Adirondack Mountain Club
Strategic Plan 2005-2009

Approved by ADK Board of Directors, June 25, 2005

Strategic Goals and Mission Statement

I. Background

The planning process started in November of 2003. The following were participants in the process to develop the Strategic Plan and the Operational Objectives to support the plan.

  • Volunteers: Tom Andrews, Jim Bird, Charles Fiesel, Sandy Hildreth, Curt Miller, Bob Ringlee, Bill Walling, Tom Wheeler, Bea Wood, Neil Carter.
  • ADK Staff: Jo Benton, Karmel DeStefano, John Kettlewell, Jen Kretser, Wes Lampman, John Million, Bob Rudolph, Neil Woodworth.

The Strategic Planning team had five very lengthy and lively meetings on: November 22, 2003; January 10, 2004; March 5, 2004; April 3, 2004, and January, 8, 2005. During the process, there was a considerable amount of work done between meetings, by various smaller working groups. Much guidance and assistance was provided by Craig Smith of the Pentangle Group, LLC.

The team followed the following process:

  • Conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis considering both external opportunities and threats, as well as internal ADK club strengths and weaknesses. This helped to set the background context for the recommendations to come.
  • Conducted a complete assessment of the Strategic Goals set out in the 1996 Strategic Plan. The purpose of this assessment was to measure the degree of successful completion of the 1996 Strategic Goals, and to help frame where the future direction of the club should be.
  • Next, the Mission Statement was reviewed to see if it continued to accurately reflect the club's mission, based on today's environment. The proposed revision is presented with the Strategic Plan.
  • Using the SWOT and the assessment of the 1996 Strategic Plan goals, the team then began the process of building the 2005 Strategic Plan. This plan was built from the bottom up. The Operational Objectives were first developed by smaller working groups, and then thoroughly presented, discussed, and refined by the entire team.
  • Once the Operational Objectives were defined, it became clear as to what the overriding and driving strategic goals should be. These goals were easily defined, after a lot of hard preparation and background.
  • The Draft Plan was presented to the Board and Chapters. Input was solicited and a number of individuals and the Executive Committees of a number of chapters submitted comments and suggestions. A number of these comments were quite perceptive and formed the basis for additional revisions.

We thank the volunteers and the staff for the dedication, effort, thoughtfulness, insights, and hard work to prepare a Strategic Plan to take ADK into the future.

II. Proposed Revised Mission Statement

After conducting the internal and external scans, and reviewing the goals from the 1996 Strategic Plan, a few things seem to become very apparent. ADK membership has definitely grown over this time period. A number of chapters were formed, and significantly the percentage of members-at-large has grown. The demographics of the members are changing, as well as increasing competition for members' time and money. And the preference for different recreational opportunities continues to grow stronger.

With these changes in trends taking place, significant challenges and opportunities present themselves over the next five years. The key to success, over the next 5 years, is finding the winning formula for productive growth. With this in mind, the Strategic Plan Committee is recommending that the ADK Mission Statement be slightly revised to reflect the changes of the past, and the prospects of the future. It is this proposed revised Mission Statement that offers the broad vision by which all of ADK's future actions, and strategic goals, should be measured. The Mission Statement not only allows, but encourages, productive growth within the club.

Proposed Revision to the ADK Mission Statement

The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) is dedicated to the protection and responsible recreational use of the New York State Forest Preserve, and other parks, wild lands, and waters vital to our members and chapters. The Club, founded in 1922, is a member-directed organization committed to public service and stewardship. ADK employs a balanced approach to outdoor recreation, advocacy, environmental education, and natural resource conservation.

The phrase “ and other parks, wild lands, and waters vital to our members and chapters ”, recognizes that ADK members and chapters have interest in protecting and recreating in parks, wild lands, and waters that are not part of the New York State Forest Preserve. While the Mission Statements' specific reference to the Forest Preserve emphasizes the historic and continuing importance of this resource to the club, other wild areas also merit our protection and stewardship. The final phrase of the first sentence focuses our activities to areas important to our membership. This phrase recognizes that our Board of Directors authorizes positions and policies determined to be vital to the interests of our ADK members and chapters on issues, parks, wild land and waters outside of the New York State Forest Preserve.

III. Strategic Goals

The 2005 Strategic Goals are all developed in support of the proposed revised Mission Statement. The Strategic Plan was built from the bottom-up, in that a considerable amount of time and discussion was spent in: reviewing internal strengths and weaknesses; external opportunities and threats; and developing “actions” that would be needed to take the Club through the next 5 years. This review highlighted eight focus areas for the strategic plan as follows:

Visual Representation of 2005 Strategic Goals

Organizational Vision

Protection of our
Wildlands & Waters
Advocacy & Conservation
   Provide Rewarding Outdoor
Recreational Experiences
in Wild areas.
Educate for Responsible Recreational Use
& Stewardship-
Outings, Education,
Trails, Facilities

 

Means to Achieve the Vision

 
Members/Chapters
Diversity Issues
 
  
      
Branding & Marketing
Publications
Merchandising
Communications including
Website
 
Fiscally Responsible
External Development

 

Organizational Needs

 
 
Governance &
Organizational Structure
 
 
 
 
Adapting Facilities
to Strategic Needs
IV. Brief Discussion of Each Strategic Goal

Part I: Organizational Vision

Protection of our Wildlands & Waters:

  • ADK will be the voice and lobby for the larger hiking and paddling community's perspective for the protection of the Forest Preserve and wildlands and waters vital to ADK's members.

 

A very successful and visible part of ADK has been the Advocacy and Conservation efforts that have been occurring on a regular basis. These efforts are an integral part of the very reason for existence of ADK, and fully support the Mission Statement. Building on its tradition of excellence based upon thorough research and sound analysis, ADK's advocacy program performs a critical service in promoting our mission goals. This certainly should continue to be a major strategic initiative.   


“Recreation and Education are so intertwined in the fabric of ADK that they must be considered the warp and woof of the cloth from which the club is made. ... And while conservation seeks to protect the very same natural resources that recreation uses, education permits both to coexist in harmony. It is though education that the understanding, appreciation, and intellectual will to protect the natural resource evolve and eventually stimulates the creation of necessary conservation measures.”

Bruce Wadsworth, With Wilderness at Heart , pub. ADK 1996, at p. 50

Educate for Responsible Recreational Use & Stewardship:

  • ADK will promote responsible recreational use and stewardship in areas vital to its chapters and members by enhancing its education programs, professional trail programs, and volunteer trail programs at both the Chapter and Club-wide levels.

  

This is derived from the Mission Statement “responsible recreational use of the New York State Forest Preserve, and other parks and wild lands and waters , vital to our members and chapters.” “Responsible recreational use” is the “what” of the Mission Statement, and “how” this is done is “ADK employs a balanced approach to outdoor recreation, …, environmental education…” We recognize that the wilderness experience transforms both body and spirit. Yet the wilderness is fragile and requires our protection. Our education program seeks to develop an understanding of wild areas and ecosystems and to promote responsible recreational use. This concept permeates our programs through our outings, education, trails, and facilities. Our goal is to achieve a membership and public that is both an advocate for wilderness and that is educated to use it appropriately.

Provide Rewarding Outdoor Recreational Experiences in our Wild Lands:

  • ADK will provide diverse opportunities to enjoy the benefits of non-motorized recreation in a natural setting, to experience the transforming nature of the wilderness and other wild areas, and to appreciate and protect the beauty and fragility of our natural ecosystems.

ADK has a unique opportunity through its chapters and the expertise of its members to provide to the public and its members opportunities to visit some of the most beautiful, yet also most fragile, wild areas in New York State and surrounding areas. The recreational experience provides opportunity for improved physical and mental health, personal growth, and an understanding of one's place in the natural world. It also enhances an understanding of the importance and the fragility of these places. The recreational experience leads to a new and richer perspective which promotes involvement in education and conservation. ADK through its lodges, and its club and chapter outings programs enable members and the public to have these experiences in a manner which safeguards the natural setting.

Part II: Means to Achieve the Mission

 

Members and Chapters:

  • ADK will increase its membership each year by enhancing services and programs to promote healthy chapters, by increasing the number of chapters, by promoting diversity in its membership, and expanding volunteer opportunities at all levels. ADK will establish a recreation committee to handle recreational policy issues.

 

The major strength of ADK is that it is a “member-directed organization.” Clearly this means that all of the actions, programs, conservation and advocacy initiatives, etc., should be directly related to, and driven by, the interests, desires, and direction of the members and chapters. Our Chapters position ADK within communities enabling it to achieve its mission at the local level.. It is also at the members and chapter level that greater diversity initiatives have to take place. The Chapters are, as well, the core source of many volunteer programs. We believe that many more people share the goals of ADK and can benefit from our programs and services.

Fiscally Responsible:

  • ADK will increase its net assets and improve its financial position.   


The lessons of the past few years point to the necessity of maintaining a focus on making prudent financial decisions. The absence of any significant endowment has required ADK in other years to defer maintenance on its facilities, to have its fiscal condition subject to the vagaries of weather and the economy, and to be at a disadvantage relative to comparable organizations. Development of a greater financial base is not only required by principles of prudent management but is essential to our long term success.


Initiatives will need to be prioritized and based on sound fiscal planning and a commitment to fiscal responsibility. New initiatives will need to have additional funds developed to support them. Focus in the development of additional revenues should be on both internal growth of membership and a donor base within the club and continued targeted external development efforts.

Branding and Marketing:

  • ADK will position itself as the leading organization for the responsible outdoor enthusiast in the region we serve.

 

Branding and Marketing were highlighted in our discussions as both necessary to success, and missing in the past. With the revised mission statement, the ADK “brand” needs to be clearly defined, unified, and imbedded across the entire club. Although we discussed whether branding drives marketing, or marketing drives branding, they have been grouped together to ensure that a combined branding/marketing plan is developed and put in place, as a strategic initiative. In our discussions, it also became apparent that one of the first places to start with a branding/marketing plan is within our members and chapters. Publications, merchandising, and communications have been included as operational programs to support and help implement the branding/marketing initiative.

Part III: Organizational Needs

Proper Use of ADK Facilities:

  • ADK's facilities will be analyzed and adapted to best meet the needs of the initiatives in this strategic plan.

ADK's facilities should be viewed as an important means to achieving mission objectives. By focusing on their role in achieving our mission, ADK can maintain a proper level of integration between the facilities and other ADK programs. ADK must make important decisions about the appropriate buildings and structures to fulfill its mission.   Our facilities present unique opportunities to facilitate our educational and recreational goals.

Governance and Organization Structure:

  • ADK's organizational structure will evolve to better achieve its mission and financial goals.

 

To move forward with the major issues brought up in the strategic plan, and to respond to an ever changing regulatory environment, it will be necessary to review the governing structure, and the relationship between ADK staff and volunteers. Although the governing structure has been effective in the past, the club has continued to grow to the point where it may now be necessary to review whether the existing governance structure can effectively make decisions with the speed and thoroughness needed in today's more rapidly paced environment. However, it is equally important to remember that, as stated in the Mission Statement, “The Club is a member-directed organization.” It is possible for the members and chapters to provide overall direction and guidance, while providing appropriate flexibility to management and staff.

V. Concluding Remarks

This Strategic Plan is meant to be a living document. Once this plan has been adopted by the Board of Directors, then the “Operational Objectives” may be implemented to achieve the Strategic Goals. The Strategic Plan and supporting Operational Objectives should be reviewed annually by the staff, volunteers, and Board of Directors. These Objectives will need to be updated regularly.