In early December, the American Whitewater board of directors met via phone conference for our annual winter meeting. Our task was to review the financials for the current year, discuss and approve the budget for 2003, discuss the location and focus of the spring board meeting, and to deal with any other action items which have surfaced since our last meeting at the Gauley festival.
2001 and 2002 have proven to be extremely challenging financially for AW and the entire non-profit world. Non-profits generally depend on three sources of income: membership, donations, and grants. Due to the current economic downturn, many major foundations have lost large amounts of money. This has forced them to drastically reduce grants to the non-profit community. These same economic forces also affect corporate sponsorship and personal donations. The AW board has been forced to adapt, and thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of our staff, we find the year-end financial health of AW is good. The budget is expected to balance, and program areas and staffing are secure. Many significant cost-cutting measures were instituted, and the organization is running lean and mean. The 2003 budget, approved in December, was developed in anticipation of a continued slow economy while maintaining our key program areas. As economic conditions improve and renewed membership efforts take hold, AW will carefully increase our staff and volunteer base. In accordance with our strategic plan, there will be a continued focus on conservation, access, and safety.
The strategic plan was developed at our board meeting in Boise, three years ago. Prior to the Boise meeting, AW conducted focus group meetings with members and non-members across the country. We wanted to determine exactly what the paddling community wanted to see from AW. We received overwhelming support for our conservation and access work, with safety as an important third component. The board plans to review and refine our strategic plan. For example, we have come to believe that safety needs to play an even greater role in the mission of American Whitewater.
Recently, AW Events director Michael Phelan announced the shift from large-scale sponsorship of rodeo/freestyle events to a river festival model. In light of AW’s long involvement in rodeo/freestyle, this was a very difficult decision. Financially, running a successful competitive events program requires the support of major sponsors. For various reasons, event sponsorship in the near term will not support the program. AW has a long history pioneering and running competitive events and recognizes the countless hours donated by so many wonderful volunteers. We believe river festivals will enable us to maximize fund raising and provide a platform to effectively deliver AW’s Conservation, Access and Safety message to an even broader cross-section of paddlers. We plan to maximize this by focusing much of our energy on major river festivals. Two of these will be the popular Gauley Festival and Deerfield Festival, both sites of previous AW conservation victories. We are also developing a new festival on the North Fork Feather River in Northern California, the location of a more recent victory restoring flows to a nearly dry riverbed. While these "big three" events in 2003 will be considered our flagship festivals, AW will still be involved in and supportive of many other river festivals around the country. In addition to running our flagship festivals, our events director also will be providing support for many others. While extreme races and freestyle kayaking may occur, our AW festival focus will be on providing entertaining get-togethers for paddlers of all ages and experience levels, letting them know what we are doing to restore and protect free-flowing rivers and their safe access. We’ll be eager to utilize festivals as places to discuss the issues most important to you – our fellow paddlers, volunteers, affiliated paddling clubs, and sponsors. Of course, we’ll be encouraging membership signups and will look to events, as we always have, as a terrific way to meet new AW volunteers.
In closing, the board of American Whitewater would like to thank our membership and the paddling community for taking the time to offer their support, suggestions, and criticisms on this forum and elsewhere. We urge you to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions you may have. The strength of AW comes from the tireless work of our board, staff, affiliate clubs, and the hundreds of volunteers spread out across this nation. Were it not for their dedication, America’s rivers would be in far more danger than they already are.
Sincerely;
The entire AW board of directors
Sutton Bacon
Atlanta, GA
E-mail: sutton@suttonbacon.com
Lee Belknap
Hendersonville, NC
E-mail: rivergypsy@sprintmail.com
Rich Bowers
Bellingham, WA
E-mail: nwrivers@attbi.com
Dave Cernicek
Jackson, WY
E-mail: dave@losalamos.com
Tom Christopher
Lancaster, MA
E-mail: tchris@tiac.net
Adam Eichberg
Denver, CO
E-mail: adam.eichberg@tpl.org
Pam Fitz
Denver, CO
E-mail: pamfitz99@yahoo.com
Jennie Goldberg
Seattle, WA
E-mail: jennie@nwwhitewater.org
Joe Greiner
Raleigh, NC
E-mail: joekayak@worldnet.att.net
Barry Grimes
Richmond, KY
E-mail: bagrim1@pop.uky.edu
Dunbar Hardy
Durango, CO
E-mail: dunbarhardy@hotmail.com
Don Kinser
Atlanta, GA
E-mail: dkinser@ediltd.com
Tim Kelley
Potsdam, NY
E-mail: tmkelley@clarkson.edu
Chris Kelly
Columbia, MO
E-mail: ckelly1022@aol.com
Jay P.K. Kenney
Denver, CO
E-mail: Jay@smallworldadventures.com
Jeff Leighton
Lafayette, CA
E-mail: jeffleighton@prodigy.net
Kevin Lewis
Anderson, CA
E-mail: klewis@snowcrest.net
Sherry Olson
Cumming, GA
E-mail: sdopc@mindspring.com
Aaron Pruzan
Jackson Hole, WY
E-mail: jacksonholekayak@wyoming.com
Norwood Scott
San Francisco, CA
E-mail: wns111@aol.com
Dave Steindorf
Paradise, CA
E-mail: dsteind@telis.org
Sarah Stephenson
Asheville, NC
E-mail: sarahs@gsdl.com
Barry Tuscano
Bolivar, PA
E-mail: barry@greensburg.com
Charlie Walbridge
Bruceton Mills, WV
E-mail: ccwalbridge@cs.com
Kara Weld
Confluence, PA
E-mail: Kara@immersionresearch.com