GEA ALLIANCE
Q3 board meeting

Setting 2027

Saturday, September 26, 2026 · by video

Our June retreat was about deciding what this organization is all about. This meeting, our Q3 board meeting, is about what the organization does in 2027. The Q4 board meeting in December will provide space to approve the ultimate budget and final goals, but this upcoming session sets our targets.

1 · What we decide Saturday → 2 · What we vote on →

1

What we should decide this Saturday

  1. Direction for each of the three verticals — Summit Scholarship, The Cairn Project and Media — and 2027 goals, per program and overall. That's the main event.
  2. Year-end giving campaign framework — the structure, and what part each director will play in it.
  3. Board expansion goal — target size, skills gaps, and a named recruiting owner per candidate.
  4. A reserves policy — set direction now, approve policy language in December.

2

Three things we should formally vote on

Votes deferred from June.

Adopt the visual brand identity
Recommendation: adopt as presented.

↓ GEA Alliance brand identity (PDF)

The initiative kits below are context, not on the agenda.

Adopt the vision statement
Recommendation: adopt the text below, or agree wording live.

"A world where every woman who steps outside finds community waiting for her — at every threshold, in every generation, and for whoever she becomes out there."

Drafted from feedback during the June retreat.

Record shadow compensation
Recommendation: raise the Executive Director to $24,000 and Programs to $36,000, and record shadow rates of $90,000 and $54,000.
RoleCurrentProposed 2027Shadow rateContribution
Executive Director, part-time$12,000$24,000?$90,000$66,000
Trailblazer Community Manager$28,800$36,000?$54,000$18,000

Part-time is a descriptor, not a discount. $90,000 is replacement cost: the org would not replace a part-time ED with a part-time hire.

$54,000 for Programs prices the contracted scope — Trailblazer community management, See Her Outside production, social and newsletter — at the $4,000–5,000 a month that work costs on contract. Confirm it against stated hours when the contract is renewed.

3 · Vertical one

Summit Scholarship

2026 applications
2,150+
2026 countries
82
2026 scholarships funded
14
including 1 Adventure Lens
2026 acceptance rate
<1%
2026 social reach
~800k
views
Awarded since 2019
~$250k

Named as 2027 levers in June: co-funded scholarships with aligned partner organizations · institutional grants (TEW round two at $30k, plus new grants through board networks).

2027 goals — to set Saturday

Measure2026For discussion
Scholarships funded1425?
Applications handled2,1505,000
Social media800,0001.5 million

On the 25: LOWA foots the bill for nine of them — eight TransAlpine trekking scholarships plus one Adventure Lens Grant — so they cost us nothing. The 2027 slate as costed reaches 24 placements for $49,100, which is the programming line in the proposed budget. Adventure Lens Grants carry their host expedition's rate plus travel plus a $1,000 deliverable stipend. Detail in the proposed 2027 budget (PDF).

3 · Vertical two

The Cairn Project

YearTrailblazersFirst 50kRim-to-RimGrit LitTotal
2022$32,928$4,964$37,892
2023$17,515$6,796$24,311
2024$13,358$6,244$19,602
2025$14,589$17,468$8,701$40,758
2026$4,120$24,656$14,225$7,249$50,250
All time$82,510$24,656$31,693$33,954$172,813

2026 is through 24 September, with Rim-to-Rim and the year-end campaign still ahead. Trailblazers includes general support and one-off pages. It has fallen from $32,928 to $4,120 as the flagships took over — the flagship-factory thesis in the data.

What is actually inside the Trailblazers column
Campaign202420252026
Trailblazers for The Cairn Project the program itself$6,182$10,106$3,006
Individual ambassador pages Carlie Graham Orizaba, Manaslu Climb, Wonder to 100, Forbidden Peak, Mary Cronin Estrellas$6,083
June 100$2,338
Support The Cairn Project! general giving page$500$1,681$25
More Girls Outside!$110$118$900
Summit Circle recurring$483$326$189
Trailtober$20
Total$13,358$14,589$4,120

The 2025 figure is mostly the Trailblazer program: $10,106 across 172 gifts. June 100 added $2,338 across 51 gifts, and five gifts to the general page added $1,681.

2024 is the year worth looking at. Only $6,182 came from the program; $6,083 came from five individual ambassador pages — Orizaba, Manaslu, Wonder to 100, Forbidden Peak, Estrellas. That income disappears entirely in 2025 and 2026. The flagships did not add to ambassador fundraising, they replaced it.

2026 is down to $4,120 because the Trailblazer program raised a third of its 2025 total and June 100 did not run.

June board decision: Grit Lit sunsets after the Q4 final box, which carries the Women of Mountaineering calendar insert.

What sunsets with Grit Lit, measured: it is our largest campaign of all time at $33,954 gross, and took $7,249 in 2026. It also carries 61 quarterly subscriptions worth $9,599 a year — product purchases rather than donations, but real cash that stops. Worth the board seeing the number attached to a decision it has already made.

Named as 2027 levers in June: flagship-campaign factory, 3–4 campaigns a year at roughly $20k each. First 50k and Rim-to-Rim are the proven two — add Cactus to Clouds, a Joshua Tree traverse, Timberline Trail, a Mt Baker fundraising climb? · Trailblazer restructure, cohort vs. rolling, pending the success metrics Angie owns defining.

2027 goals — to set Saturday

Measure2026For discussion
Fundraising$50,250 to date
Flagship campaigns run2

3 · Vertical three

GEA Alliance media

Open question for the board: should this vertical have a name? It is the only one of the three we refer to by description rather than by brand.

Named as 2027 levers in June: AI-scale Grit Lit and the calendar so production and fulfilment get cheap · the year-end giving campaign.

2027 goals — to set Saturday

Measure2026For discussion
Calendar units sold80 pre-orders + 60 Grit Lit + 200 sold100 pre-orders + 300 sold
Podcast / media revenue
See Her Outside cadenceBiweekly (~26 episodes)Weekly (52 episodes)

A 400 print run against a 400-unit target means the 2027 calendar sells out only if the sales goal is hit exactly. Worth deciding now whether that is the plan or whether we reprint.

4

Overall 2027 goals

AreaWhere we areFor discussion
Total revenue$171k budgeted for 2026$200k?
Recurring monthly donorsEffectively none
Team — development / ops hireApproved in June, not startedPart-time Summit Scholarship ops hire for scholarship gear, sponsor admin and the calendar — $20k?
Operating reserveNone designated$40k
Board size57
Impact measurementNot tracked
See Her Outside cadenceBiweeklyWeekly — 52 episodes, $7,200/yr
Annual impact reportNone since 20232025 published, then annual

The most useful question of the day: if 2027 goes badly, which three of these do we protect?

What the proposed budget says about those targets

2027 revenue planned
$212.5k
against the $200k goal
Of that, confident
$142.5k
$70k uncertain
2027 costs
$171.5k
incl. Rachel, the ops hire and weekly podcast
Cash on hand
$95,981
24 September
Free after obligations
$62.8k
4.4 months of cover
Against a $40k reserve
Already there
$22.8k above target

Three things follow, and they shape the reserves conversation:

↓ Full proposed 2027 budget (PDF)

5

The June action tracker — where each item landed

From the Hood River retreat and the June 24 follow-up call with Alison.

Sunny — Executive Director

9 done5 at risk3 urgent6 overdue1 needs renewal6 in progress1 not started1 did not happen1 did not materialize
ItemStatusCommentary
Film end-credit URL — confirm with the Matterhorn producerDone
Move Rachel onto GEA payroll (governance)Done
Fjällräven Classic assetsDone
SheJumps — accept with terms or declineDone
Summit Scholarship brand rolloutDone
GEA Alliance site live — DNSDonewww.gea-alliance.org is live
AI board briefing + pre-board briefing with AlisonDone
Amplify Rim-to-Rim / Masters pushDone50+ cohort sold out in a heartbeat and is fundraising hard and fast
Calendar — print 400–450; kill free international shippingDoneAt the printer (400)
Major-donor re-ask — top 20 lapsed lifetime donorsAt risk
Ashley Ryden — follow up with last year's $25k donorAt risk
Ship 3 AI guardrails — kill-switch, dry-run, reversibility auditAt risk
Integrated comms / site overhaulAt riskRoxy quit
Fractional development lead; Deputy/COO envelopeAt risk
/film landing page + UTM attributionUrgentNeeded before the October premiere
2025 annual impact reportUrgentNone published since 2023 — two years missing
Form 990 for tax year 2025UrgentExtended deadline Mon 16 Nov 2026 — 53 days
GEA-mark trademark screeningOverdue
D&O insurance — get quotes, bring to the boardOverdue
Vision statement v-next → September board approvalOverdue
Legal transition — asset transfer, end SEE sponsorship, bylawsOverdueNeed to finalize by email
Title Nine — cultivate as the #1 brand relationshipOverdue
Contractor agreement — ProgramsNeeds renewal2024 agreement was never signed and its scope predates the weekly podcast
One Google Workspace across all three domainsOverduegea-alliance.org · cairnproject.org · summitscholarship.org
Grit Lit — pull subscriber spreadsheet, finalize wind-downIn progress
Books cleanup with Tana → cash-basis systemIn progressAI-assisted
LOWA commitments in writingIn progress8 spots + 1 Adventure Lens Grant, TransAlpine starting June 20 2027 — committed verbally
Year-end giving plan — 6-campaign Classy plan with AlisonIn progressNot finalized — on Saturday's agenda
Standalone domains — See Her Outside + calendarIn progresscalendar.summitscholarship.org is live; See Her Outside is not
Full 2027 cash budget for the fall board meetingIn progressMoved to December
Send the board minutes + vision-statement feedbackDid not happen
LOWA calendar co-commissionDid not materialize
Integrated AI context for board self-serviceNot startedAgreed at the June board meeting

Alison — Board Chair

ItemStatus
Poll the board; confirm meetings for Q4 2026 through Q4 2027Done — Saturday Sept 26
Hold the pre-board briefing with SunnyDone — Sept 22
Send Sunny the H2-2027 board datesOpen
Shadow ED salary — board voteSaturday
Board fundraising / donor plan — yes, no, or scoped; name a lead and a dateSaturday
Collect one written Q3 commitment per directorSaturday
Formal votes — vision statement and brand identitySaturday
ED evaluation — close out and issue forward expectationsSaturday
TEW $30k renewal — settle whether Alison takes it back or hands it offOpen
Grow the board to 6–7 — target size, skills gap, recruiting ownersIn flight — two candidates
Fall fundraising dinner with Marcia (TEW)Postponed to 2027 — personal changes

Angie — Programs & Podcast

ItemStatus
First 50k Sisterhood follow-up — the post-race on-ramp sequenceDone
Rachel Entrekin podcast episodeDone
AI onboardingDone
Rim-to-Rim (Oct 10) — promotion, 40+ "Masters" framingDone
Outdoor Retailer — strategy and goalsDone — GEA booth did not materialize, Angie represented
Trailblazer success metrics — define before any restructureIn progress
Scope a bigger First 50k Sisterhood for next yearIn progress
Plan Cactus to CloudsNot yet started
Plan Timberline Trail circumnavigationNot yet started

6

Since June, unplanned

7

What the December board meeting should plan to approve

↓ proposed 2027 budget (PDF)