SCOOP: PSFC’s $130M Roadmap to Shape the Future of Psychedelic Philanthropy

The Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC), an influential group that advises many psychedelic philanthropists—and, in some cases, manages their donations—has published its ‘Strategic Roadmap for Collective Philanthropy’, which aims to orchestrate over $130,000,000 in funding over the next three years for the field of ‘psychedelic-assisted care’.

The 74-page roadmap is not publicly available: According to a page on the group’s website, at this time it’s only accessible to members of the ‘PSFC community’. In reality, the PDF floats around certain circles within the psychedelic community… the psychedelic elite, if you will. The report was produced ahead of the PSFC Summit, which took place on the West Coast of the U.S. in October, though you will similarly find no substantive information about the meeting online.

The sizeable sum earmarked in the roadmap spans various high-level categories, revealing the priorities of the group of funders and donors. The largest category of proposed spending is on communications and public health education, suggesting the group is concerned about psychedelics’ image. In response to those concerns, PSFC suggests the creation or development of more than a half-dozen organisations or projects that will share coordinated messaging. The group is also hoping to shore up state-regulated models like those in Oregon and Colorado through projects like employing psilocybin medical science liaisons and running digital adverts targeting out-of-state clientele in an attempt to drum up business for the early mover service centres and other license holders.

But the group’s roadmap goes beyond attempting to manage the narrative and advertising the ailing state-level programs its associates had a large hand in creating. It also includes a meaningful budget allocation for Indigenous medicine conservation and access, as well as health equity. ‘Veteran healing’ would also appropriate just shy of 10% of the proposed budget, too.

PSFC has undoubtedly been influential in supporting psychedelic research and access. But its unique approach, which seems to focus both on coordination and orchestration among some of the field’s most powerful backers but also an aversion to speaking publicly about its membership or operations, has left something to be desired among some in the psychedelics field, as we discuss later in this piece.

Here, we provide a look at the group’s strategic priorities for the coming years, based on a review of the roadmap.

(Note: This 6,000+ word article discusses PSFC’s October 2024 roadmap document, but the PDF is not made available for download at this time. We reached out to PSFC shortly before this article was published, and some comments are included throughout.)...