Dharma Forward Surpasses Expectations — a Big Thank You!

The final tally for the Dharma Forward campaign is currently underway. Final donations are still being received and added to the totals as the campaign ended at the end of 2025. 

As reported, the campaign surpassed expectations of the $15 million target with likely totals surpassing $16.5 million — or more than 10% above the goal.

What is most gratifying about the campaign is that our generation came forward and made it happen. It is a validation of our commitment to the Dharma and to the value that we all see in how the Nembutsu teachings can make a difference in our lives and in an America where it is so needed.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Penultimate Message

As my term ends at the National Council Meeting on Feb. 13-14, I wanted to express my deepest appreciation to all of you who have been readers of this column. 

I hope it has offered you an opportunity to ponder how together we might make change happen for the BCA. And with that change allowing us to move to a future where Shin Buddhism is a valued faith tradition that is making a difference in the lives of many who are able to hear the Dharma.

Important Initiatives to Continue for BCA’s Future

As I ponder the items that I see as important to continue under the leadership of President Glenn Inanaga, I reflect on my February 2025 article. 

In that article, I sought to encourage the uncovering of new ways to address old problems, pushing conversations forward that seek to find new perspective on the most important topics for the future of BCA. 

In my February 2025 article, I highlighted three initiatives which I still believe rise to the top of the many things taken on by BCA. These are:

1. Reach resolution on the provocative discussion of “Who is a member.” Why do we limit “membership” status to only those who pay a designated fee? We have many individuals who are engaged in our temples and churches. They volunteer, they provide sweat equity, they make donations, yet they may not pay a membership fee. Let us include them on our temple or church’s census and see if we truly are declining in membership at a time when there is such great interest in Buddhism and the value it brings to individual lives.

I recently authored a description of membership for my temple, the Buddhist Church of Oakland (BCO). The statement is currently being vetted by my BCO colleagues, but it captures what I see as an important distinction between how we have viewed membership and how we need to view membership in the future. 

My proposal states:

Membership at the Buddhist Church of Oakland is on an individual basis. Becoming a member of the Buddhist Church of Oakland requires you to provide a tax-deductible donation.

Donations in any amount are generously accepted. Your donation will automatically designate you as a member with all rights and benefits available to you as a member of the Buddhist Church of Oakland and the Buddhist Churches of America. Members have the right to vote on church matters, elect the Board of Directors, and have access to special programs and activities. Children of member families under the age of 21 will also have access to church programs and activities.

A donation can also be made while electing to opt out of membership.

The church is only able to operate because of the generosity of its members. To meet our annual operating expenses, an average donation per member is communicated annually. As you evaluate the amount of your donation, we ask that you consider the recommended amount, or more if you are able to, allowing others to make their donations in whatever amount is possible for their situation. In this way, we all share as members in fulfilling our mission “to be an inclusive and welcoming community where the Buddhist teachings are shared and practiced.”

Moving toward a new definition of a “member” also requires a new business model for calculating temple dues assessments. Specifically decoupling a temple or church’s census from the dues assessment removes the disincentive that prevents temples/churches from adding to their census roll. More about this topic in Item 3 below.

2. Leadership is a second major topic that is key to our future. In my January article, I described the initiative for a new formal program in Lay Leadership Development sponsored by the BCA and the local temple or church sponsoring a participant in the program. The program is a custom leadership program developed in collaboration with LEAP.org, a leadership development nonprofit that has been delivering leadership programs for over 40 years. Based in Los Angeles, LEAP’s experience and understanding of the cultural overlays of leadership within an Asian-American (AA) and Japanese American (JA) centric organization will be immensely valuable to the diverse individuals who are our future leaders. It will bring a deeper understanding for both JAs and non-JAs on what it takes to make change happen within our unique BCA culture.

Our current challenge is to find interested individuals who will be part of the first cohort of new leaders for our temples and churches and for BCA. And upon completion of the program, a secondary challenge is to develop strategies and programs to ensure engagement, connection and sharing across cohort members at BCA activities and events. More to come on this topic.

If you have interest, or know of individuals who you would like to propose for the cohort, please complete the Google form — Expression of Interest available at this link:  http://bit.ly/4s9d1sn

3. My third initiative important for the future success of BCA is to reimagine the business model for revenue sources that support BCA’s annual operating expenses of ~$3.0 million.

Currently, temple dues assessments represent almost two-thirds (63.7%) of all revenue sources. The second largest contributor of revenue is the distribution of monies from the BCA Endowment Foundation’s endowed funds at 24.2%.

Lease income from BCA properties is a larger-and-larger contributor at 4.4%.

An area of change to the current business model is to increase the significance of philanthropy in future financial planning. The importance of fundraising and dana giving has been recognized. The success of the Dharma Forward campaign is an emphatic statement on what fundraising can mean for BCA’s future.

Currently, the Dana Program is one platform that provides annual revenue. However, the results vary year by year. 

For the FY2027 budget, it represents 2.2% of the revenue. A focused effort on the value of the Dana Program and how it supports the annual operating expenses is key to reducing the burden of dues assessments on the temples and churches. One might argue that the source is from the same donors. However, there will be opportunities for donations that might support new endowments or additions to existing endowments that add sustainable ongoing revenue to BCA’s annual budget.

A new source of revenue has been the new Zaidan program that offers the use of the entire market returns on the fund’s corpus. Those market returns are to be used for the purpose of supporting Jodo Shinshu in America. This is a broad mandate and without restriction has provided 4% to 5% when the market is robust as it was in 2025. This is an ongoing source with a growing corpus supported by your Zaidan donations received at BCA meetings, conferences, workshops and Bishop’s memorial services held at each temple and church.

Within this “big picture” of a focus on philanthropy, the current business model of dues assessments should also be reevaluated. Decoupling census and temple membership size from dues assessments removes the disincentive for temples and churches to increase their census totals. 

Further, with the contact information provided to BCA, greater communication on the value and benefits of Shin Buddhism can be directly communicated to individual members. 

Taken together with the development of other revenue sources, the automatic assumption that temples and churches will “cough up” the difference between expenses and revenue (from non-dues assessment sources) must be changed. 

A business model that sets out an agreed-upon schedule for increased dues assessments allows the temples and churches to plan accordingly and encourages the BCA to responsibly manage the increasing operating cost of operations. The answer is not an easy one, but one that can offer new ways of collaboration to provide a sustainable and flourishing future for the BCA and the local temples/churches.

2026 and Beyond

I know that these important initiatives will be front-and-center under Glenn Inanaga’s leadership. I will continue to be a vocal advocate and offer my support wherever I can.

The future is bright for the Dharma in 2026 and beyond. I hope you agree.

Namo Amida Butsu.