GIVING

Thanks to more than 3,000 supporters like you, the NOLS Fund once again exceeded its fundraising goal, hit a record high, and provided students with lifechanging experiences.

In Fiscal Year 2019, a total of 3,014 donors stepped forward with an unprecedented $2,444,516 in gifts— surpassing our $2,215,000 goal by almost 10 percent. That’s an average gift of about $550 in support of the NOLS mission.

Because of your generosity, the NOLS Fund has seen consistent growth, raising more than $1 million annually in all of the last 12 years, and $2 million or more in every one of the last five years. And this year’s donated amount beat last year’s all-time high.

About 92 percent of this year’s gifts were given as unrestricted dollars, allowing NOLS the flexibility to use them where they’re needed most. That includes supporting essential day-to-day operations, scholarships, outreach, curriculum development, and sustainability initiatives.

The NOLS Fund also saw a retention rate of more than 53 percent, and recorded 659 new donors, on par with last year’s 664. Part of the year’s success can be attributed to a significant increase in PayPal gifts, rising from 278 in FY18 to 375 in FY19. Online gifts also increased, from 1,221 to 1,595, a leap of 30 percent.

Because of you, 2019 was a very successful year. Without your gift, NOLS would not be able to empower students to see beauty in wild places, become effective leaders, and translate lessons learned in the backcountry to their lives in the frontcountry. We appreciate it.

Forget the blender or matching placemats. In lieu of their wedding registry last summer, Gracie Hays and Travis Driscoll asked friends and family to help endow a NOLS scholarship in their honor.

The newlyweds met on their 2011 Semester in Alaska. “If you had told us that we’d each meet our future spouse miles away from the nearest town,” they said, “where grizzlies grossly outnumbered humans, and where it rained so frequently that, for three months, our clothes fluctuated between mildly damp and sopping wet, you would’ve been met with a healthy dose of skepticism.”

And rightfully so—students are often preoccupied learning new skills through new hardships. Their group was no exception, from an “ad hoc lesson on how to properly anchor tents in a blizzard” to a two-week ration period without a spice kit. “I think those two weeks definitely gave us all a newfound appreciation for salt and pepper,” said Gracie.

Through such adversity, the couple learned not only about themselves, but about each other as well. One particular incident highlighted Gracie’s trust in Travis, when a spatula went missing and she confided that it had materialized in the depths of her backpack. With the loss of their sole cooking utensil, her tent mates began fashioning alarmingly sharp makeshift cookware carved out of used gas cans. Travis, in an act that can only be seen as an early proposal, took the fall for the misplacement.

“Our NOLS semester not only brought us together, it helped us each find confidence in knowing we could always learn new skills, while also fostering our love of exploration and teaching us how to thrive in adversity,” reads their wedding website. “As we set out together on our biggest adventure yet, we’re certain that our past experience with NOLS will continue to guide us through the highs and lows of marriage.”

Through their wedding scholarship, the couple hopes to pass on such a gift to future students.