We are at an inflection point as a nonprofit. On the one hand, global interest is at an all-time high, and the world needs Burning Man more than ever. On the other hand, we are well past the point where ticket revenues from Black Rock City are able to support our year-round cultural work.
A call for your support, this post shares more about our finances, and builds on my prior communications about what’s happening in the world with Burning Man (8/18) and our current financial situation (10/3). The financial information I reference throughout this post is available in full detail here. As I previously shared, the big revenue shortfall causing today’s cash crunch is primarily from 2024 Black Rock City higher-priced tickets not selling as planned. This $5.7M shortfall, combined with a $3M dip in receipts from main-sale tickets and vehicle passes, means that our year-end charitable donation target has essentially doubled to nearly $20M. This needs to happen before 2025 ticket sales and our annual revenue cycle begins in January.
We are working behind the scenes to raise money from dedicated major donors, but this moment will work better if we look to the long term and engage everyone. Translation: We need your help to keep Burning Man accessible for the next generation! Gifting is a core value to our culture, and we need your support now and into the future. Your steadfast generosity and ongoing donations are needed to help secure the long-term of Burning Man.
Before we get into where we are going, it is important to review how we arrived at this moment.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?Core to Burning Man is our practice of the 10 Principles, which enable the conditions for authentic moments of awe and joy. That being said, to operate in alignment with the 10 Principles, including without corporate sponsorship or merchandise revenue (while other events and festivals rely on it for nearly 25-30% of their revenue), generous philanthropy is required to grow and keep Burning Man economically accessible.
Many are surprised to learn that ticket revenue alone does not fund all that Burning Man Project does to bring Burning Man to the world, including the production of Black Rock City, and has not for years. Specific to BRC, in 2023, the cost to produce the event was an estimated $749 per participant while the main sale ticket price was $575 per ticket. Further, since 2014, the Black Rock City production cost per participant has been greater than the main sale ticket price and the event has had to be subsidized.
This gap is why we have sold higher-priced Black Rock City tickets. A concept we talked about back in 2016, these higher-priced tickets not only kept main sale tickets reasonably priced, they also enabled us to provide lower-priced tickets to participants with financial need. And through 2023 the higher-priced tier helped to subsidize some, but not all of the cost increases.
Over the years, we also increased our annual goal for our contributed donations to address this gap and support the global mission. The community rose to the occasion, helping us raise $2M in 2019 up to $8M in 2023. With this increased philanthropic support, we felt confident in our financial outlook despite increased costs following the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been working since 2020 to increase the relative importance of philanthropy to achieve our mission. This year’s ticket revenue shortfall is accelerating our plans and has underscored the importance of year-round philanthropic support.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, and thanks to a lot of hard work by our staff, we had more than $16M in cash. Then, in the face of the pandemic and without BRC, the incredible response from the community and beyond in 2020 and 2021 resulted in more than $39M in contributed revenue. Like many other organizations, during this time we reorganized our staff, including layoffs, and tightened our belt.
Without Black Rock City in those years, but because of the community’s generous support, we were able to “Save the Man” and retain many full-time employees for a post-pandemic return to BRC and continuation of the cultural movement. Staff were deployed to do work that needed to happen to amplify the global culture. We fostered creative connection through Art Speaks, launched the Burning Man LIVE podcast, provided resources to bring Burning Man to life 365-days a year, celebrated micro burns and promoted local events through Kindling.
Between 2020 and 2022, we also invested in maintenance of Northern Nevada properties such as the 360, and other assets that directly support Black Rock City production (to go deeper on how we invested in those assets during those years, see Summary Financial Information).
Through 2023, the reliable revenue from higher-priced tickets and charitable contributions enabled the nonprofit to produce incredible programming, including Black Rock City, and support other low-budget, high-impact primarily community-driven efforts that stoke the Burning Man global culture and benefit the vibrancy of Black Rock City.
The combination of these efforts is working — there is more Burning Man out in the world and the movement has momentum!
For example, campouts at Fly Ranch have produced and fueled participant efforts, including: Burner Leadership Achieving Sustainable Theme Camps (BLAST), Renewables for Artists Team (RAT), and the Green Theme Camp Community, which then bring their forward-thinking solutions to life in Black Rock City. Participants from around the world (including From the Windy City to Romania) attend Black Rock City to learn and they then bring Burning Man back to their local community members. For nearly 20 years, Burners Without Borders local groups have utilized the skills and can-do attitude refined and realized by so many in Black Rock City to respond to catastrophe and provide humanitarian and community support after events such as Hurricane Helene. The combined budgets to support these efforts can be seen in the Summary Financial Information, under “Civic Engagement” and “Other Programs.”
Innovation at Fly Ranch (Photo by Zac Cirivello)The result is that global participation is now at a record high. In 2023, 95,000 people participated in official Burning Man Regional Events (check out the map!) around the world — on top of the more than 74,000 people who came together in Black Rock City. This means 170,000 people experienced Burning Man events directly in just one year — this is mind-bending!
TODAYWe started 2024 with approximately $9M cash in the bank. As noted above, even with our initial $10M fundraising goal for 2024, we face a cash crunch and need to raise $20M this year.
Fundamentally, we must balance the budget for 2024 now, and then readjust the revenue objectives and cost objectives for 2025 and beyond to secure Burning Man’s future.
Starting to sell tickets now just kicks the can down the road, and increasing Black Rock City ticket prices to cover the nonprofit costs to get more Burning Man in the world is another untenable option. This would price out diverse community participation and is inconsistent with our principles.
With everything at risk, we continue to focus ourselves on the future. This includes examining and restructuring our operations and reducing our expected 2025 (and beyond) costs by several millions of dollars. This has already included reductions in payroll and vendor costs. As you may have heard, we had to lay off talented and brilliant people who make Burning Man happen year-round.
At this inflection point, it’s important to remember why we are a nonprofit and why we must sustain the culture and make it accessible to all through impactful programming.
First, we became a nonprofit in 2011 to better scale the values born of the playa. The first Regional Event, Burning Flipside in Texas, started in 1998, and there were countless untold stories like Flipside, about how our desert city’s culture was spreading its wings far and wide. Being a nonprofit enables those stories to be told, and for resources to be developed to meet the growing demand for tools that enable anyone, anywhere to manifest Burning Man’s 10 Principles.
Second, all nonprofit programs, and the personnel supporting those programs, are part of the vision to bring more of this culture to the planet. As I shared in several examples above, these programs provide value to our culture in two directions — they enrich and support communities around the world and additionally are key to the vibrancy, evolution and innovation of Black Rock City. They are vitally important as we go forward.
The bottom line: We can’t cut our way to securing the long term future of Burning Man.
We must maintain the ability and caliber of our workforce and the diversity of our programs to bring the culture to life. Further, rather than in a vacuum, this work must be done in partnership with the community to ensure the culture remains relevant and accessible for future generations. We seek and appreciate your input!
Specific to the moment we are now in, our need for philanthropic support is extremely urgent.
So, what’s our path forward?
When I say we are at a new moment as a global nonprofit, I invite you to embrace and advocate what we are: A global force for good! The world needs what we offer now more than ever. For us to continue to be this force for good, convening people in person, inspiring creativity and innovation, and storytelling in ways that spark change, we need your help to raise the funds needed to preserve Black Rock City as the vibrant heart of Burning Man, and to protect the culture with which the event is intertwined.
Philanthropy has always been part of the long term plan for Black Rock City and the Burning Man culture. Just like other nonprofits, Burning Man Project depends on financial support to accomplish its mission. The moment to step into this future framework is now.
Give $20 a month to keep Burning Man going year-round!
If your life has been positively affected by Burning Man, you understand the personal growth and wellbeing that results from this cultural movement. Whether you’ve been to Black Rock City, or still attend, or not, you are a member of the community. We are committed to a future where Burning Man continues to be available to more people in the world.
Now, if you are interested, the deep details are available on our Summary Financial Information.
Together we are a community that’s excited and motivated to bridge the gap between people, reduce the loneliness of our time, and lean into “yes we need more connection, creativity and engagement, and we need it now!”
Thank you for all that you do to bring the values of our culture into the world!
Your Support of Burning Man Project creates a thriving world:
Set up a recurring payment today or reach out to giving@burningman.org if you would like to speak with us about how you can make a difference!
Aerial view of the Man base in Black Rock City, 2024 (Photo by Jamen Percy)
Cover image of “Dream Slide” by William Nemitoff, 2024 (Photo by Gurpreet Chawla)