Leave a Legacy of Stillness and Compassion
For more than forty years, Mountain Cloud Zen Center has offered a refuge for meditation, study, and community in the high desert of Santa Fe. Your generosity has sustained this place through the decades — and with your foresight, it can continue to serve future generations of practitioners.
Planned giving allows you to make a lasting contribution to Mountain Cloud’s future while meeting your own financial and personal goals. Whether through a bequest in your will, a beneficiary designation, or another legacy gift, your support ensures that this center — its land, teachings, and community — will thrive for decades to come.
Ways to Give
1. Bequests
Include Mountain Cloud Zen Center in your will or trust. You can designate a specific amount, a percentage of your estate, or a residual gift after other bequests are fulfilled.
2. Beneficiary Designations
Name Mountain Cloud Zen Center as a beneficiary of a retirement account, life insurance policy, or donor-advised fund.
3. Gifts of Assets
Some donors choose to contribute appreciated securities, real estate, or other assets — often gaining tax advantages while supporting the center.
4. Memorial and Tribute Gifts
Honor a loved one by creating a lasting legacy in their name through a planned gift.
Why It Matters
Mountain Cloud’s continued presence depends on those who value what it offers — a place of awakening, care, and community. Legacy gifts help us:
- Maintain and preserve our land and facilities.
- Support teachers, staff, and resident practitioners.
- Expand programs in meditation, Zen training, and Ecodharma.
- Keep the teachings accessible through scholarships and public programs.
Join the Circle
If you have included Mountain Cloud in your estate plans, please let us know. We would love to express our gratitude and welcome you into our Legacy Circle, a small community of donors whose foresight ensures that the Dharma continues to flourish here.
To discuss your intentions confidentially or to learn more, please contact our Executive Director, Sarah Giffin, at sarah@mountaincloud.org
What Can Planned Giving Accomplish?
Many thanks to Brayden for her planned bequest to Mountain Cloud Zen Center which ultimately made it possible for us to build our beautiful Brayden-Wuest Cottage, which now serves as about 50% of our lodging capacity and has made it possible for more retreatants and residents to enjoy this precious place.


Many thanks to David Holt for his planned bequest to Mountain Cloud, which empowered us to tend to several long-deferred maintenance projects including long overdue zendo repairs and bathroom improvements. In thanks, we’ve dedicated a bench in his honor, which sits with a beautiful sunset view over the Santa Fe valley.