NOLS Case Statement Web

2 INCH DIAMETER CIRCLE, BLUE PRINTED ON TRANSPARENT SHEET

2 INCH DIAMETER CIRCLE, BLUE PRINTED ON TRANSPARENT SHEET

Campaign nOLS: EndOwing Our COrE VaLuES is a $20 million campaign made up of $15 million to strengthen our endowment and $5 million for annual philanthropic support. This campaign will not only help us achieve the goals we have set for ourselves, but it will also allow NOLS to financially prepare for the future.

Storms on an expedition are inevitable and so, clearly, are the fiscal ebbs and flows that affect endowments. But we believe in what we teach in the field—the necessity of taking the long view, of looking at the big picture. We recognize that financial stability happens over time, not overnight. We also recognize that putting the right pieces into place today will foster such stability down the road.

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Campaign NOLS: Endowing Our Core Values 3

Our miSSiOn The mission of the national outdoor leadership school is to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment.

Our COrE VaLuESThe NOLS community—its staff, students, trustees, and alumni—shares a commitment to wilderness, education, leadership, safety, community, and excellence. These values define and direct who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

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COr E Va LuES : LEa dErShip a nd COmmunit y

rEgrOuping in thE FrOntCOuntry

Incredibly excited, a little sad, dirty but happy, a group of NOLS students pose for a group photo at their pick-up point. The attitude among the group is much different than when they embarked on their journey. Before, they were all strangers, each with different expectations and apprehensions. Now, they have formed meaningful relationships with one another and are an efficient team, accomplishing group goals while laughing about an inside joke that only their specific expedi-tion could understand. Every time a course returns to one of NOLS’ bases around the world, the scene is similar. Students are excited to return to the luxuries and familiarity of home, but with the new skills they have acquired, they return changed. Despite troubling economic times, students coming back from courses today do so feeling em-powered, equipped to face an uncertain future with grace. These are exactly the kinds of leaders we need right now, and we need them from every background. These graduates will take their new skills back home, where they will teach others in their classrooms and neighborhoods the lessons they’ve learned about leadership. While their time with NOLS may be brief, their potential to impact their own communities and beyond is infinite.

While their time

with NOLS may be

brief, their potential

to impact their own

communities and

beyond is infinite.


Students and instructors gather for a final photo before beginning the de-issue process at NOLS Scandinavia. The feeling of re-entering the frontcountry after working and growing as a team is one of the most profound moments of an expedition.

Lena

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The health and well-being of students and staff is one of our highest priorities as a school, and we consistently live up to this expectation.

Brad

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COr E Va LuES : Sa FEt y a nd ExCELLEnCE

a CuLturE OF rELiabiLity

At NOLS, we pride ourselves on providing an education that is relevant and demanding. Graduates go on a unique intellectual and physical adventure, leaving the school at the end of their courses with the ability to lead a group and deal with real challenges. These newfound skills are grounded in personal experience, developed and honed through feedback from peers and instructors. Central to the wilderness experience is the uncertainty that comes from interacting with nature—our risk management program at NOLS is the best in the industry. We develop and apply systems that are grounded in theory and combined with established field practices in concert with instructor skill, expertise, and judgment. With these practices in place, we are confident in the foundation of risk management on each expedition that leaves for the field. The school’s student body is as multifaceted as our course offerings. Thousands of people join us for courses each year, ranging from high school and college students to teachers, astronauts, and parents. Our youngest students are 14; our oldest are over 60. There are nearly 200,000 expedition and wilderness medicine alumni from over 50 states and more than 80 countries—and all have expe-rienced our unparalleled commitment to quality wilderness education.

Central to the

wilderness experience

is the uncertainty

that comes from

interacting with

nature—our risk

management program

at NOLS is the best

in the industry.

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COr E Va LuES : wiLdEr nESS a nd EduCatiOn

a wiLdErnESS ExpEriEnCE, a LiFEtimE impaCt

Education should be exciting, fun and challenging. With this in mind, our courses are designed to help people develop and practice the skills they need to live, travel, and play safely in the outdoors. On our expeditions, people gain a greater understanding of and connection to the natural world by living and traveling in some of the world’s most spectacular wilderness classrooms. Our instructors are educators, not guides. They are committed to inspiring students to explore and develop their understanding of wilderness ethics, leadership, teamwork, natural history, and technical skills. When students return home, they are changed—the differences stemming from their newly acquired skills and competence. Even decades after their courses, graduates continue to credit NOLS for helping them learn technical backcountry skills and develop an ability to serve as a leader. The opportunities for learning at NOLS are diverse, and include wilderness medicine training and custom leadership and risk management courses. For two decades and with over 100,000 graduates, the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS (WMI) has defined the standards in wilderness medicine training. WMI empowers people to act with confidence in emergency situations through our curriculum that is evidence-based, relevant, and practical. NOLS Professional Training offers innovative, customized NOLS courses for businesses and organizations, focusing on any aspect of the NOLS core curricula—leadership, technical skills, risk management, or environmental studies.

On our expeditions,

people gain a greater

understanding of

and connection to

the natural world by

living and traveling

in some of the world’s

most spectacular

wilderness classrooms.


Whether on a Wind River Wilderness expedition, a Wilderness EMT course, or in a risk management seminar, our students are sure to come away with skills that will impact the rest of their lives.

Juan

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To remain the leader in wilderness education, we need to make a plan that will create a foundation for the school's future.

Crai

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Map Check: The Route To Financial Stability There’s no question that now, more than ever, the world’s communities need competent leaders such as these. We need leaders who know how to listen to and communicate with people from every background. We need leaders who can adapt to challenges presented by a turbulent market or a changing climate. NOLS has always been a nimble organization with a creative, dynamic staff. These qualities have served us well over the years; indeed, they are what allowed us to emerge from the recent economic downturn still able to provide first-rate educational experiences for our students. But when we look at where NOLS needs to go—if we are to remain the leader in the industry, if we are to stay at the cut-ting edge of leadership and wilderness education—it becomes clear that we will have to rely on more than flexibility and quick thinking for our school’s security. NOLS is maturing as an organization, and to ensure our continued success into the future we need to shore up our financial foundations now. To this end, we will embark on a campaign to strengthen the NOLS groundwork to ensure a stable financial future so we can best serve our current and upcoming students through mission and values.

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The decision to grow the NOLS Endowment while also supporting the Annual Fund is a result of taking the long view and planning ahead. Just as on an expedition, the decisions we make today will set us up for success in the future.

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A Commitment To The FutureAfter the completion of our most recent long-range strategic plan, we identified a number of key goals NOLS must meet if our leadership instruction is to have the greatest possible impact. Among these goals are increasing the diversity of both our students and our staff in addition to working toward greater environmental sustainability schoolwide. We are similarly committed to greater fiscal sustainability. Every year, four percent of the returns on our endowment fund are released into the budget. This four percent is based on how the school’s endowment investment performed over the past 12 quarters and ensures financial stability in a dynamic market. This system is what makes NOLS a benchmark organization in the outdoor education field no matter what the economy. The endowment’s value lies in its permanency, and growing it sends a clear message that NOLS’ programs will be assured for generations to come. Building our endowment is also the best way for NOLS to strengthen the foundation of all of our programs and ensure that we can stay sharply fo-cused on our goals even as we weather potentially difficult times.

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Invest in the World’s Next Leaders For a Guaranteed ReturnIt’s impossible to assess the true impact today’s financial investment in NOLS will have on a future generation of leaders. As we strengthen our programs by strengthening our core values as an organi-zation, our ability to produce the competent and honest leaders the world’s communities need will multiply immeasurably.

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By tapping the tremendous commitment, vision, and creativity of our supporters, we will ensure that we achieve our goals as a community dedicated to leadership, community, safety, excellence, wilderness, and education.

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National Outdoor Leadership SchoolDevelopment Office284 Lincoln StreetLander, WY 82520(800) 332-4280 • [email protected]

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NOLS Case Statement Web