What Tricycle Foundation does

Tricycle Foundation is a New York-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization established around 1990-1991, publishing Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, an internationally distributed quarterly magazine, currently at Volume 35 (Summer 2026). The foundation operates a web platform at tricycle.org that aggregates more than 7,775 articles from a 30-year archive, over 500 video teachings (Dharma Talks), online courses via learn.tricycle.org with named instructors such as Stephen Batchelor, Sharon Salzberg, and Andrew Olendzki, podcasts (Tricycle Talks, Life As It Is), and the Daily Dharma mobile app available on iOS and Android. Event-based programming includes the annual Buddhist Film Festival, weekly meditation groups, workshops, and pilgrimages under the Tricycle Tours brand. The Tricycle Assistant, a session-based chatbot, supports conversational site navigation.

The organization generates revenue through a diversified nonprofit model: magazine subscriptions (print and digital), fee-based online courses, advertisements sold via Goodfellow Publisher's Representatives, paid listings in its quarterly Dharma Directory ($200/year per listing), events and programs, and ongoing reader donations. Group discounts are offered to sanghas and organizations of 5-100+ members. Reach spans the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia, with the audience split 57% Buddhist and 43% non-Buddhist per its advertising materials, and the foundation reports 80% of readers engage with advertising. The founding editor is Helen Tworkov; James Shaheen serves as editor-in-chief and publisher. Leadership is lean (1-10 employees), and the foundation has been selected as one of four host organizations for the 2026 ACLS Buddhism Public Scholars Program.

Name

Tricycle Foundation

Legal name

Tricycle Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://tricycle.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tricycle Foundation is a New York-based nonprofit media organization that publishes Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, an internationally distributed quarterly Buddhist magazine. It serves 30,000+ subscribers and spiritually curious readers via print, web, online courses, video, podcasts, and events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Publishing

NAICS

Religious Organizations (813110), Tour Operators (561520), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Yoga & Meditation Experiences (Studio Classes, Guided Meditation, Mindfulness) (THAJAHAA)

Keywords

• Buddhist publishing
• Dharma education
• Mindfulness media
• Online courses
• Religious content

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions: Quarterly print and digital magazine subscriptions providing access to in-depth Buddhist content, video teachings, monthly films, e-books, and 30-year archive
2. Print and Digital Advertising: Advertising placements in print magazine, web, email, and social media targeting affluent, educated readers interested in books, education, travel, personal improvement
3. Online Courses: Fee-based online courses teaching Buddhist practices and teachings with contemporary teachers
4. Dharma Directory Listings: Paid listings in the quarterly Dharma Directory for Buddhist centers, sorted geographically, $200 per year for 4 issues
5. Events and Programs: Revenue from Buddhist Film Festival, workshops, pilgrimages, and retreats
6. Donations and Reader Support: Nonprofit funding model dependent on reader support and donations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Tricycle Foundation publishes Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, an independent quarterly magazine and daily online publication covering Buddhist activity in the contemporary world, and operates a portfolio of supporting educational products including online courses with contemporary teachers, video dharma talks, a Daily Dharma mobile app, podcasts, a Film Club, and an annual Buddhist Film Festival. The organization also runs weekly meditation groups, pilgrimages, and tours, with all content delivered through subscription-based digital and print channels supported by reader donations.

Product overview

Tricycle Foundation is a nonprofit media organization that publishes Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, a quarterly magazine and daily online content platform dedicated to making Buddhist teachings accessible. The product portfolio centers on the core publication supplemented by digital extensions including Tricycle Dharma Talks (500+ video teachings), Tricycle Online Courses (taught by teachers like Sharon Salzberg and Stephen Batchelor), podcasts (Tricycle Talks, Life As It Is), and the Daily Dharma App. Additional offerings include the Tricycle Film Club, annual Buddhist Film Festival, weekly meditation group, Tricycle Tours, Haiku Challenge, and weekly newsletter. The Tricycle Assistant provides conversational site navigation. Content is delivered across print, web, email, and mobile platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tricycle Dharma Talks: Video series featuring contemporary Buddhist teachers and their teachings
• Tricycle Online Courses
• Tricycle Film Festival
• Tricycle Tours
• Daily Dharma App
• Tricycle Meditation Group

Products and services

• Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (print and digital magazine) Quarterly print magazine and daily online publication covering the full range of Buddhist activity and its impact on contemporary American life; subscriptions include video teachings, monthly films, e-books, and the 30-year archive.
• Tricycle Online Courses Self-paced online courses teaching Buddhist practices and teachings with contemporary teachers such as Stephen Batchelor, Sharon Salzberg, Andrew Olendzki, and Sarah Shaw, hosted at learn.tricycle.org with group discounts available for sanghas and organizations.
• Tricycle Dharma Talks Library of more than 500 video teachings featuring contemporary Buddhist teachers, available to Tricycle subscribers.
• Daily Dharma App Mobile application delivering a daily Buddhist wisdom passage to users' iOS or Android devices, providing an ongoing touchpoint with Tricycle's teaching content.
• Tricycle Podcasts (Tricycle Talks, Life As It Is) Podcast series featuring conversations with contemporary Buddhist leaders and thinkers, including the Tricycle Talks and Life As It Is shows, distributed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio.
• Tricycle Film Club Monthly Buddhist film screenings and discussions offered to the Tricycle community as part of its subscription programming.
• Tricycle Buddhist Film Festival Annual Buddhist film festival featuring feature films and short films from around the Buddhist world, with the third annual edition scheduled for 2026.
• Tricycle Meditation Group Weekly meditation sessions and small-group discussions with leading Buddhist teachers, offered via Zoom to Tricycle subscribers.
• Tricycle Tours (Buddhist pilgrimages and travel experiences) Pilgrimage and travel experiences to Buddhist destinations worldwide, including trips such as the Thailand pilgrimage, offered as an extension of Tricycle's community programming.
• Tricycle Weekly Newsletter Email newsletter delivering Buddhist wisdom, latest articles, and subscriber updates to inboxes.
• Dharma Directory (paid quarterly listings) Quarterly paid listings of Buddhist centers in Tricycle magazine, sorted geographically with a virtual/online-only section; $200 per year covers 4 issues.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reaches both Buddhists (57%) and non-Buddhists (43%), demonstrating broad appeal
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Goodfellow Publisher's RepresentativescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial advertising representative for Tricycle magazine. Handles print, web, email, and social media advertising placements. Located at 1191 Solano Ave #6038, Albany, CA 94706. Contact: Liz Dalbianco | Geoff Goldstein at [email protected].

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mindful Magazine: Mindful is a print and digital magazine plus online platform covering mindfulness, meditation, and wellbeing for a spiritually curious mainstream audience. It competes directly with Tricycle for the 43% non-Buddhist, mindfulness-curious segment of Tricycle's readership.
• Buddhadharma: Buddhadharma: The Buddhist Teacher's Quarterly is a print and digital magazine focused on Buddhist teachings, practice, and dharma for both practitioners and teachers. It directly overlaps Tricycle's editorially independent, multi-tradition Buddhist coverage and competes for the same Buddhist reader and subscriber.
• Lion's Roar: Lion's Roar is the other major independent Buddhist magazine (formerly Shambhala Sun), publishing a bimonthly print magazine and digital content on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. It is Tricycle's closest direct competitor in Western Buddhist media and is even linked through the ACLS Public Scholars program as a sister host organization.

Emerging players

• Shambhala Publications: Shambhala Publications is an independent book publisher specializing in Buddhism, meditation, philosophy, and contemplative practice. It serves the same Buddhist reader as Tricycle's book reviews, e-books, and curated reading and complements (rather than directly competes with) Tricycle's magazine and course products.
• Insight Timer: Insight Timer is the largest free meditation app, with a large library of Buddhist and secular guided meditations, talks, and music. It overlaps with Tricycle's Daily Dharma App, video dharma talks, and online courses on the distribution side for the same audience of dharma-curious practitioners.
• Sounds True: Sounds True is a multimedia publisher of books, audio, courses, and online programs on spirituality, mindfulness, and self-development. It overlaps with Tricycle's e-books, online courses, and Dharma Talks as an alternative distribution and monetization channel for Buddhist and mindfulness teaching.
• Plum Village App: Plum Village is the official app of Thich Nhat Hanh's monastic community, offering guided meditations, dharma talks, and retreat resources. It is a niche Buddhist meditation app that competes with Tricycle's meditation offerings for engaged Buddhist practitioners looking for guided practice on mobile.

Broad incumbents

• Calm: Calm is a major mindfulness, meditation, and sleep subscription app with broad consumer and enterprise distribution. It is a broad incumbent competitor to Tricycle's mindfulness-adjacent content and Daily Dharma App for the spiritually curious, non-Buddhist segment.
• Headspace: Headspace is the leading commercial mindfulness and meditation subscription app, with employer and consumer distribution at massive scale. It competes broadly with Tricycle's meditation, courses, and Daily Dharma App for the secular, non-Buddhist mindfulness segment and sets the pricing reference for the category.

Others

• Yoga Journal: Yoga Journal is a print and digital media brand covering yoga, mindfulness, and wellness for a broad spiritually curious audience. It is adjacent to Tricycle in the wellness/mindfulness media space but focuses on yoga asanas and lifestyle rather than Buddhist teachings, making it a thematic rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tricyclemag
• Facebookfacebook.com/tricyclemag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tricycle Foundation