Burning Man’s Budget Shortfall: $14 Million Still Needed to Bridge the Gap Ahead of 2025
Written by djfrosty on December 19, 2024
Burning Man still needs to raise $14 million amid its ongoing fundraising efforts.
An email sent out to the Burning Man community on Thursday (Dec. 19) from Burning Man Project CEO Marian Goodell provided an update on the fundraising push that the nonprofit organization launched in October seeking $20 million.
“We started 2024 with a commitment to raise $10 million philanthropically,” Goodell’s email states. “This was up 20% from the $8.2 million raised in 2023. Due to the ticket sales shortfall to Black Rock City in 2024, we found ourselves needing to make mission-aligned budget adjustments and raise the remaining deficit to the tune of approximately $10 million—this, in addition to the initial $10 million goal. And today, with reductions as well as dollars raised from supporters, we’re still about $14 million short of where we ought to be.”
The email continues that “thanks to the generosity of enthusiastic donors” the fundraising campaign is now matching donations through the end of the year.
The update comes amid a fundraising campaign launched in October by Burning Man Project — the nonprofit behind the annual gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and other Burning Man-related initiatives — that notified Burners that the organization needs to raise $20 million in charitable donations by the end of 2024 due to the fact that the 2024 festival did not sell out “as planned,” per Goodell’s original announcement.
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As reported by Billboard in November, each year since 2016 before the main ticket sale begins, roughly 4,000 Burning Man tickets go on sale for much more than main sale tickets — this year selling at $1,500 and $2,500. These tickets, which are typically purchased by people who have cash to spare and don’t want to risk not getting a ticket during the main sale, usually bring in approximately $7 million — and nearly $10 million in 2023. But in November a spokesperson for BMP said that in 2024, higher-priced ticket sales totaled $3.4 million, down nearly $6 million from the prior year.
This budget deficit is creating uncertainty about ticket prices for the 2025 Burning Man event in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. “If we don’t set ourselves up right, we’re going to have to raise ticket prices,” Goodell told Billboard in November, “[especially because] we don’t have the sponsorships that the other festivals do. And I’d like to lower ticket prices.”
Goodell’s latest update emphasizes that Burning Man organizers are “determined to keep Burning Man financially accessible by offering reasonably priced ticket options for Black Rock City 2025,” and also notes that representatives of Burning Man Project are “making ourselves more accessible. By offering town halls, office hours and more clearly providing contact points for you within the nonprofit, we are making ourselves available to participants as a resource.”