This fall, Brooklyn Zen Center invited our community to think about what membership means. We shared seven Meet a Member stories, a refreshed membership page, and a simpler set of membership levels around the sacred number 108. Sangha members, staff, teachers, and board took part in shaping every piece. We’re honored to share here with you our report and express our gratitude. 

What took place

Since August, monthly support for BZC has grown by 16%. Three people joined, five members resumed giving, and ten members increased their gifts. Some people also stepped away, as people do, so our membership held steady while the support behind it grew.

We also saw something in the 108. In our tradition, 108 is a sacred number, so this fall we invited everyone to offer what felt both meaningful and realistic as a monthly gift, in the spirit of dana: $108, or a fraction or multiple of it. The number of members giving $108 a month grew from 1 to 10, and many more give a fraction or multiple of it. Other members gave at many levels, and together those gifts support everything we do here.

More than numbers

What moved us most was sangha members telling their stories in their own words, the team effort of volunteer sangha members working together with staff and board, and the honest feedback people sent us. Your support makes such a difference for BZC, and helps us toward our aspiration of a sustainable community that can welcome everyone. In a year of so much change, this community’s generosity and care are something to celebrate.

Thank you

To Jules Becerra, Mary Stone, Paul Medlyn, Dorotea Mendoza, Tori Tanaka, Charlie Schneider, and Hugo Medina, who shared their stories. To Sara Lamm, whose filmmaking brought those stories to life. To sangha members, Sarah Sensei and Charlie Sensei, to our staff, and to everyone who gave us feedback. And to the Membership Drive Committee.

And to all of you, whether you joined, gave, practiced with us, or read along: thank you.

What’s next

Membership stays open at any level, any time: click here for info. Check out our upcoming offerings on the BZC events list here. If you’d like to tell us what BZC means to you, or what you’d like to see here, come find us or email us at info@brooklynzen.org.

With gratitude,

Kristen Davis, Mark Graham, Paul Medlyn, Mimi Rosenfeld, Eric Stone, and Maiko Tanaka

The BZC Membership Drive Committee