Investing in Our Members: Innovation, Conservation, and Youth Education

COMMUNITY

EDUCATION

CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP

ADVENTURE

INVESTING IN OUR MEMBERS: I N N OVAT I O N , C O N S E R VAT I O N , A N D YO U T H E D U C AT I O N

T O G E T H E R W E C A N M OV E M O U N TA I N S For over a century, the Colorado Mountain Club has been a leader

in mountain education, a voice for wild spaces and human-powered recreation, and a focal point of our state’s tight-knit mountain community. We’ve welcomed newcomers and celebrated bold accomplishments in the high mountains, published guidebooks, and hosted thousands of students on trips and courses all over the world. In 2020, we announced our Strategic Plan 2025 as the guiding light for the future of the Club. Now, our hard-working grassroots organization has an opportunity to grow and evolve—and have an outsized impact for our mountain community. We’ve embarked on one of our most challenging ascents yet, and we need your help to get there.

The CMC has embarked upon an ambitious $300,000 Campaign to support our Strategic Plan 2025. Our primary goals for this Campaign include:

Technology Platform

150,000

Youth Education Program Conservation & Stewardship Operational Support

50,000 50,000

50,000

With your partnership and support, we can expand our education and conservation efforts, and significantly strengthen our ability to serve membership and the broader mountain community.

This campaign will permanently strengthen the Colorado Mountain Club.

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WE’VE ENTERED A TECHNOLOGICAL AGE. An outdated map won’t get you to the right place. Right now, the CMC is navigating with the equivalent of a badly outdated topo map—and realizing how much more we could do with a GPS device.

From our member experience to volunteer leadership—to running our conservation and youth programs—a new technology platform will improve every aspect of the Colorado Mountain Club. And like any big mountain climb, we need a team to help us get there.

Right now, we’re behind the curve. For members and volunteers, a robust technology platform will allow the Club to: Q Eliminate barriers for new members to join and engage with the CMC Q Improve Club communications to keep you better informed Q Connect members more effectively to increase the CMC’s sense of community Q Empower members to better identify and utilize their member benefits Q Simplify the process to sign up for courses and activities, and track trips and classes Q Enable trip leaders to better manage schedules and activities, to engage more fully with you Q Align member engagement with our diversity goals in Strategic Plan 2025 Q Improve your experience across every aspect of the CMC For Youth Education, the new technology platform will: Q Make it easier for teachers to book programming according to their students’ needs Q Remove barriers for parents to sign their children up for YEP camps Q Give staff and volunteers the tools to assign and manage resources for upcoming camps Q Allow us to better track student demographics and understand where needs are the greatest For Conservation and Stewardship, this investment will: Q Better engage members in action alerts for timely conservation issues Q Allow volunteers and staff to better allocate resources to upcoming stewardship projects Q Create tools, networks, and capacity to help land managers mitigate recreation impacts on public lands Q Empower members to participate in boots-on-the-ground stewardship with improved outcomes 2 | CMC.ORG/DONATE

WE’RE INVESTING IN THE FUTURE.

New Technology Platform The new system includes three components:

Only $150K to go!

500,000

Base Code 250,000

Through our strategic partnership with The Mountaineers, the CMC has gained access to an $850,000 system for less than a third of that cost.

We expect major returns on this investment: The Mountaineers attribute their 10% annual membership growth over the past five years to the implementation of this system.

Open Source Website 140,000

Less blue light, more blue sky. The Plone Open Source website will mean members and volunteers avoid the hassle of our old clunky website, enjoying more time on the trail and less frustration when registering for courses and trips.

Database Platform 110,000

We can’t track what we don’t know. That’s why a high-functioning CRM database like Salesforce is crucial to the CMC’s success. This database will help us become responsive to donor relationships, from the very first $10 donation to the moment someone creates a legacy gift in their estate plans. It will also allow us to better track our strategic goals and provide greater transparency to members.

While the technology platform totals $500,000, the Club only needs $150,000 to secure this goal. We now turn to those who know us best—our members and supporters.

Will you join us in reaching the summit?

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“After camp, my daughter felt confident in her abilities and eager to continue to learn and improve upon her newfound skills.”

— YEP Parent

YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAM Today’s happy campers are tomorrow’s leaders in conservation and mountain education.

Our Youth Education Program (YEP) is the backbone of the CMC’s kid-friendly offerings—and we’re proud to help shape the future of our mountain community. In addition to acquiring our new technology platform, we need your help to expand our programming to the Pikes Peak region, where local students have few other opportunities to engage in place-based nature education.

YEP Program Manager — Pikes Peak Region 50,000 With your help, we can hire a YEP Program Manager for the Pikes Peak Region that will allow us to serve 500 students the first year—and we’ll double that number every subsequent year up to 5,000 students. This position will be funded through normal operations in future years.

Kids in the Pikes Peak region deserve YEP. Teachers surveyed said that YEP programs: Promoted a Promoted leadership, connection with self-esteem, or nature and Colorado’s personal growth mountains

Stimulated interest in science or other academic topics

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Encouraged students to respect the environment

Promoted teamwork and communication among students

Helped students develop social-emotional skills

Will you help us bring youth education to Colorado Springs?

CONSERVATION AND STEWARDSHIP Since 1912, the Club has been a fierce advocate for all forms of human-powered recreation—preserving our amazing natural resource for hikers, bank country skiers and those who climb peaks. In 2019, we launched the Recreation Impact Monitoring System (RIMS) App to assist Colorado land managers in collecting data about critical issues related to recreation and natural resources.

Using the RIMS app, volunteers can tell land managers what they need to know about popular trails—all while they’re out on a hike. Users can: Q Report trail maintenance needs like downed trees, erosion issues & structural damage Q Inventory campsites to document fire rings, tree damage and trash Q Track visitor use to understand user types and seasonal trends

RIMS Land Manager Liason

50,000

With your help, we can address our biggest need in expanding RIMS adoption by funding a RIMS Land Manager Liaison for one year. This person will create and steward impactful relationships with land managers, manage crowdsourced data, and make it easier for all of us to care for more of Colorado’s public lands than ever before. These efforts will be funded through normal operations in future years.

20

minutes Time it takes to complete the RIMS online training

4,200

Assessments submitted by RIMS users across Colorado and neighboring states

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1,000

Maintenance issues identified

55

Maintenance issues resolved by land managers

700

RIMS users at the end of 2020

5,000

Goal number of RIMS users by 2025

Will you join us in conserving our beloved Colorado mountains?

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WAYS TO GIVE In addition to your generous annual support, there are creative ways to help fund these strategic priorities and the future of the CMC.

Gift of Appreciated Stock

One alternative is to review your investment portfolio for stock positions with a low-cost basis.

By donating appreciated stock you can avoid future capital gains tax on the stock’s appreciated value, while still enjoying a charitable income tax deduction based on the stock’s current fair market value. The CMC can also sell the stock with no tax impact—100% of your gift will support our Strategic Plan 2025.

Savvy investors might also consider repurchasing an identical position to restore the portfolio—securing a new, improved cost basis. Since the 30-Day “Wash Sale” rule only applies to sales (not charitable donations), this approach can also help improve the tax position of your portfolio.

Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)

A “QCD” becomes an option at age 70½ or older.

With a QCD, donors can give directly from an IRA to the CMC. Although normal IRA distributions are taxable as ordinary income, no tax is due with these gifts. And a QCD can help satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution for the year. If you’re no longer itemizing deductions for income tax purposes, donating “pre-tax” dollars from your IRA can be an excellent option.

This strategy makes sense for people who: Q Have sufficient retirement income Q Claim the Standard Deduction for income tax purposes Q Want to preserve available cash on hand

Gifts of Appreciated Real Estate

Legacy Gifts

*Gifts of real estate may be subject to review and approval by the Colorado Mountain Club

To learn more, please contact Keegan Young at keeganyoung@cmc.org or via phone at 303-2793080. Please consult with your financial advisor to help decide the best gift option for you.

Gifts of appreciated real estate can make a significant impact at the CMC. You can receive a charitable deduction for the property’s full fair market value, while avoiding capital gains tax on any future sale. Real estate can also open the door to other gift strategies.

Legacy gifts ensure that the CMC and its community are intact for future generations. Common examples include a bequest in a will or living trust, or naming the CMC as a beneficiary of an IRA. Both options preserve your full control over these assets during life.

Your campaign support can be made as a single gift or as a multi-year pledge. Please help lift the CMC into the future.

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The CMC is excited to announce this campaign in support of our

Strategic Plan 2025. More importantly, we are excited about the impact these investments will create for everyone who enjoys the wonders of Colorado.

Operational Support*

Youth Education Program

$50K

$50K

$50K

$150K

Technology Platform

Conservation & Stewardship

(*) In order to achieve our goal for Operational Support, we anticipate 20% of all campaign gifts will be applied to this purpose, ensuring no interruption of services and advocacy during this campaign.

With your help, the CMC can continue our rich legacy of stewarding and conserving Colorado’s wild spaces.

With your support, our Club can engage more youth—sharing the joy of our great outdoors with new generations. And with you in partnership, we can permanently strengthen our ability to serve our members and our mountain community.

Please consider a gift to support an incredibly bright future for the CMC. CMC.ORG/DONATE | 9

S T E WA R D T H E C M C I N TO A N E W E R A www.cmc.org • office@cmc.org • (303) 279-3080 710 10th Street, Suite 200 | Golden, CO 80401