Create a Community of Compassionate Care
Help Fund Psychedelic Peer Counseling
Stretch Goal: $100,000
$100,227 raised by 363 generous donors
Transforming Challenging Psychedelic Experiences
The Zendo Project provides a supportive environment and specialized care to transform challenging psychedelic experiences into valuable learning opportunities, and potentially offer healing and growth. Using a harm reduction model, we are able de-escalate situations, preventing sedation, restraint, arrest and trauma.
Creating Safer, More Compassionate Spaces
Festival producers and the public are increasingly recognizing the necessity for spaces dedicated to helping individuals through the challenges that can result from the consumption of psychoactive substances. Peer support services are beginning to be seen as essential in festival environments, where some individuals choose to use these substances. We need your help to expand our services!
Our Fundraising Stretch Goal is $100,000
Our $100,000 stretch goal will completely fund the Zendo Project’s psychedelic peer counseling services at Burning Man, and support our presence at upcoming events. These additional gifts will potentially help us travel to a new event, acquire new tools, and secure vehicles for transporting guests and supplies.
Thank you to the RiverStyx Foundation for generously donating $30,000, and to the anonymous donor who donated $20,000 as a matching grant!
We further our mission by:
- Transforming difficult experiences into opportunities for learning and personal growth
- Reducing the number of psychiatric hospitalizations and arrests
- Creating an environment for volunteers to work together to improve their harm reduction skills through training and feedback
- Demonstrating that safe, productive psychedelic experiences are possible without the need for law enforcement-based policies.
We envision a world where communities are engaged in providing safety and support for people having psychedelic and psychological challenges. Harm reduction principles are used to reduce the risks associated with substance use.
Since its inception at Burning Man in 2012, Zendo has supported over 2,900 guests and trained over 1,500 volunteers.
The Zendo Project has become an industry leader and model program in the field of psychedelic harm reduction.
We are seeing an increased demand for harm reduction services and education from festival producers, emergency and mental health service providers, and the public.
Psychedelic use in our society, while still illegal, is common, especially in recreational environments. A punitive approach to drug use is unrealistic and can cause harm.
The Zendo Project models another way to work with such situations
based on a compassionate, humane approach and an understanding of the mental and emotional effects of psychedelics. Similarly to how medical professionals are able to assist someone when they become physically hurt, psychedelic peer counseling is a form of mental health first aid.
To thank you for your gift, we’re offering unique perks only for supporters of this campaign. Contributors will be eligible to receive all perks up to the level of their donation.
Perks
To thank you for your gift, we’re offering unique perks only for supporters of this campaign. Contributors will be eligible to receive all perks up to the level of their donation.
Zendo Gear
Digital Collection
$10
Includes PDF of
The Manual of Psychedelic Support
and desktop wallpapers
Sticker
$25
Digital Collection included.
Beanie
$50
Sticker and Digital Collection included.
The Manual of Psychedelic Support
$100
Beanie, Sticker, and Digital Collection included.
Hoodie
$150
Manual of Psychedelic Support, Beanie, Sticker, and Digital Collection included.
Zendo Trainings & Session
Interactive Webinar
$500
Video conference with the Zendo Project Staff. An overview of the history and philosophy of the project, principles of harm reduction, strategies and tools for sitters, Q&A. Hoodie, Manual of Psychedelic Support, Beanie, Sticker, and Digital Collection included.
Online Integration Session
$1,000
Psychedelic Integration session with a Zendo Project Integration Coordinator to better understand and integrate a psychedelic or other life-transformative experience; session will be held via secure, private video session. Interactive Webinar, Hoodie, Manual of Psychedelic Support, Beanie, Sticker, and Digital Collection included.
In-Person Private Training
$5,000
Half-day Zendo Project Training for your community or organization. A live private training (up to 50); includes our comprehensive Zendo Volunteer Training as well as Role-Playing Scenarios, Sitter Feedback, and Q&A. Interactive Webinar, Hoodie, Manual of Psychedelic Support, Beanie, Sticker, and Digital Collection included.
Every gift — no matter the size — helps us provide community-based compassionate care to people having a difficult psychedelic experience.
In the coming year, we will offer advanced training and outreach to:
- Emergency service personnel
- Mental health professionals
- Law enforcement
… taking what we have learned in the festival environment into society.
We have recently completed the development of an online training course which will be available to the public and will provide trainees with an understanding of psychedelic peer counseling.
The Zendo Project’s Current Needs
- RVs, Trailers, Vehicles
- Electrolytes, Snacks
- Structures: Geodesic domes, Yurts, Tipis, Large Tents
- Supplies: Bedding, warm clothes, toiletries
By making a gift and sharing this page, you’re helping:
- Provide essential infrastructure for community-based psychedelic support at Burning Man 2017 and other events
- Train volunteers and develop new resources for public trainings
- Expand our capacity to deliver psychedelic support services at festivals and events around the world
Zendo Project’s Financials
In fiscal year 2017, the Zendo Project had expenses of $239,371. Nearly half of our income ($110,058) were sourced from MAPS’ unrestricted funds, while the rest came from event income, major donors, and crowdfunding. For the current fiscal year, we plan to have expenses of $225,680 and to use $49,925 of MAPS’ unrestricted funds. Your support will help us maintain a self-sustaining program.
Harm Reduction Income
Crowdfunding
FY2017 Actuals: $10,443
FY2018 Projected: $25,000
Major Donors
FY2017 Actuals: $78,166
FY2018 Projected: $100,000
Event and Training Income
FY2017 Actuals: $40,704
FY2018 Projected: $64,500
Total Income
FY2017 Actuals: $129,313
FY2018 Projected: $189,500
Harm Reduction Expenses
Staff Support for Harm Reduction Events and Trainings
FY2017 Actuals: $102,182
FY2018 Projected: $127,545
Contractors
FY2017 Actuals: $16,638
FY2018 Projected: $21,370
Site Expenses
FY2017 Actuals: $106,919
FY2018 Projected: $73,757
Travel (Trainings)
FY2017 Actuals: $6,645
FY2018 Projected: $5,608
Overhead
FY2017 Actuals: $7,502
FY2018 Projected: $2,471
Total
FY2017 Actuals: $239,885
FY2018 Projected: $230,750
Net Income
FY2017 Actuals: ($110,573)
FY2018 Projected: ($41,250)
Donated Time
FY2017 Actuals: $87,083
FY2018 Projected: $95,000
Donate now to support psychedelic safe spaces and harm-reduction education
The Zendo Project at Burning Man 2017
The Zendo Project began at Burning Man. This year, we will provide services for the sixth year. We will be centrally located, near Center Camp, and will be open 24/7 during the event. We will also offer our public training workshop.
In 2016, we provided assistance to 477 guests and education to hundreds more at this approximately 70,000-person event.
Burning Man is our biggest event of the year. With your help, we can continue to have an impact on all who attend this transformational gathering.
TESTIMONIALS & ARTICLES
Our team, volunteers, and the guests we serve have a deep appreciation for the work we provide. Those who have witnessed these transformations first-hand are inspired to share this work with the world.
“This human-to-human support, where the impact is beneficial for everyone involved, is what generates growth and social change. That is the work I’m inspired to support through the Zendo Project.”
— Chelsea Rose
Zendo Project Event Operations Coordinator
“The Zendo Project works to provide a safe space [for] psychedelic users who may be experiencing bad trips. The idea is to create an environment where people can calm down […] with empathetic acceptance of their experience.”
—Rolling Stone, August 7, 2015
“The Zendo Project focuses specifically on psychedelics, with an emphasis not just on harm reduction but also on helping people change their experiences into learning opportunities.”
—Playboy, July 22, 2015
“[T]he festival is making a greater effort this time around to let attendees know that these services are available. ‘What they’re doing is heroic,” [DPA’s Stefanie] Jones said. ‘They’re making every effort in a tough environment to keep their attendees safe.’”
—The Huffington Post, May 20, 2015
“The Zendo Project provides an incredible service to those experiencing a crisis. There is also great value to the festivals from a production standpoint, freeing up the resources of traditional medical and security teams and sending the message that safety is a priority to attendees.”
—Fest300, March 26, 2015
“One of the most rewarding aspects of the Zendo Project is being part of a community of individuals dedicated to the care and well-being of others. We provide an environment where volunteers can really have a positive impact on the quality of life of another person.”
— Sara Gael
Director of Harm Reduction, MAPS Zendo Project
Festivals and Events Zendo Project Serves
About MAPS
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.
Since our founding in 1986, MAPS has raised over $43.8 million for psychedelic and medical marijuana research and education. Every dollar has come from visionary donors committed to our mission. For now, the continued expansion of psychedelic research and education relies on the generosity of individual donors.
Bitcoin donations can be made by using this wallet address:
1kqgaGfUKsE82NhZV37uptnRtrz7Lqpti
