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Together we can make long-term thinking more common

All our work is entirely supported by friends and members like you.

Become a member today — or make a one-time tax-deductible donation — to help us continue our work.

Long Now membership connects you to a whole world of long-term thinking.

Together, our monthly members provide more than one-third of our overall support.

Choose a membership level —

Bronze Member

$8/month

Stay connected with this basic level of membership. Bronze Members receive live video streams of our monthly talks, our regular member newsletter, and a stainless steel membership card etched with their unique member number. All Long Now members will be among first to hear about visits to the Clock.

Stainless Steel Member

$12/month

Our most popular membership level. Stainless Steel Members receive complimentary tickets to our monthly talks in San Francisco and priority access to buy tickets to events at The Interval. They also receive live video streams of our talks, our regular member newsletter, and a stainless steel membership card etched with their unique member number. All Long Now members will be among first to hear about visits to the Clock.

Monel Member

$30/month

An intermediate membership level for those who wish to elevate their support for long-term thinking. Monel Members receive a copy of our book, Long Now: Works in Progress. They also receive complimentary tickets to our monthly talks in San Francisco and priority access to buy tickets to events at The Interval, live video streams of our talks, our regular member newsletter, and a stainless steel membership card etched with their unique member number. All Long Now members will be among first to hear about visits to the Clock.

Tungsten Member

$80/month

A higher level of monthly membership. Tungsten Members receive priority ticketing for special events, and Brian Eno’s album January 07003: Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now. They also receive a copy of our book, Long Now: Works in Progress, complimentary tickets to our monthly talks in San Francisco and priority access to buy tickets to events at The Interval, live video streams of our talks, our regular member newsletter, and a stainless steel membership card etched with their unique member number. All Long Now members will be among first to hear about visits to the Clock.

Equation of Time Cam Member

$2,500/year

A special membership level inspired by a unique artifact from The Clock of the Long Now. Members at this level will receive a limited-edition Equation of Time Cam machined from solid bronze. This distinctive component was designed to ensure accurate timekeeping across the next 10,000 years.

They also receive priority ticketing for special events, Brian Eno’s album January 07003: Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now, a copy of our book, Long Now: Works in Progress, complimentary tickets to our monthly talks in San Francisco and priority access to buy tickets to events at The Interval, live video streams of our talks, our regular member newsletter, and a stainless steel membership card etched with their unique member number. All Long Now members will be among first to hear about visits to the Clock.

10,000 Year Member

One-time donation of $10,000

A membership designed to last as long as The Clock. Please email donate@longnow.org if you are interested in being a 10,000 Year Member of The Long Now Foundation.

Among other things, members at this level will receive priority ticketing for special events, Brian Eno’s album January 07003: Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now, a copy of our book, Long Now: Works in Progress, complimentary tickets to our monthly talks in San Francisco and priority access to buy tickets to events at The Interval, live video streams of our talks, our regular member newsletter, and a stainless steel membership card etched with their unique member number. All Long Now members will be among first to hear about visits to the Clock.

10,000 Year Membership Request

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Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy covers the collection, use, and disclosure of "personal information" by The Long Now Foundation, a California 501-C(3) non profit corporation located at Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd, Bldg A, San Francisco, CA 94123-1284 and through the websites The Long Now Foundation operates: longnow.org, rosettaproject.org and longbets.org.

Personal information is collected at several locations on our Websites; when you sign up for our email lists, join the Discussion Boards, become a member of or donate to The Long Now Foundation and if you purchase items from our online store.

We may use the personal information you provide to us to respond to your requests for information or services or to send you communications about The Long Now Foundation.

Personal information submitted as part of our Discussion Boards may be used for the purpose of managing the discussion lists. Your name and email address will typically be visible to other list participants when you correspond on the list and to the general public in the discussion archives.

If you purchase merchandise directly from The Long Now Foundation, we may use your personal information for the purpose of sending you the items you purchased.

You may join as a member, or donate money to The Long Now Foundation through our website, by mail or in our physical location at Fort Mason. We may use your personal information to process your donations and membership.

However you give to The Long Now Foundation, participate in online discussions, or purchase merchandise, we additionally may use the personal information you provide to contact you about upcoming news and events relevant to The Long Now Foundation and to track your interactions with us. We will make every effort to provide an easily accessible way to edit your personal information or unsubscribe from these services.

When you use our web sites, our servers (which may be hosted by a third party service provider) may collect information indirectly and automatically (through, for example, the use of your "IP address") about your activities while visiting the Websites, including the web pages you view and the times you view them and information about the browser you are using. We do not link browsing information to the personal information you submit to us; we may use this browsing information for internal purposes such as to help understand how the Websites are being used and to improve them, and for systems administration purposes. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet. In some cases your IP address stays the same from browser session to browser session; but if you use a consumer Internet access provider, your IP address probably varies from session to session.

Although it is not The Long Now Foundation's practice to disclose personal information to third parties, we may share personal information in instances such as the following.

The Long Now Foundation may share personal information with our contractors and service providers in order to maintain, enhance, or add to the functionality of our web sites. Secondly, we may share personal information with third parties such as the government or other entities when required to by law or as required by court order.

The Long Now Foundation has implemented reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to and unlawful interception or processing of personal information that The Long Now Foundation stores and controls. However, no web site can fully eliminate security risks. Third parties may circumvent our security measures to unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications. We will post a reasonably prominent notice to the Websites if any such security breach occurs.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at services@longnow.org.

We hope this policy clarifies our procedures regarding your personal information. The Long Now Foundation may revise this policy at any time by updating this posting.

Policy Established, October 1, 02006

Frequently asked questions about membership

Why become a Member of Long Now?

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.

Are there Long Now Members all over the world?

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.

Is my Membership tax deductible?

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 membership@longnow.org.

How can I make a gift from my IRA, appreciated stocks, or through my will or living trust?

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 legacy@longnow.org.

How can I connect with other Members in my area?

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).

What do you do with the income from the Membership program?

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!

How is the Member card designed?

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.

How can I get a replacement Member card?

If you've lost your Member card, send an email to membership@longnow.org. 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.

What is the "fair market value" of membership goods?

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).

Challenge Coin $3
Long Now Membership Card $15
Window Flask (no longer available) $18
Works in Progress book $20
Brian Eno’s Bells CD $20
Etched Flask $60
Bottle keep (fill or refill) $90
Rosetta Wearable Disk $100
Interval Tea Club $150
Equation of Time Cam $900

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 donate@longnow.org if you have any questions about your donation.

Can I mail my donation to Long Now?

Yes. Donations can be mailed to:

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

I used to be a member and would like to re-join?

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 membership@longnow.org 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!

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