Dear Shambhala Community,
Cheerful Year of the Water Tiger! First, let me introduce myself. My name is David MacLellan, Director of Finance and a member of the new Executive Leadership Team (ELT). Today I’m writing to you with the 2021 Financial Report for Shambhala Global Services (SGS), including the year end Balance Sheet and Statement of Activities for 2021. Going forward I will continue to send these updates to the Community.
2021 was a year of challenges. The pandemic continued to affect our community, resulting in lower in-person program attendance and revenues. Nonetheless, it has been inspiring to hear and see all the creative approaches that have been developed to connect people to practice and the dharma amidst so much uncertainty – and still generate some revenue in the process!
SGS was also affected by many challenges during 2021 and this is reflected in a loss for the year, which was expected and budgeted. Please click here to view the 2021 Statement of Activities and here to view the 2021 Balance Sheet. The SGS loss for 2021 is $90,192 USD compared to a budgeted loss of $73,157 USD. While this is a relatively small difference to what was projected, $147,000 USD from the sale of Windhorse Retreat Center in Wisconsin (in conjunction with the wishes of the local sangha) and the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy are propping up that bottom line. Keeping all this in mind, Shambhala Global Services managed to navigate a very challenging year. This is in no small part thanks to the very generous support of our many Shambhala donors, continued Centre and Group affiliate transfers, and the dedicated work of the Shambhala Global Services team and the Shambhala Board.
We are working with the expectation that 2022 will be critical in telling us what is sustainable going forward. It should be further noted that for 2022 the Director of Operations and Director of Care positions will not be paid for by restricted funds and are now part of the operating budget. We will not have the $147,000 USD of additional revenue in 2022, and the projected loss will be substantial. This means we will be relying on sustained and increased Centre and Group affiliate transfers and good Shambhala New Year fundraising to operate in a healthy and sustainable way in 2022 and going forward. Clearly, it will be another year of investment in the future of our community, and with new-found clarity about a path forward, we feel there are many opportunities for Shambhala to grow and flourish. And we must also understand as a community and organization that without more positive revenue trends in the next one to two years, the only responsible path forward will be to change our existing operating model to fit our income situation.
I would be remiss in my role as a dedicated caretaker of Shambhala’s financial health if I did not take this opportunity to invite you to make a donation to support the work of Shambhala Global Services to make the practice of meditation and the Shambhala teachings as accessible as possible, and to promote peace and confidence in the basic goodness of humanity. Generosity is the virtue that produces peace.
David MacLellan
Director of Finance