SOLA’s Flower of Life Annual Giving Campaign

SOLA and Sacred Mountain Sanctuary are non-profit organizations, and your donation is tax deductible!!

Why does SOLA need an annual Gift Campaign?

Support from varied and diverse income streams is essential in order for SOLA to accommodate an economically diverse learning community, which is made possible through SOLA’s affordable, sliding-scale fee schedule, work-trade scholarships, and learning sponsorships.   

The lower range of SOLA’s sliding scale fee schedule does not cover SOLA’s operating costs or adequate faculty compensation.  SOLA Members who donate additional funds, or who pay at the higher end of SOLA’s sliding scale fee schedule allow SOLA to provide this lower payment option for those who truly need this support.

Rather than increasing SOLA fees, which inevitably narrows access to SOLA programs, we choose to engage the Spirit of Giving both within and outside of SOLA’s learning community.

All the while, we are also working to develop the supportive cottage industries that operate (or will operate in the future) alongside SOLA at Sacred Mountain Sanctuary: 3 Hares Farm, Bountiful Bakery & Teahouse, Water of Life Springwater subscription service, Sanctum Hermitage, The Living Library, and Sanctum Wellness - are a few of these new and developing impulses that we hope to develop as part of SOLA’s economic and learning ecology.

Can I claim my gift as a tax deduction?

Absolutely! Sacred Mountain Sanctuary and SOLA Fellowship are both non-profit organizations. All donations to either impulse are tax deductible.  SOLA Fellowship oversees SOLA programs, and Sacred Mountain Sanctuary oversees and develops all programs operating on the land and facilities of Sacred Mountain Sanctuary. A donation to either non-profit organization merits a tax deduction, and each contribution will receive a written or printable acknowledgement for your personal tax use.

Where does SOLA receive other economic support?

SOLA and all impulses operating on the lands of Sacred Mountain Sanctuary, are engaged in various forms of reciprocal economics. In regards to SOLA, the income received from SOLA’s membership fees are one of several other resource streams intended to nourish SOLA programs.  for example - a portion of the cabin rental income from Sanctum Hermitage goes to support SOLA’s work trade scholarships, sponsorships, and sliding scale fees. Our goal is to achieve manifold, reciprocal, economic relationships, wherein SOLA programming fees, income from on-site cottage industries, and gifts/donations are equitably balanced to create a healthy, flowing ‘resource ecology’.  In keeping with Rudolf Steiner’s social impulse of three-folding, we are striving to diversify our economic relationships through our annual gift campaign, and the supportive new impulses that operate on the land at Sacred Mountain Sanctuary.

Several economically supportive impulses are currently in various stages of development, including:

3 Hares Biodynamic Farm, Bountiful Bakery and Teahouse, Water of Life Springwater subscription service, Sanctum Hermitage and Sanctum Wellness, The Living Library, and land or facilities leases to partner programs.  Diversified resource streams create a resilient non-profit organization!

What should I consider as I determine my level of support, or ask others  for theirs?

Rather than prescribing specific pathways, we ask all SOLA families to deeply contemplate and recognize the many ways that SOLA and Sacred Mountain Sanctuary nourishes and supports their family.  We offer the following heart-centered questions to assist your own inner process of recognition.  Allow your answers to these questions to guide your conversations with others as you invite expanded participation in our annual campaign:

1. How does my child (niece, grandchild, young friend) express his/her passion, eagerness joy for his/her learning experiences at SOLA?

2. How can I provide extra support to SOLA faculty and staff as they strive to embody and convey the SOLA vision and mission to learners of all ages?

3. How does the magic and beauty of Sacred Mountain Sanctuary and the SOLA campus touch my heart when I attend a festival or SOLA gathering?

4. How has my family's participation in SOLA programs expanded our community of support, or enriched our sense of belonging?

5. How can I reciprocate in a way that reflects my recognition of value, while honoring my family's economic comfort?

6. Who else- grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends, fellow educators- can I invite to offer a gift in support of my or another child's learning journey at SOLA?

What if I have questions, or want to contribute in other ways?

Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions or ideas for support!  Email Septimbor Lim, or call 828.242.3937.