written by Steve Kruger, Executive Director Thank you to all of our TKO volunteers and supporters. Your remarkable contributions are building towards a trails legacy for Oregon. Your impact is making a difference to young and young at…
Happy Holidays Trailkeepers,
The TKO Legacy Builders end-of-year campaign is coming to a close on December 31st. We are so proud that this campaign is fueled by a grassroots donor base that builds a kick start of support for a new year. Our approach continues to be that everyone in their own way is a Trailkeeper – giving time, giving passion, or giving dollars. Each of these contributions amount to more protection and enhancement of Oregon’s hiking trails.
Just as we value hours of service to hiking trails, financial contributions are critical and we appreciate them at the smallest dollar amount. We are not beholden to a small donor group contributing a vast amount. It’s you, the Oregon hiking community, who fuels our decisions around how communities are engaged in trail systems improvements and making outdoor spaces safe and welcoming to all.
More folks are noticing what we are building, including those who want to pool their dollars together. Trailkeepers of Oregon board members and other community groups have been working hard this month to create the Legacy Keepers Matching Fund. Their efforts brought together $25 thousand dollars to match each dollar raised this week. Can you help us by contributing this week? Each dollar you send our way will be matched by our Legacy Keepers and will help us meet our stretch goal of $100,000 raised over November and December. Builders and Keepers banding together, a call to action for TKO’s quality of programming and service to trails – taking the long view in what this organization seeks to provide across Oregon.
One of our original crew leaders teaches the Good-Cheap-Fast project management concept to aspiring volunteers entering our crew leader pipeline, and it’s an idea I’ve embraced. In most cases, you can only have two of the three, and we here at TKO excel in the Good and Cheap portions of that venn diagram. From thinking strategically about the years to come, or fielding a need for rapid service within the next week, this concept is part of nearly every conversation I have with land managers. No matter your industry, or even a home improvement project, I would challenge you to uphold quality and quick reaction time without putting enough dollars to the cause.
In 2023, we’ve dedicated ourselves to prioritizing quality, recognizing that achieving it comes at a cost and may not happen at lightning speed. Our ability to respond to the needs of the trail community is directly tied to the funding and resources available. We’re actively seeking donor support to advance several key areas in 2024:
- Inclusion and equity – We’re investing in human resources to recruit top-tier staff and expanding our team to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout our organization. We’ve begun the challenging work of addressing our biases, establishing structures for internal growth, and making decisions that demonstrate our commitment to creating an inclusive Oregon hiking experience for staff, volunteers, and the communities we aim to serve.
- Educational experiences – We are releasing new curriculum for Trailkeepers University one workshop at a time in the coming year. We are investing in professional services to help ensure the program can be accessible to all types of learners as well as making sure our instructors have the resources to support their extensive expertise. We see that enhanced training resources will serve our growing volunteer community and also help build workforce development in a number of fields across recreation management and volunteer coordination.
- Mapping and accessibility – TKO is committed to investing in assessment tools and information enhancements. We’re undergoing training to expand our capacity to analyze trail system improvements, with a focus on accessibility information for visitors seeking outdoor experiences that align with their needs.
In 2023, TKO has embraced our pursuit of quality – a core value of our nonprofit organization. To those of you who have already given this year, thank you so much! Your support will propel us forward to doing even more for trails in 2024. Those of you who haven’t given yet, as you look ahead to your upcoming adventures in Oregon’s special places, please consider a gift to continue to support TKO and the trails that connect you there.
Thank you from myself and the rest of the TKO Crew for being a Trailkeeper!
