Tom Vogl
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since we placed the finishing touches on our current strategic plan, Vision 2022. While the nature of the challenges we’ve faced due to COVID-19 were completely unanticipated, the strategic focus of Vision 2022 has provided us with important handrails to guide our way. That focus, combined with the generosity and tenacity of our community, has bolstered The Mountaineers in incredible ways.
Over the last 21 months, in one of the greatest periods of financial uncertainty in the history of The Mountaineers, more people than ever before pitched in with donations of all sizes. Your generosity has been a critical part of our survival during the pandemic, and has provided the financial confidence to further lean into our strategic priorities to lead innovation in outdoor education, engage emerging and future Mountaineer communities, and advocate for the health and protection of our natural world.
Your gifts provided meaningful support to our community during a time when we needed it most.
Your Impacts
- Supported volunteer educators as they transitioned courses and activities onto a virtual platform, empowering thousands of members to stay connected and engaged.
- Expanded funding for our conservation and advocacy efforts, allowing us to add a new position that will advance environmental education and engagement programs for our extended communities in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
- Safeguarded our need-based scholarship program, which helped make our membership dues, courses, and youth programs more accessible for 140 members facing financial difficulties.
- Helped keep Mountaineers Books in production and our warehouse open so that our award-winning titles could continue to reach readers near and far, providing solace and adventure-filled escapes during quarantine.
Though the second half of our strategic plan looked different than we anticipated, your support ensured that our commitment to serving our community and protecting the wild places we love never wavered. Thank you for helping the mission of The Mountaineers shine bright for our members and volunteers, even during dark times.
As 2021 winds to a close, I know many of us are thinking about our personal philanthropy, and how we can make a difference for causes we care about. If you are in the position to help, I hope you’ll consider making a gift to The Mountaineers in the month of December. As we emerge from the pandemic, our ability to sustain our programs and lean further into our strategic priorities to lead, engage, and advocate, will continue to depend on the generosity of members and donors.
This year, we set an ambitious goal of raising $150,000 by December 31. Thanks to help from over 300 donors, we are less than $10,000 away from reaching this mission-critical goal. Gifts of all sizes positively impact our ability to continue serving our community in the years ahead, and we appreciate any gift size that is meaningful to you.
Thank you for all you do for The Mountaineers, today and every day. While we still expect to face challenges and uncertainties, we’re looking forward to 2022 with confidence and optimism thanks to the resilience and commitment of our community.
New Peak Society Member Matching Opportunity
Join Peak Society and help us unlock an additional $19,000: Thanks to the generosity of a pool of donors, a 100% match is available to members considering joining Peak Society for the very first time with a gift of $1,000 or more. 9 members have already stepped up to join this influential group of leadership donors. We only need 10 more new Peak Society members to unlock the full $19,000. Will you be one of them?
