The Brain Preservation Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Every contribution advances independent science, quality standards, and public understanding — and is fully tax-deductible.
The Brain Preservation Foundation was incorporated in Delaware in 2010 and holds Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status as a not-for-profit scientific research organization. Your contributions are fully tax-deductible, and you can give publicly or privately, as you prefer.
One simple way to help is a recurring monthly donation toward a $1,000 goal — for example $42/month for 24 months, or whatever fits your circumstances. When you reach the goal, with your permission we'll add your name (and an optional statement) to the list below.
BPF is committed to transparency where possible, while respecting privacy requests. All donors of $1,000 or more to any of BPF's prizes, funds, or endowment are listed below, ranked by donation size.
| Donor | Amount | Designation | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Rickard | $5,000 | General Fund | 2022 |
| Anonymous | $1,000,000 | Prize | 2020 |
| Ramana Kumar | $1,000 | General Fund | 2018 |
| Adam Grant | $1,000 | Endowment | 2015 |
| Michael Cerullo | $1,000 | General Fund | 2014 |
| Art Shaposhnikov | $5,000 | Evaluation Fund | 2013 |
| Daniel Crevier | $5,000 | Evaluation Fund | 2012 |
| Robin Hanson | $5,000 | Evaluation Fund | 2012 |
| Anonymous | $5,000 | Evaluation Fund | 2012 |
| Ken Hayworth | $2,500 | General Fund | 2012 |
| Anonymous | $2,000 | General Fund | 2012 |
| Anonymous | $1,000 | Evaluation Fund | 2012 |
| Benjamin Hoffman | $1,000 | Evaluation Fund | 2012 |
| Edgar W. Swank | $1,000 | General Fund | 2012 |
| John Smart | $5,000 | Prize | 2011 |
| Ken Hayworth | $1,000 | Prize | 2011 |
| Saar Wilf | $100,000 | Prize | 2010 |
Current recurring donors: Ramana Kumar, Tyler Kleinschmidt, Lance Jackson, David Rickard. Smaller individual donations are periodically reported in aggregate. Thank you to everyone who supports our work.
Donors of $1,000 or more are invited to share a short statement of their thoughts on brain preservation and BPF's mission. We are grateful to share them here.
"Uploading has the potential to change the way we understand ourselves and our place in the universe… Brain preservation and later destructive uploading will preserve continuity of consciousness. The rational choice is to spend whatever resources are necessary to understand, develop, and apply this technology to those who choose to use it." — Michael Cerullo
"If we had powerful enough computers, we could probably perform uploads right now. Existing brain preservation technologies seem to allow for it, with only modest improvements. Our ticket to the future may be at hand: let's find out!" — Daniel Crevier, Ph.D.
"Understanding the effectiveness of different methods of brain preservation has an extremely high value-of-information. I hope this helps us understand whether it is possible for the mind to survive known brain preservation techniques." — Benjamin Hoffman
"At age 71, I'm likely to need my brain preserved pretty soon… As President of the American Cryonics Society, I hope we can work together with BPF." — Edgar W. Swank
"People who 'die' today could live again in the future, perhaps forever, as brain emulations, if enough info were saved today about their brains… This is the exceptionally worthy cause to which I am donating, and to which I encourage others to donate." — Robin Hanson, from Overcoming Bias
"We can already scan and preserve a brain, mapping every neuron in fine detail… They deserve to be told that they have a choice — a real hope to go to an afterlife that they can help build. There is no cause more worthy of support." — David Rickard