trail clearing technique and tools

2manyrocks · Oct 20, 2023

The boy scouts in my area of middle TN do a lot of trail work, and have done some serious projects to earn their Eagle badges.

The average guy is probably thinking he spent $2000 for a mower and $150 for his weed wacker so why should he help someone with $50k of trail equipment to maintain a trail that he read is "free and open to the public"?

I am not beating you up here. I'm trying to help you understand how someone might react to what is out there from what I read looking at your FB and other pages.

Based on my experience, your messaging needs to change in order to get the results you want.

It might be helpful for you to look at other nonprofit websites and see how they present their needs for funds.

ArlyA · Oct 20, 2023

We have helped 501c3 for many many years and they all struggling to take in $. What we spend on machines is little difference than other xc area's.

Rockbadchild · Oct 20, 2023

You obviously don't want to let it go then keep the trails for yourself... close it fence it off with a chains and lock it but you keep using it and put your number on it for any questions, you will see when people can get access to something that when they will want to pay for it... and when someone will want to use it set your price.

MoKelly · Oct 20, 2023

I think Warren Buffet made the observation —- “anything that is free is abused”.

airbiscuit · Oct 20, 2023

FriendwithTractor said:
Have you tried trail days? Well advertised days where people can come work on the trails? I know that's had success in B.C.
Mountain Biker's creed is "No shovel, no ride."

I'm sure you've already thought of the lockbox requesting donations at the trailhead for maintenance. But these days I'm sure that would grow legs and walk off more often than not.

I have finally figured out that most people don't think like us worker bees. They are oblivious to the effort it takes to make and maintain trails, and many never have done anything like that type of work.

I like the idea of Trail Days. Put up posters, use social media, etc. Most importantly,

Have a presence of a half a dozen people at the trail head
Cook some cheap hot dogs on a camp stove and hand out lemonade
Hand out business cards with the go fund me link and a description of all the volunteer labor
Have a "tip jar" for instant donations
Have someone on the trail working so they can actually doing work and available for conversation

Not 100% sure this will work, but it is more tangible, harder to avoid.

2manyrocks · Oct 20, 2023

ArlyA said:
We have helped 501c3 for many many years. They are all struggling to take in $. What we spend on machines is little difference than othe xc area's.

It is important to look at this from the perspective of the person or group you're trying to raise money from. People want to know how their money is going to be used before they give. They also want to know that their giving is actually doing something useful.

In your case, I think the beginning point for you to start your appeal is this is the only trail in the area where dogs are welcome. It costs $________ per season to do ___________ to keep these trails open. Otherwise, without their support, the trails cannot be maintained and will eventually no longer be open for safety reasons or whatever.

Don't say "free and open to the public" if you have to have support because that immediately undermines your other message that support is needed.

Most grant organizations want to see that the people benefiting from the group they are funding are contributing based on their financial ability. If you apply for a grant saying no one is giving us money, it would take something extraordinary to obtain a grant. If the people who use the trails won't even support the cause, I suspect you won't have much luck obtaining grants.

Grant organizations want to see that the organization is self sustaining, but there is a benefit to be had if they were to receive a grant that would help them reach some goal that increases the benefit to the community.

Grant organizations also like to see results. E.g., there were ___ users of the trails in 2021, __ in 2022, and ___ in 2023. It's the only dog friendly trail in the area.

They like testimonials from users.

The other thing grant organizations want to see is the checkbook to see how the money is actually being spent. They can be turned off if much of the money is flowing to insiders or it looks like they are just funding some individual's goals. They don't like it if the checking account is not separate from the personal checking account.