This is a copy of an email by the Director to members of Shambhala in Europe and others with a connection to Dechen Chöling.
Dechen Chöling, Mid-November 2019
Dear Shambhala Friends,
I have had many life changing experiences at Dechen Chöling over these past fifteen years, which have enriched my life enormously. We all know what coming to this place, receiving teachings, and connecting with basic goodness has meant for us and our lives. And we all want this place to continue to offer teachings and radiate out for many generations to come. The planet needs places of refuge like Dechen Chöling.
We have ensured Dechen Chöling´s survival this year by significantly reducing our team and cutting our expenses as much as possible. This was a choiceless response to a year that brought 30% less programme revenues than initially projected. We now have a small but dedicated team who are keeping the place running. But we cannot do it without your help. Whether that means coming to Dechen Choling to volunteer and lend a hand, or in the form of financial support, we need you.
Although at this time we are sixteen employees, with people taking holidays, being on sick leave, or taking a day off, it means that in our morning meeting there are sometimes only 6 or 7 people. With often only this many people, and luckily our neighbours jumping in here and there, we need to spend our day keeping everything running, cooking all the meals, setting up for programmes, cleaning the bathrooms, and taking care of the gardens and land. Please consider joining us for some weeks or some months to give a hand in our departments – it is so helpful and brings our entire situation a lot of energy.
We are also looking into what we can do to increase revenues and create a stable financial situation. If you would like to help implement a new idea for Dechen Chöling’s future, please get in touch with me directly at konstanze.brockstedt@
We also need your help financially. As already mentioned, we have taken significant steps to drastically cut expenses, but in spite of our best efforts, we will still be ending the year with an operational deficit. Further to this, we are faced with the cost to repair the Chateau roof at the side of the rose porch, which needs entire renovation and new insulation and cannot be put off any longer. The contract for this renovation work is signed and will start at the end of February at a cost of 75.000 Euros.
I am happy to say that we have already put together the entire funds for the roof repair. Thanks to a donation of 15.000 Euros from the European Donor Group who has been generously supporting Dechen Chöling over the last 20 years, and thanks to a donation of 10.000 Euros from another anonymous donor, 25.000 Euros has already been raised. Also, thanks to the offer of a generous loan we will be able to cover the remaining cost of the repair.
However, we are still facing a significant operating shortfall and we invite you to participate in our second ever End of Year Fundraising Campaign to help with this. This is our main opportunity in the year to raise substantial funds to help us make it through the year without a loss.
Our goal is to raise 150.000 Euros to cover Dechen Choling’s entire operation shortfall in 2019.
This will allow us arise in 2020 with financial health and will give us time to implement our plans for future financial stability and strength.
While generous one-time gifts are very important to help us meet this ambitious goal, monthly donations of any amount are also extremely helpful, as they constitute reliable and stable income that we can count on every month. To set up a recurring monthly donation please contact Adrian Bude at financeassistant@
I would like to include our financial figures for this year, and have prepared a simple spreadsheet with those details. You can click here to view it.
I know you have all supported Dechen Chöling again and again over the past 25 years, and I would like to express my appreciation for this. The money that has been generously offered through fundraising has allowed us to keep uplifting the buildings and land, and to renovate and to make major capital investments. Your further support at this time will mean we can continue to keep our doors open and offer the programs and retreats we know are nourishing and supportive to so many.
Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to Dechen Chöling.
With love and appreciation, yours in the Vision of the Great Eastern Sun,
Konstanze Brockstedt, Dechen Chöling Director
With the support of:
Veronika Bauer, Managing Director for Shambhala Europe
Faradee Rudy, Development Director for Shambhala
Full information about the different ways to make donations, via cheques, transfers or online, and information about receiving tax-receipts for donations made in France, Netherlands and Germany can be found here.