Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation

What Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation does

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a division of Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Inc., headquartered operationally at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California, with a Designated Individual contact address in Dieulivol, France. Its mission is to continue the mindful teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, support an international network of 11 monastic practice centers, and engage in Sangha (community) building. The foundation serves individual mindfulness practitioners, BIPOC communities, climate activists, monastics, educators, students, and healthcare professionals, with the Plum Village tradition serving roughly 70,000 in-person visitors annually and supporting over 600 monks and nuns worldwide.

The foundation's product portfolio is a mix of charitable programs and digital content. Charitable programs include the Plum Blossom Society (monthly recurring giving), the Cedar Society (planned/legacy giving), the Dharma Outreach Program (community grants of $500-$2,500), the Love and Understanding Humanitarian Relief Program for Vietnam, and the Global Monastic Support and Health Care program covering nearly 100 U.S. monastics. Digital offerings include the Plum Village App, The Way Out Is In and Plum Village Online podcasts, The Raft and L'Île Intérieure newsletters, guided meditations, and The New Sangha Handbook, distributed alongside Parallax Press books and The Mindfulness Bell quarterly journal. No proprietary technology or algorithms are involved; the stack is standard content and donation infrastructure.

The revenue model is entirely donation-based, with no goods or services sold. Streams include one-time and recurring individual donations via web, PayPal, wire, and stock, donor-advised funds, employer matching, and planned gifts through wills, retirement accounts, and life insurance. Monthly giving starts at roughly $1/day (~$30/month), with a $50+/month tier that includes the Mindfulness Bell subscription. Distribution is community-led and event-driven through retreats, days of mindfulness, monastic tours, online Sanghas, and academic partnerships (Harvard Center for Mindfulness in Public Health, University of Toronto research). Growth is driven by word-of-mouth among practitioners, supported by region-specific communications for the Americas, Europe/Africa, and Asia/Australia.

Name

Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation

Legal name

Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Inc.

Website

https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, division of Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, that supports 11 global monastic practice centers, 600+ monastics, and 70,000+ annual mindfulness practitioners through donations, digital content, and community programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious and Spiritual Mindfulness Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Meditation Retreats, Workshops & Immersive Programs (HSADAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Meditation Apps, Digital Courses & Online Communities (HSADAJAH), Guided Meditation Instruction (1:1 & Group) (HSADAJAA), Mindfulness-Based Coaching & Training (MBSR/MBCT-style) (HSADAJAB), Buddhist Monastic Universities & Dharma Colleges (EDAHAKAK)

Keywords

• Mindfulness education
• Charitable donations
• Monastic retreats
• Engaged buddhism
• Community sangha building

Headquarters

HQ city

Escondido

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Gifts: Primary revenue stream from individual donors making one-time or recurring donations. Accepts donations via website forms, PayPal, wire transfer, and stock gifts. Monthly giving program (Plum Blossom Society) provides stable recurring support for ongoing programs including monastic food, shelter, and health care.
2. Planned Giving and Legacy Gifts: Revenue from estate planning including bequests through wills, beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies. The Cedar Society is the legacy giving program inspired by the original 'thirteen cedars' who supported Thich Nhat Hanh's early teachings.
3. Donor-Advised Funds and Employer Matching: Accepts gifts through donor-advised funds and employer matching programs. Some employers match employee charitable contributions to religious organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that solicits charitable donations to continue Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's mindfulness teachings, support 11 global monastic practice centers, fund humanitarian relief in Vietnam, and provide health care for monks and nuns. It distributes free mindfulness content through a mobile app, podcasts, guided meditations, publications (The Mindfulness Bell quarterly journal via Parallax Press), and educational resources, while operating monthly and legacy giving programs for donors.

Product overview

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of giving programs, educational resources, and digital tools centered on mindfulness practice. Core offerings include the Plum Blossom Society (monthly giving) and Cedar Society (legacy giving) for charitable donations, the Dharma Outreach Program providing grants of $500-$2,500 for community initiatives, and the Love and Understanding Humanitarian Relief Program for international aid. Digital resources include the Plum Village App (mobile mindfulness application), The Way Out Is In Podcast, Plum Village Online Podcast, and Guided Meditations. The Foundation also publishes The Mindfulness Bell quarterly journal through Parallax Press and offers The New Sangha Handbook as downloadable educational material for community building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Plum Blossom Society: Monthly giving program where members provide stable support for ongoing programs such as providing monastics with food, shelter, and health care.
• Cedar Society (Cercle des Cèdres)

Products and services

• Plum Blossom Society Monthly recurring giving program where members make donations to support the global Plum Village community, including providing monks and nuns with food, shelter, and health care. Membership starts at approximately $1/day ($30+/month), with $50+/month tier including a Mindfulness Bell quarterly magazine subscription.
• Cedar Society Legacy giving program enabling practitioners to make planned gifts through wills or estate plans, including bequests and beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies, to ensure continuation of Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. Named after the original 'thirteen cedars' who supported Thich Nhat Hanh's early teachings.
• Dharma Outreach Program Grant program funding initiatives that offer Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings and practices, with typical grant amounts ranging from $500-$2,500, supporting Sangha building in communities without sufficient resources.
• Love and Understanding Humanitarian Relief Program International humanitarian relief program founded by Sister Chan Khong, providing support for victims of poverty and natural disasters in Vietnam and other countries, with suggested donation amounts including $5/month to feed a child, $55/month for a teacher's salary, and $350 to build a well.
• Global Monastic Support and Health Care Program funding health care for monks and nuns including medical, dental, and eye exams, medicines, hospital visits, and emergency care, serving nearly 100 monastics in the U.S.
• Plum Village App Mobile application supporting mindfulness cultivation through guided meditations, deep relaxations, practice poems, bells of mindfulness, and other practices, available on iOS and Android.
• The Way Out Is In Podcast Podcast series featuring Dharma discussions aimed at helping practitioners transcend fear and anger to develop love and compassion through Buddhist teachings.
• Plum Village Online Podcast Online audio platform for Dharma talks within the Plum Village tradition, accessible via podcast platforms.
• Guided Meditations Collection of free guided meditation recordings including Calm and Ease meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh, meditation on fear and discrimination by Plum Village sisters, guided relaxation with cello by Brother Phap Linh, and guided sitting meditation by Sister Annabel Laity.
• New Sangha Handbook 47-page downloadable handbook containing Mindfulness Trainings, guidance for Sangha activities and facilitation, recitation texts, and other practice information for community building.
• The Raft Newsletter Monthly email newsletter assembled by the International Plum Village Community offering Dharma talks, guided meditations, and practice content.
• L'Ile Interieure Newsletter French-language electronic newsletter from the International Plum Village Community with inspiring content and retreat announcements.
• The Mindfulness Bell Quarterly journal on the art of mindful living in the Plum Village tradition, published by Parallax Press and provided as a benefit to supporters donating $50+ per month.
• Parallax Press Publications Nonprofit publisher founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, publishing books and media on mindful living and Engaged Buddhism.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 70,000 visitors taught mindfulness per year at practice centers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Harvard University - Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and dissemination of mindfulness teachings. Harvard University launched a center specifically dedicated to studying and applying Thich Nhat Hanh's mindfulness practices in public health contexts.
• University of TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration with Dr. Elli Weisbaum conducting studies on mindfulness training for medical professionals based on Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. Monastics from Plum Village served as advisors for the doctoral research.
• Monastic Practice Centers (11 worldwide)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation supports 11 monastic practice centers including Plum Village (France), Deer Park (California), Blue Cliff (New York), Magnolia Grove (Mississippi), Thai Plum Village, European Institute of Applied Buddhism (Germany), and others. These centers are integral to the foundation's mission of continuing mindfulness teachings.
• Brother Phap Linh (Plum Village Monastery)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSenior monastic at Plum Village Monastery who co-presents research events and teaches applied mindfulness to climate activists, business leaders, artists, and scientists. Part of core-curriculum team for 'Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet' online course.
• Parallax PresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit publisher founded by Thich Nhat Hanh that publishes books and media on mindful living and Engaged Buddhism. Publishes The Mindfulness Bell quarterly magazine.
• The Lotus InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded by Dr. Larry Ward, author of 'America's Racial Karma.' The foundation supports book study guides developed by the Midwest Moon Sangha in partnership with The Lotus Institute.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Tara Brach / Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC: A prominent Insight-meditation teacher and DC-based community offering classes, retreats, and a substantial podcast library. Comparable as a digitally enabled, teacher-led meditation community drawing on a parallel (Western Vipassana) tradition.
• Calm: A leading commercial mindfulness and meditation app. Comparable as the secular scale competitor whose exponential reach pressures Plum Village-style traditional practice to differentiate on lineage, ethics and community.
• Headspace: A secular consumer mindfulness app and content company. Comparable as a competitor for the same end-user mindfulness practice need, but very different in delivery (consumer subscription app vs. retreat + monastic community) and in lineage.

Broad incumbents

• Mind & Life Institute: Established convener of dialogue between contemplative traditions (including Buddhism) and modern science. Comparable in bridging Buddhist practice with academic and public-health institutions — analogous to the foundation's Harvard and University of Toronto partnerships.
• Tzu Chi USA: A major global Buddhist humanitarian and charitable organization with US operations, donation-funded programming, monastic/volunteer workforce, and international relief programs. Comparable as a Buddhist 501(c)(3) operating humanitarian relief at scale.

Others

• Mindful Schools: A nonprofit that trains K-12 educators in mindfulness practice — a direct overlap with the foundation's educators and students segment and its Harvard Center for Mindfulness in Public Health outreach into schools.

Direct peers

• Insight Meditation Society: A long-standing Vipassana/Insight meditation retreat center in Barre, Massachusetts offering residential retreats, days of mindfulness, and online programs. Closely comparable in operating model (monastic-led residential retreats, donation-supported, email-subscriber audience).
• Spirit Rock Meditation Center: Insight-meditation retreat and teaching center in Marin County, California, founded in part by Jack Kornfield. Directly comparable as a US West Coast residential retreat center with a donation-funded teacher-training and Sangha-building model.
• Plum Village Foundation International (Association Internationale du Village des Pruniers): The French sibling nonprofit that operates Plum Village Monastery and supports the wider Plum Village community globally. It is the most directly comparable organization, sharing the same teacher lineage, monastic order and retreat-center business model.
• Shambhala Mountain Center / Shambhala: A global Buddhist community with residential retreat centers in Colorado and elsewhere, offering meditation and Dharma programs supported by donations. Operates a comparable multi-center, global Sangha model with meditation app/digital layers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeplumvillage.org/articles/plum-village-online-podcast
• Xx.com/TNHFound
• Facebookfacebook.com/ThichNhatHanhFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thich-nhat-hanh-foundation

Compliance2 records

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 Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation