This article is a repost of the January 10th email sent by Dechen Chöling Director, Konstanze Brockstedt, announcing the result of the first End of Year fundraising campaign launched by our residential meditation centre.
Dear Shambhala Friends,
First of all, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year!
I am writing today to announce the results of our first End-of-Year Fundraising Campaign. The campaign was so much more successful than we expected and brought in the amount of 47.835 EUR. This amount does not include the matching gift of 25.000 EUR that was generously offered by the European Donor Group.
This means we raised the incredible grand total of 72,835 EUR!
During the last days of the campaign, donations were flowing in constantly and the generosity and goodwill of the community was almost unbelievable. We would like to send our heartfelt thanks to all of you! In doing a campaign like this for the first time, we thought we were ambitious in trying to raise 25.000 EUR. This result definitely went far beyond what we dared to hope for. It means that we can enter this new year with more financial strength – and a positive cashflow!
I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the leadership of Shambhala Europe who embraced this new approach and for their support of our campaign. It meant we were able to be much more successful with fundraising than in previous years. In particular, I would like to thank the Managing Directors Veronika Bauer and Katrin Stelzel, as well as Faradee Rudy, Development Director for Shambhala, for her advice and guidance during these past months.
And I would like to extend my wish that we all give with equal generosity to Shambhala Europe for their fundraising campaign on Shambhala Day! The support of central services in Europe are critical for Dechen Chöling to function successfully as the European land centre, and the health of Shambhala Europe is important for all of us moving forward.
The success of Dechen Chöling also depends on people taking part in our retreats. As a final ask, we urge you to invite people in your local centres and circles of friends to come and experience some time in the Land of Great Bliss. Our upcoming retreats can be found here.
We are also delighted to announce that we will be part of the hosting team of this year’s Shambhala Day live broadcast, since part of the Shambhala Day program will be transmitted live from Dechen Chöling. We hope you can all join us to ring in the Year of the Earth Boar!
We look forward celebrating with you all and to hosting you again this year at our beautiful land centre.
With our best wishes and much appreciation,
Konstanze Brockstedt, Dechen Chöling Director
With the support of:
Veronika Bauer & Katrin Stelzel, Interim Managing Directors for Shambhala Europe
Lia Duggan, Campaign Coordinator, Dechen Chöling
Faradee Rudy, Development Director for Shambhala
Do you have questions about our first End of Year Campaign, or making a donation? Please contact Lia Duggan, Campaign Coordinator, at [email protected]