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 →All three were discussed in June and none has been carried. Each carries a recommendation below.
The mark, wordmark, palette, typography and the family lockup that ties Summit Scholarship and The Cairn Project to the parent are all specified. Nothing changes on adoption — it simply stops us operating a public identity the board has never formally approved.
Proposed: "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."
Every element traces to June feedback. "Community waiting for her" was the group's preferred reframing of "No woman walks alone in wild places," which risked implying women cannot go alone. "Every threshold" keeps the line the board singled out as powerful — community on the other side of every threshold, implying repeated transformation rather than one moment. "Generations" is the plural the board asked for, meeting women at every life stage. "Whoever she becomes out there" carries the holding-space idea that resonated most.
Deliberately dropped, per the June discussion: the assumption that women arrive nervous or new; "regenerative alliance of stories"; and any mention of partners, alliances or internal structure, which belongs in partner-facing material rather than a public vision.
Sunny — $90,000. The June analysis already valued the donated executive labour at $80,000–$110,000 a year at market; $90,000 is the middle of a range this board has seen. Against $24,000 in cash it documents a $66,000 annual contribution, and cash compensation at 27% of market. An ED carrying a $200k budget, three brands and every funder relationship does not come in under $85,000 anywhere.
Angie — $55,000 full-time-equivalent. A Programs and Podcast lead running three flagship campaigns, the podcast and Outdoor Retailer sits in the $50,000–$65,000 band at this size. At $36,000 she is at roughly two-thirds of that, and the June tracker already recorded her as the most under-market person in cash. Her real cash raise was tied to the ~$300k revenue milestone, which this plan does not reach — so recording $55,000 now turns the eventual raise into a pre-agreed step rather than a negotiation.
Both figures are full-time-equivalent rates. The board should record the rate and the FTE assumption as two separate lines rather than blending them into one number that cannot be audited later.
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).
| Measure | 2026 | 2027 target | Board |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scholarships funded | 14 | 25? | |
| Applications handled | 2,150 | 5,000 | |
| Social media | 800,000 | 1.5 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. Detail in the budget PDF.
| Year | Grit Lit | Trailblazers | First 50k | Rim-to-Rim | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $4,964 | — | — | — | $32,928 | $37,892 |
| 2023 | $6,796 | — | — | — | $17,515 | $24,311 |
| 2024 | $6,244 | $6,182 | — | — | $7,177 | $19,602 |
| 2025 | $8,701 | $10,106 | — | $17,467 | $4,483 | $40,758 |
| 2026 | $7,178 | $3,006 | $24,656 | $14,225 | $1,114 | $50,178 |
| All time | $33,883 | $19,293 | $24,656 | $31,693 | $63,217 | $172,741 |
2026 is through 24 September, with Rim-to-Rim and the year-end campaign still ahead. The shape of the year has changed: First 50k went from nothing to $24,656 in its first outing, and Rim-to-Rim fundraisers have run at $14–17k two years running. "Other" is general support and one-off pages, and it has been shrinking as the flagships take over — which is the flagship-factory thesis showing up in the data.
First 50k Sisterhood: $16,643 net, 15 ambassadors, 251 individual donors. Trailblazer umbrella excluding Grit Lit: $31k in 2025, projected ~$44k.
Decisions already in force from June: Grit Lit is being wound down — a board-level decision. It runs through the Q4 final box, including the Women of Mountaineering calendar insert, then sunsets.
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.
| Measure | 2026 | 2027 target |
|---|---|---|
| Fundraising | $50,178 to date | |
| Flagship campaigns run | 2 | |
Named as 2027 levers in June: AI-scale Grit Lit and the calendar so production and fulfilment get cheap · the year-end giving campaign.
| Measure | 2026 | 2027 target | Board |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar units sold | 80 pre-orders + 60 Grit Lit + 200 sold | 100 pre-orders + 300 sold | |
| Podcast / media revenue | |||
| See Her Outside cadence | Biweekly (~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.
| Area | Where we are | 2027 target | Board |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $171k budgeted for 2026 | $200k? | |
| Recurring monthly donors | Effectively none | ||
| Team — development / ops hire | Approved in June, not started | Part-time Summit Scholarship ops hire for scholarship gear, sponsor admin and the calendar — $20k? | |
| Operating reserve | None designated | $40k | |
| Board size | 5 | 7 | |
| Impact measurement | Not tracked | ||
| See Her Outside cadence | Biweekly | Weekly — 52 episodes, $7,200/yr | |
| Annual impact report | None since 2023 | 2025 published, then annual |
The most useful question of the day: if 2027 goes badly, which three of these do we protect?
Three things follow, and they shape the reserves conversation:
From the Hood River retreat and the June 24 follow-up call with Alison.
| Item | Status | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| Send the board minutes + vision-statement feedback | Did not happen | |
| Film end-credit URL — confirm with the Matterhorn producer | Done | |
| Major-donor re-ask — top 20 lapsed lifetime donors | At risk | |
| Ashley Ryden — follow up with last year's $25k donor | At risk | |
| Move Rachel onto GEA payroll (governance) | Done | |
| Grit Lit — pull subscriber spreadsheet, finalize wind-down | In progress | |
| Books cleanup with Tana → cash-basis system | In progress | AI-assisted |
| Ship 3 AI guardrails — kill-switch, dry-run, reversibility audit | At risk | |
| Fjällräven Classic assets | Done | |
| SheJumps — accept with terms or decline | Done | |
| Summit Scholarship brand rollout | Done | |
| GEA Alliance site live — DNS | Done | www.gea-alliance.org is live |
| GEA-mark trademark screening | Overdue | |
| D&O insurance — get quotes, bring to the board | Overdue | |
| LOWA commitments in writing | In progress | 8 spots + 1 Adventure Lens Grant, TransAlpine starting June 20 2027 — committed verbally |
| LOWA calendar co-commission | Did not materialize | |
| Integrated comms / site overhaul | At risk | Roxy quit |
| /film landing page + UTM attribution | Urgent | Needed before the October premiere |
| Vision statement v-next → September board approval | Overdue | |
| AI board briefing + pre-board briefing with Alison | Done | |
| Year-end giving plan — 6-campaign Classy plan with Alison | In progress | Not finalized — on Saturday's agenda |
| Legal transition — asset transfer, end SEE sponsorship, bylaws | Overdue | Need to finalize by email |
| Standalone domains — See Her Outside + calendar | In progress | calendar.summitscholarship.org is live; See Her Outside is not |
| Amplify Rim-to-Rim / Masters push | Done | 50+ cohort sold out in a heartbeat and is fundraising hard and fast |
| Calendar — print 400–450; kill free international shipping | Done | At the printer (400) |
| Fractional development lead; Deputy/COO envelope | At risk | |
| Full 2027 cash budget for the fall board meeting | In progress | Moved to December |
| Title Nine — cultivate as the #1 brand relationship | Overdue | |
| 2025 annual impact report | Urgent | None published since 2023 — two years missing |
| Form 990 for tax year 2025 | Urgent | Extended deadline Mon 16 Nov 2026 — 53 days |
| Personal 1040, extended | Urgent | Thu 15 Oct 2026 — 21 days |
| Utah nonprofit renewal | Overdue | Annual, falls in August — verify it was filed |
| Integrated AI context for board self-service | Not started | Agreed at the June board meeting |
| One Google Workspace across all three domains | Overdue | gea-alliance.org · cairnproject.org · summitscholarship.org |
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Poll the board; confirm meetings for Q4 2026 through Q4 2027 | Done — Saturday Sept 26 |
| Send Sunny the H2-2027 board dates | Open |
| Hold the pre-board briefing with Sunny | Done — Sept 22 |
| Shadow ED salary — board vote | Saturday |
| Board fundraising / donor plan — yes, no, or scoped; name a lead and a date | Saturday |
| Fall fundraising dinner with Marcia (TEW) | Postponed to 2027 — personal changes |
| Collect one written Q3 commitment per director | Saturday |
| Grow the board to 6–7 — target size, skills gap, recruiting owners | In flight — two candidates |
| Formal votes — vision statement and brand identity | Saturday |
| ED evaluation — close out and issue forward expectations | Saturday |
| TEW $30k renewal — settle whether Alison takes it back or hands it off | Open |
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| First 50k Sisterhood follow-up — the post-race on-ramp sequence | Done |
| Trailblazer success metrics — define before any restructure | In progress |
| Rachel Entrekin podcast episode | Done |
| AI onboarding | Done |
| Rim-to-Rim (Oct 10) — promotion, 40+ "Masters" framing | Done |
| Outdoor Retailer — strategy and goals | Done — GEA booth did not materialize, Angie represented |
| Scope a bigger First 50k Sisterhood for next year | In progress |
| Plan Cactus to Clouds | Not yet started |
| Plan Timberline Trail circumnavigation | Not yet started |