The Long Now Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to fostering long-term thinking and responsibility and we are entirely supported by donors and members like you. Membership connects you to a whole world of ideas, people and projects working to make a better future and your support will help inspire long-term thinking for generations to come.

More than 10,000 people across 60+ countries have signed up to become a member of The Long Now Foundation. Our membership includes students, CEOs, writers, scientists, parents, politicians, musicians, artists, naturalists, journalists, professionals, farmers, explorers, astronauts and more — we welcome all ages, races, and genders to join the organization and share the ideas about long-term thinking and responsibility with their friends, families, and networks.

Your membership dues are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, minus the fair market value of any gifts you have received from us. For more detailed information about the tax deductibility of your membership dues, please consult your local tax laws, or speak with a tax professional. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 68-038 4748. If you need further assistance, please contact us at [email protected].

Many of our programs are made possible through generous sponsorships — including our popular Talks. Please email [email protected]. for more information about how you can sponsor our work.

One great way to be a good ancestor is to plan a legacy gift for The Long Now Foundation. It's easy to include us in your will or to make us a beneficiary of a life insurance or retirement plan — just include or name and tax identification number 68-0384748 so that we can be accurately contacted. For further details, please email [email protected].

We have a few regional groups and increasing interest from members around the world to have one in their area. You can join one of our Meetup Groups, or start one in your area — and we have prepared a Meetup Guide to help you get started!

You can also start a Facebook group and we encourage any member looking to start a group to be inclusive of anyone that is interested in learning more about long-term thinking (your participants don't all need to be members of Long Now).

Members provide essential support to the Foundation; over 30% of our operating budget comes directly from member dues. The income we receive from membership goes directly to operational costs for projects and programs like the Long Now Talks, our monthly Member newsletter, social media team, digital infrastructure and running our office in San Francisco. Thank you for supporting us!

Your Long Now Member card is made of stainless steel and individually engraved with your membership number. The design on your Member card is the outline of the rete, the curving arcs on the face of the 10,000 Year Clock that Long Now is building. The two widest arcs of the rete delineate the range of view of the night sky as seen from the earth from a sea level elevation. The two narrower arcs delineate the range of view of the night sky from a high elevation. The two arcs that meet and point show the location of the celestial pole, which is currently the North Star, Polaris.

If you've lost your Member card, send an email to [email protected]. and let us know. We ask for a $25 payment, which you can make online, to cover the cost of re-engraving your member number and shipping your replacement card.

All donations to The Long Now Foundation are tax-deductible—minus the fair market value of any goods or services received. The fair market values for most of our goods and services are listed below (please note that some items are not currently available).

The Long Now Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and our tax identification number is 68-0384748. Please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions about your donation.

Yes. Donations can be mailed to:

The Long Now Foundation
P.O Box 475668
San Francisco, California 94147

We are always delighted to welcome Long Now Members back who had previously canceled their membership. You do not need to setup a new membership from scratch, simply email us at [email protected] and we will reactivate your previous membership. We can help with email changes, password resets and card updates so that you can reconnect with Long Now!