The Community Foundation
of Shambhala

Encouraging Generosity

“If you want to be miserable, think of yourself.  If you want to be happy, think of others.” ~ Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Our community is steeped in the richness of the Shambhala lineage and teachings, of which generosity and compassion are a natural expression.  Recognizing this, The Sakyong Foundation is a vehicle to help our patrons manifest their inspiration in expressing their generosity to the Shambhala community and beyond.

As our community foundation, The Sakyong Foundation exists to enrich the lives of our members and to encourage a culture of giving.

Facilitating Philanthropy

Collaboration & Advocacy: We are donor advocates – collaborating with you to match your inspiration with a project or organization, providing information, and addressing your questions or concerns. At the Foundation, we understand the importance of ensuring that your charitable gifts benefit the areas you are most passionate about, and that your gifts are used as you intend. Many of our patrons find themselves in the position of making donations to several projects and organizations annually. The Foundation can act as an agent to help simplify fulfilling your philanthropic plan.

Intelligent Vehicles for Your Gifts: Through structures such as donor advised funds, named endowments and annuities, we aim to provide you with the resources typically available to people who create their own private family foundations, while providing all the tax benefits that public foundations enjoy.

Beyond Shambhala: Many members of the Shambhala community provide support to outside organizations.  By encouraging the use of the Foundation as an intermediary, we aim to strengthen Shambhala by insuring that our community’s gifts are recognized by recipient organizations. For example, over 200 community members supported the visit of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa to the US in 2008.

The Sakyong Foundation brings people and projects together by publicizing the projects that the Foundation supports; by making that information available to prospective donors we hope to encourage greater giving.

Supporting Shambhala

As an independent organization dedicated to fulfilling the vision of the Sakyong lineage, the Foundation is a resource for development efforts that are aligned with our mission.

Our experienced staff, advisors and partners are available to support the leadership of your projects. We can be an advocate and resource to help encourage the contributory spirit that is a natural expression of wakefulness. In addition to the major matching campaigns we have initiated and managed, the Foundation has recently served in an advisory role to the leadership of Shambhala Europe, Dechen Chöling, Shambhala Mountain Center, Boulder Shambhala Center, The Dorje Kasung, Karmê Chöling and the Kalapa Capital Buliding.