CLEAN LAKES ALLIANCE INC
Healthy Waters. Thriving Community.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Clean Lakes Alliance envisions a community renowned for its healthy lakes, lands, and waters. The more people who share in that vision, the more we can prioritize clean, safe, healthy and accessible lakes for all who want to use, enjoy and benefit from them. Today, our Greater Madison lakes (Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa, and Kegonsa) are failing to meet basic standards of water quality and usability. While our primary focus continues to be on reducing phosphorus pollution--one of the biggest drivers of cyanobacteria blooms and beach closures--we also work to draw attention to other lake-related challenges and opportunities.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Clean Lakes 101 Science Cafes
Each month, Clean Lakes Alliance recruits an expert to present research and the latest project initiatives to non-technical audiences. These in-person and live-streamed events connect innovative practitioners and the scientific community to interested watershed residents, creating an entry point for learning and involvement. These one-hour, morning sessions are typically held at The Edgewater on Lake Mendota in downtown Madison.
Volunteer Days
Volunteer Days offer rewarding, meaningful, and hands-on watershed restoration and cleanup opportunities for area businesses and organizations. Volunteer Days are hosted most Thursdays from late April through October, and involve host-site partners with project needs that span the watershed. Projects commonly include invasive species removals, native plant restorations, prairie seed collections, and park and beach cleanups.
LakeForecast/Citizen Monitoring
Since 2013, an ever-growing number of volunteer monitors have been tracking and communicating near-shore water quality conditions on all five Yahara lakes. A network of about 100 trained citizen scientists collect and report real-time information available through LakeForecast.org (also a free smartphone app available for Apple and Android devices). The dynamic, smartphone-enabled website and downloadable app uses interactive maps to provide lake users with the latest reports on public beach closures and water quality conditions across all five lakes.
Lake Explorer Camp & Youth Outdoor-Immersion Experiences
Clean Lakes Alliance and its partners have supported kids from places like the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, Bayview Foundation & Community Center, and area schools by facilitating access and lifelong learning around our lakes. Through various outdoor-immersion experiences, online educational resources, and Clean Lakes Grants, we have helped introduce youth to fish and wildlife identification, paddling, water quality testing, fishing, and other water-based activities. Past partners include Madison Boats and City of Madison Parks that have helped provide unique outdoor learning experiences to mostly minority and under-resourced communities.
Leaf-free Streets Initiative
Fall leaf litter that collects in our streets is a leading contributor of urban phosphorus pollution to our lakes. To help keep our lake clean, we piloted a successful "Rake for the Lake Challenge" in partnership with the Village of Deforest, a community situated in the headwaters of the Yahara River Watershed. We also helped fund important research through the U.S. Geological Survey to quantify the impacts of leaf-free streets, leading to the development of a framework for municipalities to claim stormwater phosphorus credits as part of their permit requirements. Clean Lakes Alliance continues to encourage cooperation between municipalities and residents in keeping leaves from accumulating in the street gutter where they can release a phosphorus "tea" that washes into storm sewers and into our lakes. Recently, this included partnerships with the city of Madison and Friends of Lake Kegonsa Society in promoting action to keep leaves out of the street gutter each fall.
Clean Lakes Grants
Clean Lakes Alliance offers grants to support partners that are doing good work on behalf of our lakes. To date, over $1.4 million in grants were awarded to facilitate on-the-ground project action, education, and capacity building. Close to 80% of this funding has gone to support agricultural conservation efforts, an area where most of our watershed's pollution reductions can be achieved.
Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are a major threat to the quality of our lakes. The accidental or intentional introduction of certain plants and animals can lead to poor water clarity, loss of native wildlife, and increased algal growth. Clean Lakes Alliance works to raise awareness of AIS through boater education and free watercraft checks at popular boat launches. Our goal is to raise awareness about aquatic invasive species, including how they impact lake health and what people can do to prevent their spread. Through a partnership with Wisconsin DNR and Dane County, hundreds of hours of boater education and watercraft inspections take place each summer at several boat landings across multiple lakes.
Yahara CLEAN Compact & RENEW THE BLUE
The Yahara CLEAN Compact, a 19-group coalition convened and led by Clean Lakes Alliance, represents the largest partnership ever assembled to specifically improve the condition and usability of our local lakes and beaches. Through a process of updating the community's action plan to improve water quality, Compact partners united around a common vision and roadmap to which we can hold ourselves accountable. The Compact's seminal work product, a publication titled RENEW THE BLUE: A Community Guide for Cleaner Lakes & Beaches in the Yahara Watershed (2022), is available on our website. Clean Lakes Alliance is now working to advance and advocate for the plan's recommended stakeholder actions.
Where we work
Awards
Monitoring Program of the Year 2018
Wisconsin DNR Citizen-based Monitoring Network
Citizen of the Year (Executive Director James Tye) 2016
Yahara Lakes Association
Technical Merit Award 2014
North American Lake Management Society
Good Business Award 2018
Marquette Neighborhood Association
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children, Families
Related Program
Clean Lakes Grants
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Clean Lakes Grants are awarded to partners to leverage project work related to education, community engagement, and phosphorus reduction. To date, over $1.4 million in grants have been awarded.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Families, Children
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total volunteer hours donated for Volunteer Days, youth camps, lake monitoring, Compact, and various fundraising and educational events. Board/committee hours NOT included (1,000+ hours per year).
Number of education hours delivered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children, Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total hours of educational programming and training through science cafes, youth camps, monitoring, tours, presentations, Community Board forums, major events, boater education, and Volunteer Days.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children, Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Participants involved in Volunteer Days, youth camps, monitoring, educational tours, training academies, science cafes, major events, presentations, Yahara CLEAN Compact, and Community Board.
Number of public events held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Total events related to Volunteer Days, youth camps, monitoring, tours, conferences, science cafes, community talks, and fundraising/reporting events.
Number of media articles reflecting preferred issue framing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Earned media in print, broadcast and web
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal is to raise community awareness of the issues facing the watershed, advocate for the welfare of the lakes, and help procure the necessary funding to clean and protect these waterways. Specifically, Clean Lakes Alliance is working to facilitate action to reduce phosphorus pollution, and with the goal of doubling the number of days in which the lakes are clear and free of algal blooms. Working closely with state, county, and local government agencies, as well as waterway user groups, area businesses, riparian owners, and community nonprofits, Clean Lakes Alliance serves as both a positive voice for the promotion of our cherished lakes and a fundraising vehicle for achieving these ends.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Build Alliances: Clean Lakes Alliance fosters a community of lake leaders and a network of mutually beneficial partnerships. These networks and collaborations allow us to work more efficiently while maximizing the impact of the services we provide. They also allow us to offer assistance and leverage action where our strengths will be most useful.
2. Educate: Clean Lakes Alliance creates hands-on educational experiences for stakeholders of all ages and with a focus on the latest lake and conservation science. We support research and monitoring to help guide the actions we take to clean up our waterways.
3. Raise Awareness & Advocate: Clean Lakes Alliance seeks to be a trusted advocate for the Yahara lakes. We support action to protect and enhance our lakes, with a focus on reducing phosphorus pollution. We also focus public attention on the key issues, recognizing that public support is critical to our success.
4. Focus Priorities: Clean Lakes Alliance works cooperatively with elected officials, public agencies, scientific experts, community organizations, private businesses, farmers, and concerned citizens to target priority projects and cost-effective initiatives that will help us achieve clean lakes.
5. Secure Funding: Clean Lakes Alliance uses our partnership networks to ensure that funding and support can be directed to critical projects. We garner public support for funding at the local, county, and state level, secure project grants, and raise funds directly through the Friends of Clean Lakes and various fundraising events.
6. Take Action: Thanks to strong momentum and support for clean lakes efforts, our community is making progress towards the Yahara CLEAN goals related to phosphorus reduction. Clean Lakes Alliance continues to mobilize and coordinate efforts around this objective, most recently by leading the 19-member Yahara CLEAN Compact in producing an updated cleanup plan for the lakes.
7. Report Progress: Clean Lakes Alliance is continually tracking and reporting on the community's progress towards healthy lakes. We use a variety of mediums: the Lake-O-Gram newsletters, annual State of the Lakes Report, Greater Madison Lake Guide, social media, and communication with partners through our boards and committees.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The expertise and experience of Clean Lakes Alliance staff is crucial for the success of our initiatives. Our team includes professionals from a variety of backgrounds: water resource scientists, social scientists, community organizers, and outreach professionals. In addition, our efforts are supplemented by our competitive internship and volunteer programs. In 2023, we organized hundreds of volunteers to take action; supported a network of 87 LakeForecast monitoring stations reporting near real-time conditions from across all five lakes; distributed almost $40,000 in Clean Lakes Grants; and advocated for the advancement of recommendations in the Yahara CLEAN Compact's "Renew the Blue" cleanup plan.
Clean Lakes Alliance also works closely with the agricultural community through our partnership with Yahara Pride Farms and other collaborators. These efforts have allowed us to reach farmers who have previously been reluctant to work with government conservation staff or government-funded cost-share programs. We have paired private funding and grants with county and federal dollars to leverage support and help advance projects. Moreover, we helped structure the farmer-led model, which is successful and growing in the Yahara watershed. By sharing this model, we have brought statewide and national attention to the potential for this model to be replicated and scaled up to other parts of the state and country.
Finally, our efforts would not be possible without the strong support of the larger community. By connecting community members to each other and to the lakes, our programs and events help turn lake users into lake advocates. We balance education and outreach with celebration and recreation, knowing that diverse programming will appeal to and be inclusive of the many different stakeholders that call this area home.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Clean Lakes Alliance has made progress towards our phosphorus-reduction goal by working with diverse stakeholders, including businesses, agriculture, university experts, nonprofit organizations, and government partners. Additionally, through our events and educational programs, we have been able to build a community of clean lakes advocates who recognize the importance of healthy lakes. Going forward, we will continue to work on improving water quality while connecting the public to our lakes. Those efforts will include pushing for action around the Yahara CLEAN Compact's "Renew the Blue" plan to achieve cleaner lakes and beaches.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
CLEAN LAKES ALLIANCE INC
Board of directorsas of 01/19/2024
Ms. Linda Nedelcoff
TruStage
Term: 2021 - 2026
Jim St. Vincent
Yahara Lakes Association
James Tye
Clean Lakes Alliance
Trey Sprinkman
Sprinkman Real Estate
Hollie Kemmer
Baker Tilly US
Sopen Shah
Perkins Coie LLP
Pam Christenson
Madison Gas & Electric
Paul Wrycha
Foley & Lardner LLP
Linda Nedelcoff
TruStage
Angie Rieger
Lands' End
Courtney Searles
Johnson Financial Group
Lloyd Eagan
Wisconsin DNR, retired (Emeritus)
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/04/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.