised a total of $456,585 USD and we met our $450,000 USD goal. This was possible through a very generous $90,000 USD donation made by Jack Bodner and Ann Cason from Portland Shambhala Center – which is also a challenge gift to inspire the rest of the community.
The challenge continues! If the rest of us in the global Shambhala community can collectively offer $90,000 USD over the next few weeks, we will be very close to a balanced budget for Shambhala Global Services in 2019. At this point, we have raised $36,573 USD – and we are well on our way!
Meeting this challenge as a community is so important. In order for the good work of the Interim Board, the Process Team, and other community initiatives to continue, it is so helpful if we are on healthy financial ground.
You may remember that throughout this year’s Shambhala New Year fundraising campaign, we strongly encouraged people to start or increase recurring monthly donations in any amount to support Shambhala. This type of support offers the most stability and possibility for good financial planning.
Many people were inspired by the following story to become monthly donors. We would like to again share this with you, so that you may also be inspired to commit to a monthly recurring gift.
Victoria’s Story:
I started a monthly donation to Shambhala International when I was about 21 years old. At the time, it was $10 or $15 / month and I wasn’t even a member of a local Centre yet. I was a young, transient person trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. But even then it felt good and doable to contribute monthly to Shambhala because I loved the teachings and the community.
In the last 18 years, I have increased my monthly donations every year at Shambhala Day – usually an increase of $5 / month each year, but occasionally by greater leaps. It’s grown from $15 / month to $145 / month, and it still feels like a small amount of money in comparison to my desire to support the community and the immeasurable benefit I have received from the Shambhala dharma.
I know that deep change is needed in the community and in the organization. It is not in spite of this, but because of this that I am inspired again to increase my monthly donation this year. I hope that many other people will also be inspired to contribute to the financial health of the organization so that we can continue to open out and move forward together.
— Victoria Hagens, Toronto
Please join Victoria and others who are either starting or increasing a recurring monthly gift. Monthly donations in the amount of 10, 25, or 50 will make a huge difference in our ability to work with finances and provide services in an even more responsive way.
The total annual amount in 2019 of any recurring monthly donation you start at this time will be included in the $90,000 USD goal!
If this is not possible for you, please consider a one-time gift, even if you have already made a donation in 2019. Whatever the amount, it makes such a difference in helping us meet our challenge goal of $90,000 USD.
We would also like to remind you about the previous group of committed donors and patrons who have come together to offer a $100,000 USD matching grant to encourage people in our community to become Jewel Patrons – someone who commits to a donation of 1,000 or more annually and in perpetuity to support Shambhala.
This means that if you become a Jewel Patron in 2019, an additional one time gift of $1,000 will be offered – up to $100,000. There has never been a more impactful time to become a Jewel Patron.
76 new Jewel Patrons have already made this commitment in 2019, so we are well on our way to meeting our goal of 100 new Jewel Patrons!
If it feels possible and resonates for you, please consider joining over 240 people in our community by becoming a Jewel Patron – someone who commits to a donation of 1,000 or more annually and in perpetuity to support Shambhala. This is approximately 85 per month and is a high impact way to support the community. To become a Jewel Patron or learn more, please contact Development Director Faradee Rudy directly at faradee.rudy@shambhala.org.
Thank you for continuing to support Shambhala and for all you do. We can only do this together.
Our warmest and heartfelt regards,
The Shambhala Interim Board
Veronika Bauer
Mark Blumenfeld
Martina Bouey
John Cobb
Jen Crow
Sara Lewis
Susan Ryan
Paulina Varas
If you have requested a preferred language other than English, you may receive this e-mail twice: Once in your preferred language and once in English. Thank you to our translation team!
How are Donations Used?
Donations support the Shambhala community and Center and Member Services, as coordinated by Shambhala Global Services, which provides all the critical infrastructure, support, and resources on which centers, groups, and members worldwide rely.
You can click here to view a comprehensive overview of Shambhala Global Services.
In Europe, Shambhala Europe (SE) is the first contact point that provides this support and is the focus of fundraising efforts. SE works together with Shambhala Global Services in North America and shares the responsibility of providing these services.
Financial Reports
For information about the finances of Shambhala, please click here to view Shambhala financial reports from previous years. (You may need to sign in to the members page and then click on the Members tab, then Finance and then Financial Reports.)
To view the recent Finance Update from the Interim Board of Shambhala, please click here.
The Process Team
The Process Team is a global group that has stepped forward with longing to help us discover how Shambhala can continue forward movement and become stronger. They will lead the global Shambhala community in an exploration of what is necessary to reveal fresh relevance and needed changes.
You can click here to view the recent announcement about The Process Team.