0:00  
All right, well, hello, everyone. I'm Carla Ivey, and I'm the Director of Client success here at NEON one. And I'm here with Luke Kloberdanz the director of philanthropy for the Ice Age trail Alliance, who is going to share a little bit more about his volunteer program at the Alliance. So welcome, Luke, thanks so much for joining us.

0:17  
Thank you for having me. And looking forward to talking with you. Awesome.

0:21  
Well, I have a little secret here. I'm actually a volunteer with the ice trail Alliance. So I know firsthand all of the great things that you all are doing and the impact that it has on the community. So why don't you just dive in and maybe introduce yourself a little bit more in depth and tell me more about the Ice Age trail Alliance?

0:38  
o as you said, Luke Kloberdanz, nice job with last name. I am director of philanthropy here in our headquarters in Cross Plains, working to support our volunteers across the state and our various volunteer chapters that we have. So prior to working full time with the Alliance, I was a teacher and through hiker and created a program to engage youth in the outdoors, called Saunders, that program became institutionalized within the alliance and I joined staff at that point as our outreach and education manager. Since then, I've moved over to philanthropy work, where I'm now the Director of philanthropy and work with a wonderful team of about 24 people depending on the season, who support our volunteers and care for the land that we purchase and organize those wonderful volunteer events that you've been a part of Carla. And so that's what I do here, I make sure that we have the tools and supplies the materials and, and then able to provide the training that our volunteers need to do the job provide the resources for the training, I should say. So sometimes I leave the training too. my first step into the Ice Age Trail Alliance was walking into one of those volunteer projects not knowing anyone in the Lodi marsh and being put to work right away and realizing boy, this is great. This is just like when I was a kid playing in the dirt, I get to build things and but I'm getting back and creating something and and so that's that's really carried through in my philosophy and work is what we're doing is creating a common good and caring for a common good that all people get to enjoy and hopefully use to their personal advantage. Our organization is really is a volunteer based, member based organization that our work is designed to create and enhance the Ice Age National Scenic Trail experience. And we do that on multiple levels, we have our staff, staff level, like I said, based in Cross Plains come by and  see us anytime. we don't have a museum, but we have a lot of knowledgeable people here and come by and see sort of, you know, the people behind the machine that if you will, that are out doing the trail layout and design, working with landowners to get permanent protection that are engaging youth groups and outdoor work and, and that's that's our team here that we sort of set the stage we make sure that all of our compliance issues are taken care of everything's ready to go, we can go out in the field. Because our job is to support our volunteers that are out there working on behalf of our mission and in our partnership with the National Park Service and Wisconsin DNR to create these new experiences for hikers, and trail runners and burgers and skiers and ride all these different folks that want to use the trail in different ways. So we have 19 volunteer chapters, not necessarily by county, but a lot of them are by county. And those are led by those are sort of that that local group that takes over the work that that you know on that on that real grassroots level. So these are the people that are out pushing mowers making sure the trail is maintained, they're putting the blazes up. And then handling any trail maintenance issues that come up and a lot of the restoration work that we need to do you know, when we buy a piece of property, we don't just buy it and put the trail on forget about it, we remove the invasive species, we encourage the native species, we try to restore it

4:18  
to an appropriate level. And that's that's really what our our work is about in terms of what we do to create these spaces. So it's not just the 24 or 36 or 18 inch tread that you walk on as a hiker but it's also the surrounding landscape and making sure that the full sensory experiences is there for the hiker and it's imaginative and it's something that is very easy to you know, get plow a road or power path through these properties, but we try to add some imagination to our route. So our work centered on getting people outdoors. And that includes young folks, to the not so young folks, we have different programs. As I mentioned before, saunters. Think outside of the program we have designed for fourth graders where we aim every year to get out 10,000 4th graders during the school year, we're happy to say that this year in the 2022 to 2023 school year, we have just over 6500 young folks registering to go out and hike with our teachers. And when we provide through funding from National Park Foundation, we provide the financial resources for those schools to do that. So we pay for buses, we pay for our educational materials, and we provide some of the presentation to enhance their learning while being outside. So all of those things from outreach and education to land protection to trail construction is sort of where we, how we center ourselves and our work.

5:44  
Yeah, that's awesome. And I think, since we have, we're gonna have a large audience today from across the country and even around the world across other countries as well. I mean, I think it's important to really point out the fact that this trail is what, 1200 miles across the entire state of Wisconsin, so it really touches so many different parts of the state. So when you're talking about all these volunteers that the 19 different chapters and all of the people hiking the trail every year and all these students that you're working together on the trail, this is truly touching, not only one small part of the community, but communities across the state, which is really, really incredible.

6:25  
For sure, yeah, we are very honored to be part of the National Trail system. We are one of 11 National Scenic Trails, so that you could consider these some of the best hikes in the United States. And yes, 1200 miles, and people say how do you get 1200 miles in Wisconsin, and it follows a circuitous route through the state, which we are designated by Congress to follow the furthest extent to the last glacial advance. And so that's when those icy fingers came down from the north pole and carved the earth where they stopped. And the last glacial advance is roughly where the trail goes where I sit today in Cross Plains, where in the Driftless region where the glacier didn't go, but you know, where I live, and Lodi north of here, the glacier would have covered some of that or so. So our route really follows that for through more or less 1200 miles, we have about 675 or so on the ground with the rest to go. So we're feeling good about our trajectory on that. But yeah, we are. We are one of the great hikes of the United States, I guess you could say?

7:27  
Yeah, for sure. And I can attest to that firsthand. It seems like you know, wherever I go in Wisconsin, there's always a section of the Ice Age trail. And it's always a joy to get to hike a new section whenever I go to a new part of the state. So

7:39  
absolutely, yeah. And it's our you know, it's our pre pandemic, we had about 2800 volunteers every year. We're now at about 2000 volunteers and ramping back up. But those great hikes are made by the volunteers.

7:52  
or sure, well, why don't you I know you've shared a little bit more about the volunteer program. But if you can go into just a little bit more depth here. Because I feel like the organization you have a great staff. But so much of the work is really powered by volunteers. And every time I show up at a volunteer event, there's always a very impressive crew of folks that came to support the trail, both new folks and folks that come every time there's an opportunity. So can you share a little bit more about your volunteer program as it stands today? And then maybe how it started? How did you start engaging volunteers with this work? And how has that grown over time?

8:33  
Right? Sure. Well, I mean, we've always been a volunteer group. So I guess you could say it started in 1958 When our organization was formed. But while we'll talk about when it was really expanded upon, but, you know, we said there's a job for everyone with the Ice Age trail. So whether you want to volunteer and hike with a group of fourth graders, or you want to volunteer for land restoration or steed collecting, praire seed collecting, or you want to come into the office and help us with our work, there's a job for everyone. And we really do mean that when we say that there, we will find a job for you. There's no shortage of work here to do you know, taking care of our volunteers and 1200 mile trail takes many hands. But you know, when it comes to sort of the official programs, if you will, you know, we have what we call our MSc program, and this is really designed around engaging volunteers and multimedia then in places where we need a strong impact. So I can give you an example. Most recently we were in northern Wisconsin last weekend, where we had just over 100 volunteers come out for four days we provide camping we provide an evening meal, and and they go out and they work all day on building a new trail affection and that that program MSC started in earnest and in 2001 2002, I was part of that initial training for MSc as a volunteer when I was a school teacher still. And that really codified a lot of the ways that we work with volunteers today. So it was centered around providing the volunteers with the knowledge on how to do the work, the skills that accompany that knowledge, and then providing them the resources to make sure that they can do that work. So, you know, I may learn how to build a four step bench and the trail, but then actually developing that skill over the course of time. And then having all the tools I need to go do that is really what where that centers within that program, as someone is trained, they become a crew leader in good standing. And that that comes with a few hurdles first. So as if, Carla, if you were saying, Hey, I love this work, I want to be a crew leader, you would go through what we call a crew leader skills training, where you would get first aid, CPR, chainsaw safety training, and you would practice some of the leadership skills and working with very diverse groups. So the people that that are on crew on come from all different walks of life, and everyone's welcome. So you kind of get your, your bag and people that you deal with and you say this is my group, and let's go. So we talked about conflict resolution, we talked about, you know, you want to remove a tree, someone on your crew is very adamant about not removing that tree, how do you deal with that conflict and other other issues. So build the skill set within that crew leader as they're developing. So Carly, you go through the leader skills, you say, Alright, I'm ready to do this. We don't just hand the keys over to you right away, you have to spend some time shadowing a certified crew leader. So you might work on my crew, where I'm the one that has the radio and listening to the crew leader manager saying Oh, yeah, we're gonna do this, that and you're learning through sort of that stuff, I would gradually sort of hand over the controls to you, right. And then at a certain point, i'd say alright, Carla, you're the crew leader, I'm your shadow crew leader. And I'm watching you to take the lead and do the work. And then. So we try to build in this transition for those crew leaders to feel comfortable to make sure that we get the right person in the job, we don't want our volunteers to have a poor experience, because they're clearly just just not the right thing fit for you. So eventually, we'd say Carla, good job, you are a certified crew leader in good standing, here's your hat. Here's your T shirt, yep, celebrations and now go do great work in the world. So what we want from those crew leaders is to join us on our multi day events around the state. But we also want them to get engaged with their local chapter. So the idea that these skills that you develop, are mobile and can be carried out locally with your local chapter or clear in the North Woods. So if you're not around them, Waukesha Milwaukee County Chapter Diego join the high point chapter clear on the north and Taylor County. So we want those skills to be something to get transferred, and not just something that you hang on to but you are also teaching those local folks how to build that tread, how to restore that landscape. So it really is an idea of knowledge transfer, skill transfer, and the ripple effect of creating, creating good on the ice age National Scenic Trail. 

13:07  
 Yeah, I think that's such an important point, the whole concept of supporting people and elevating their skills and mentorship as they become more skilled and better volunteers over time. I think one aspect that really struck me as being really unique about your volunteer program is that a lot of the work honestly, you're going out you're talking about chainsaws and digging postholes and boardwalks and tread What the heck is tread? I think that can be really intimidating for a lot of people to dive in and want to volunteer for something new and especially doing more manual labor or something that they've never done before. But it seems like every event that I go to there are new folks there. And every event that I go to I gain new skills and learn how to do things. So how do you feel like you've become really successful in terms of attracting people who are maybe not the usual suspects for that type of work, and really engaging more diverse people in that type of work to build the trail?

14:11  
Sure, yeah. Great point. A great question. I think there's a couple of different ways this has happened. So most recently, with the pandemic, we had, our numbers just exploded in terms of people that were using the trail. And so there's this group called Get off the couch. It's a hiking group. And their goal is to get all the members of that group and anyone can join at any point, but help those people complete the entire trail. And so after Now, a couple of years, we're seeing a pretty strong contingent of those folks have have completed the entire trail. And now we're seeing them turn to volunteerism and seeing hey, I want to I want to give back you know, that's certainly a big part of it for me when I through hiked, I thought, Wow, there's so much work I can help with here. And I want to do that as a volunteer and I think that it typifies our Our strongest asset, which is the trail, now people will volunteer for something, they appreciate the volunteer for something that they love and care for. And so the more people we can get on the trail to those youth program, and help in providing resources for them to get out on the trail, as they get older, eventually they turn to that volunteerism. Now we also have people that don't want to hike. Oh, I'm doing volunteer. So we also were thinking about those folks that are recently retired. So we hear that plenty of carpenters, retired carpenters that want to get on, use the skills that they have to build boardwalk, or use, share the skills that they have, so that I can learn how to do that, or you could learn how to do that. And I think that's, that's really that sort of mentorship that you spoke to earlier. You know, it's creating that space for them to feel like they can contribute in that way. So it really is just creating that idea for the people that are finding the trail, and then finding a way for people who maybe don't want to hike but have skills to participate and our our marketing and community engagement team. They do, I think a fabulous job of making sure that people understand that these opportunities exist, that all are welcome and no skills are required. I was last weekend working on a stone staircase with Katie, a person from Chicago, who is a real estate broker that works out of her home. And this was her second project. And she's like, I just love it. I feel so welcome. I've never done anything like this before. I've never done stonework or done any trail building like this in my life. And it's my second one, I can't wait for the next event. And I think that speaks to the camaraderie within those volunteers that are there, I'm sure you've experienced that. The way that people welcome you with open arms, it's not that people don't get frustrated at the end of the day. And you know, man is is tough. That's part of part of that magic, you know, when you go back to camp at the end of the day, and you're sitting around saying, Boy, that was that last move was really tough, you know, that builds that common sense of community. And I think that's, that's ultimately what brings people back after they've been engaged.

17:04  
Yeah, that was going to be my next question. So it's not just the sense of community and having an impact on your local environment, there's really, so much of it is just fun. And the the Alliance, I think, does a great job at recognizing that people want to go and they want to have fun. And sometimes there's maybe music in the evenings or, you know, there's pizza and everybody bonds over talking about the rocks that they pulled out that day while having a slice of pizza. So how do you think about kind of cultivating that fun atmosphere and making it something where people have a really good time, even though they're spending eight plus hours out working and doing really hard work all day long?

17:46  
Yeah, well, you know, a lot of that happens organically. To be honest, you know, we used to do programming, we still do that on occasion, you know, we've had lion troops come out and do dances for us, we've had, as you mentioned, musicians come out local experts, people that help with rapid recovery, come out and provide that educational moment. But honestly, I think the some of the best things that we provide are cribbage board and a deck of cards. So people can talk to one another, rather than listening to someone on stage. And they can actually bond in that way. So I think, you know, it takes a little bit of everything, honestly, but, but those moments between volunteers are where those bonds get developed, you know, we have people that will call us in December and say, Hey, what's the trail building schedule looking like, I need to schedule my vacation dates for next year, you know, and then they, they network with their friends. So it's, it's really one of those things that we create the space for it, you know, oftentimes, you know, we're looking for a beautiful place to camp, you know, someplace that, you know, last weekend were at would like a beautiful lake in the middle of Taylor County that is, you know, has loons on, and it's really just stunning. So, you know, we created try to create the space and sort of let it let it happen from there. But, you know, this this project, you know, the Ice Age trail project, in my mind as if it has the ability to transform lives, and has the ability to, you know, improve communities and, and meet these big lofty, lofty goals, societal goals, perhaps, but, you know, it's also dirt and sticks. And I'm not trying to minimize that, but what we're doing is removing dirt and we're creating clearing the pathway for the for the trail to exist, so we can't take our work too seriously. We have to have fun, you know, we're not there. There are much better causes that are dealing with childhood cancer and other things that are much more important in this world. But, but I think that what the Ice Age trail provides is an opportunity to just sort of find that that personal wellbeing for individuals or if they experience something traumatic in their life and go out and Find it. Some people just want to go out and do the trail because it's fun. And that's great, too. So our work should also be fun. So we're trying to take ourselves too seriously. Certainly there are times when, you know, we're we're bearing down on the project and, and trying to meet that deadline. But it should be fun if you're a volunteer. Shouldn't you know you? People have board meetings and things they deal with outside of this work? It should be a good time. So we try to make so

20:13  
yeah, I can definitely attest that you're very successful in that for sure. Good. Um, one thing I thought would be really fascinating. So I had recently learned that in 2021, volunteers for the Ice Age trail Alliance logged more volunteer hours for the National Park Service than most national parks, including Yellowstone. Can you talk a little bit more about that and, and kind of how how your partnership with the National Park Service has supported this work over time as well?

20:43  
Sure. Yeah. So the Ice Age trail, Ice Age National Scenic Trail is managed by what we call the triad Wisconsin DNR, National Park Service. And Ice Age trail Alliance, when we were designated by Congress as a National Scenic Trail part of that act, that guides that requires a National Park Service to work with a nonprofit group, we are that group. And what that partnership means is that national parks service creates the corridor, identifies the corridor, I should say, through which the trail will pass, they provide funding for different initiatives, based off of you know our needs and when we submit grants through the federal channels, but they also provide a type of workers comp for our volunteers. And we couldn't do this work, you know, without that. So when there's a government shutdown, we shut down our projects. So when you signed up to volunteer, Carla, you filled out a form called a 301a form very governmental naming. And, and what that did though, is it extends worker's comp to you. So if you were out on the trail with us, and you were swinging a picMatic and you hit your foot, and it didn't feel right, we would take you into emergent care or we, you know, take care of you with with whatever the appropriate clinic is nearby. And and then you would get the treatment that you needed to be better. And that would be paid for by the National Park Service. And what happens when people fill out that 301 A forms and then we also sort of track their volunteer time through the National Park Service, through their different benchmarks throughout that process where, you know, so many hours give you a free pass to every national park and other set hours gives you a water bottle and a jacket and a shade. So they're all these incentives along the way. And we have some volunteers that just putting credible number of hours. And I think with that support from the National Park Service, that workers comp gets extended, we are able to engage volunteers in a way they feel safe, that they feel like they're part of something even bigger than Wisconsin. But by and large, you know, Wisconsin is very interesting in that people have this incredible State pride in being one of three national scenic trails that is within one state. I think really that shines through in our volunteer base. So the people that we have are people that have been with us for a long time. And they welcome in a lot of these new peoples are sort of constantly building that next generation of diehard volunteers. Right. And and that those that grew up, I managed to this incredible pride in the state. A lot of the people that volunteer with us are 1000 milers, meaning they have hiked the whole entire trail. That's our designation. That's our title for them. And and they want to give back and that passion shines through. So yes, we get a lot of volunteers, we manage quite a few volunteers, we're actually hiring in the month of October a volunteer support coordinator. Because to sort of be that conduit. So if someone comes to us and says for the first time I want to volunteer, what can I do, they will go to this person. And then that person also designed trainings and things to make sure it is it is a big, big project in some of our more higher number of volunteer years, we will have the equivalent of 39 to 41 full time employees and number of hours work. So think about managing, you know a business with 40 to 40 employees. That's kind of how we look at it. So we want to make sure they're cared for make sure they have the skills and resources they need to do the job.

24:15  
Pretty incredible. Do you have mentioned earlier? Kind of that, that pipeline that you that you're working to build? So getting people out on the trail experiencing the trail seeing how wonderful it is? Then there's the natural desire to jump in and volunteer. How does that that whole pipeline and that whole natural flow intersect with your membership program and then your fundraising program as well? How do you kind of connect all of the things together and make everything work together to support the alliance and all of the work that you do?

24:47  
Yeah, that's a good question. You know, again, I think we can we always look at it, what's our product, and our product is the trail you know, and all the things that goes that go into creating that product. It is really where the membership side comes from, we have just over 5000 members, and about 2000 volunteers. So there are 3000 people or so that just want to support our volunteers. So making sure that we amplify that work. You know, your experience is created by these volunteers, your membership supports their work, is really sort of how we create that intersection. And I think that it's, we see people that will come out, volunteer with us and be like, Oh, okay, I'll join this organization, they look, they look pretty good. I had a great experience, I can throw 50 bucks a year at them and, and that, you know, covers my meals or something. However, they rationalize it in their in their mind. But we always talk about the experiences that our volunteers are creating, and not talking about just the trail construction. But the people that are out guiding hikes, the people that are taking youth out or are going into businesses and during lunch and learn so their employees can learn about ways to be healthy. So the volunteer work is is so diverse, that I think it's really talking about your experiences created by these people, please support them. And that's how our membership grows through that experience, whether they're out there on their own hiking and just finding the love of the trail, or are volunteering themselves and saying this is important to me. So I think that's probably how it intersects I think we saw during COVID, because our volunteer work was greatly limited. I think we saw just people coming out in in droves. I mean, I don't know if you hiked during, during COVID, like the other 6 million people, but it was really just overwhelming. But we made a conscious decision within the official airline staff team, to remain open. Many of our colleagues and the National Scenic Trail community, the other nonprofits that help manage their trails, whether it's Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, they were closing trailhead, they're closing the trail where they could be out of safety, and they had great reasons for doing so. But we sort of sat around our table and said, you know, people need us now more than ever. So let's not, let's not close, let's not close the trailheads that we manage, let's not close the trail where we can, let's leave it open. And I think that, that creating that space for people to realize the benefits of the trail boosted our membership, you know, it's grown 40% Over the last couple of years, you know, for two years now, three years now. And you know, if you go back five years, it's jumped 81% In five years, and most of that growth has happened since since the pandemic, so we're really focusing on retaining that membership. You know, what are the member benefits that people get? How do we incentivize that membership for people to stay here? And how do we, how do we stay relevant as people are going back to work? How do we maintain our place in their lives and, and we haven't seen much of a dip we've seen I kind of launched and then it sort of leveled a little bit. But we haven't seen a steep dive in membership, which which means that the product is good. In my opinion, it means that while people are here to support, they still care about and love.

25:21  
Absolutely, I think as you're kind of talking about all those different elements, it really connected back to why we're here today, right? We're here to talk about generosity and the ways that we can engage our communities around things that matter in our lives and in our world. So providing many different ways for people to express their generosity, whether it be through volunteerism, or becoming a member saying I want to support this on a regular basis or maybe making a larger donation, a major gift of some sort. You're really giving many opportunities for people to raise their hand and say this is what we want to support because this is a fantastic product that everybody in the state can benefit from. So that's such a fantastic

28:50  
Yeah, it's true. And I mean, what I think the reason why people keep supporting us is because they see that you know 80% roughly of our of our budget goes to to programs. You know, this is about putting people on the trail and caring for the land, it's not not paying, paying big salaries, it's not you know, creating a lush, totally lush office space, and beautiful office space. But it's really about making an impact on the ground and and whether that's land protection work, that's where we see a lot of our major gifts is through land protection and people helping us close the gaps along the trail. You know, like I said, 675 We have about 600 ago. So we've got work to do and and that's where I think people can see like I'm I'm leaving a legacy here I am helping create a space for everyone to joy enjoy forever. And you know, we permanently protect land. It doesn't like we protect it to put the trail on it and we sell a whole bunch of it off we permanently protect land we will do what's best for the trail. That might mean selling off a plot but we will not. We want in no Impend on that. That space, that actual trail space and the experience around it. so people see the legacy they can leave, you know, I, I am not able to go out and protect 300 acres on on behalf of the trail myself, but as a collective community we can. And I think that's where that camaraderie comes back again in it in the world of giving anyway.

30:15  
Absolutely. Well, one final question for you before we wrap up. So you mentioned that you were hiring a volunteer coordinator, which is an exciting next step in recognition of how important your volunteer program is for everything that you do. What do you think is next for your volunteer program? What what goals are you looking to hit? Coming up in the years ahead? In this post COVID World's quota? Yeah, so we involve

30:41  
No, no kidding? Well, I think we are we're looking at ramping back up. Right. So we've been shy of our 2800 volunteers. So getting that back up to a sustainable number for us where people were, we don't diminish that volunteer experience. I think as part of our volunteer work moving forward, you know, last year, we protected a record number of properties. So we have a lot of trail building to do. This year, we are projected to tie that number if not exceeded and land protection efforts. So we have a lot of ground out there begging for trail. And so as we you know, we work through our issues of compliance and making sure that the route is identified. And it'll take us a year to lay out a section of a mile of trail. Because we like to look at it in all different seasons. But I think it's really going to be ramping up that volunteer program to get back to that high number. But also, this is an opportunity to change a little bit, you know, we may be maybe we don't need 300 volunteers to show up in one location, but we need 100 at three location. So how do we become a little more nimble? How do we create an impact across the north where we have some of the best sections of trail and longest segments of trail, but we have a fewer number of volunteers? So how do we support those chapters? And so how do we maybe spread out a little more across the state as opposed to finding one place where we can have a ton of people so it's an opportunity to change and specialize a little bit perhaps, and maybe have a greater impact across a greater number of miles on the trail as we move forward. So a volunteer support coordinator will have a lot of work to do. But they will, they will be instrumental in creating you know, that the the training the skill base and the things that people need to go out and do the work whether it's in their backyard, or across the state and you know, another part of the northern part of the North Woods or across the prairies of the South. So we want to make sure that they have what they need and and that they'll be the volunteers for coordinators job.

32:44  
Fantastic. Well, very exciting future up ahead, and I look forward to being in there for it and helping out where I can. But thank you so much for joining us today and sharing a little bit more about your program and all of the things that have made it successful over the years and sharing a little bit more about the great state of Wisconsin with all of our friends on the call today. So thank you so much. And Cheers.

33:07  
Thank you for having me and I hope you will come out and hike it

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