I was reminded recently of just how important collaboration is for the Outdoors for All Foundation. For our organization, collaboration is not just a “buzzword” – for us, it’s part of our DNA.
From our founding days as a nonprofit back in 1979, Outdoors for All (then Ski for All) began thanks to an incredible collaboration with a ski area. That collaboration continues decades later with our continued operations during the winter with The Summit at Snoqualmie — and year round with more than 80 other businesses, parks and recreation departments, schools, hospitals and community organizations.
Collaboration means that we each do our part to better understand the needs of other groups, listen and learn from their experiences and work in partnership with them to further our mutual interests. Collaboration also can mean that we may be called to work with others to “do more with less.”
Moreover, for us, working collaboratively also involves forming quality relationships with businesses in online spaces. We are incredibly active on social media, and our hugely successful posts are able to reach hundreds of followers every single day. So, whether we are busy posting behind the scenes photos on Instagram for our instagram followers or sharing important information about our upcoming events on Facebook, our online presence is undeniable.
In the digital age that we live in today, social networking websites like Instagram play a vital role in the success of our business. By keeping our Instagram followers up to date with the day to day running of our business and our partnerships, we are able to reach the widest possible audience so that we can continue to do what we do best. This just goes to show how important social media can be for businesses like ours.
Prometheus Real Estate Partners is an example of a business with which we collaborate. Prometheus specializes in the development and management of high quality residential and commercial properties. The firm’s portfolio is comprised of award-winning apartment properties in the locations throughout the Western United States.
This portfolio of properties is then managed by software systems built by the likes of Axxerion or similar system developers to help maintain each project throughout each location. Outdoors for All was again selected in 2016 to be one of four charities to receive targeted support through their Prometheus Outreach and Community Help program, also known as POrCH.
Prometheans and some of their family members recently volunteered with us at a group cycling Custom Event. We held this event last week in Gig Harbor in collaboration also with an MDA Summer Camp for 77 kids from Washington State who have muscular dystrophy.
I was fortunate to join everyone for several hours at the event and during the busy day of adaptive cycling, I’m not sure who had more fun, the kids in the camp or the Promethean volunteers – it was an awesome afternoon and evening!
“Thank you for an amazing day, we all had a great time. As I get older at times, I forget what it’s like to be a kid, until I volunteer for events like this. I think for about 5 hours I forgot I was the adult. That’s how much fun I had.”
Stacy Hodder, Neighborhood Director, Cliffside in Gig Harbor, Prometheus Real Estate Group
I know that many nonprofits recognize that to be successful, they must serve a dual bottom line of being both “mission driven, yet business minded.” I’m particularly thankful that collaboration, a founding strategy for Outdoors for All, remains a means towards our continuing success.
P.S. Our summer season of activities continues to be running strong with over 110 activity days of programs happening in July. Come out and play!