HOOSIER HIKERS COUNCIL INC
Building hiking trails in Indiana since 1995
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We work to improve quality of life in Indiana by building, maintaining, and promoting high quality natural surface hiking trails that are open to the public. We fill gaps that other organizations and agencies do not have the resources, desire, or expertise to address.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Trail Building and Maintenance
Building and maintaining natural surface trails in Indiana for hikers and trail runners.
Trail Promotion
Promoting the use of natural surface trails by providing resources, events, and information to users.
Where we work
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Trail Building and Maintenance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This metric represents the number of unique individual volunteers who attended at least one public trail work day hosted by HHC. Note that there are more volunteers for HHC that do other activities.
Number of unique website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Trail Promotion
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric represents the number of unique visitors to the HHC website at hoosierhikerscouncil.org.
Number of public events held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Trail Building and Maintenance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This represents the number of published trail work days and race events. Note there are other HHC public events which are not included in this metric, e.g., trail work events not on a 3rd Saturday
Number of products distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Trail Promotion
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
HHC publishes trail maps to increase the ease of access to hiking trails. This metric represents the number distributed each year.
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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 goals are (1) to build and maintain natural surface hiking trails for public use in Indiana, (2) to promote the use of Indiana hiking trails by providing maps, camping, parking, and other useful information, and host annual walking or running events.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The HHC employs two main strategies to accomplish its goals: (1) Increase and strengthen positive and effective partnerships with private and public managers of large land holdings which allow public hiking use. It is important to foster strong relationships with land managers because they are the primary decision makers regarding trail construction and use. The HHC maintains contact with land managers to understand their needs and discuss how new trail construction and maintenance can benefit both them and their users. The HHC works with permission from land owners to scout their holdings and make recommendations on trail possibilities. The second strategy (2) is to provide information and tools for the public which increase both their use and enjoyment of Indiana hiking trails. The HHC is committed to helping the public learn more about natural surface trail hiking and also to provide information, maps, guides, GPS tracks, trail descriptions, links, etc. which make participation in the activity more accessible. The HHC hosts annual walk/run events which provide support for hundreds of trail users as they enjoy Indiana foot paths.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
HHC's primary and most valuable resource toward achieving its goals are the dedicated and experienced volunteers, who donate thousands of hours of their own personal time to support the organization, often with little to no compensation of expenses. These volunteers attend regularly scheduled trail work days, and also perform all the work necessary to host the annual walk-race events. Additionally, they volunteer for many unscheduled trail work needs which involve fixing issues with trails or building new trails. Volunteers also carry out all administrative activities to run the organization.
The HHC also benefits from strong, established long-term relationships with key land managers throughout the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Army Corp of Engineers, and other urban and county parks. There are also private land managers which are an important to HHC's mission, such as The Nature Conservancy, Sycamore Land Trust, and Beck's Mill. It is the land managers that provide the ability for HHC and hikers to enjoy the woodlands within Indiana.
Another import asset which assists toward the goal of promoting trail use is the broad reach of the HHC website, the primary avenue for distributing information, maps, guides, etc. to trail users, or potential ones. For many Indiana hiking-related searches on internet search engines, the HHC frequently is among the top hits listed.
The HHC's intimate knowledge of Indiana hiking trails is another important asset. This has allowed the HHC to publish for the public a broad array of useful hiking information and tools, which are mostly located on the HHC website.
One final important asset includes the HHC tool trailers. One is full of high quality trail building tools, such as pulaskis, McLeods, Rogue hoes, fire rakes, loppers, and shovels. Another holds equipment used for the trail run/walk events.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The HHC's near-term objectives include the following:
(1) Continue progress on new trails at Green's Bluff in Owen County
(2) Collaborate with Sycamore Land Trust and TNC to build new trails or maintain existing ones so that their properties are accessible to the public.
(3) Collaborate with the DNR to continually improve the Adena and Tecumseh Trails by fixing trail issues, managing, and executing the Adopt-a-Trail program.
The three objectives listed above support the HHC goal of building new trail opportunities for hikers in Indiana. For example, the new trails at Green's Bluff will allow hikers to better explore this unique area of the state. Trails in nature preserves increases the reach of HHC's goals, by providing a larger base of potential trail users, who will be able to hike in woodland areas within a short drive from home.
The Tecumseh Trail is important to ensure this trail's continued enjoyment by Indiana hikers. Traveling 40 miles through public and privately held land, it is important to continue to work to ensure the trail corridor remains available for hiking use. The Tecumseh Trail is Indiana's second-longest backpacking, natural-surface trail, and thus remains and important resource for Indiana hikers and runners.
The HHC has learned over its 20 years of existence that relationships with key land managers are extremely important for HHC's goals, and thus should be prioritized above other activities. Because of HHC's high quality work and strong commitments to land managers, HHC now has a continual queue of projects requested or approved by land managers toward the HHC mission.
The largest challenge for HHC is to continually maintain active volunteers to support their work. The HHC works to expand their already active, large base. The HHC has learned to focus resources and funds to support those volunteers, which has resulted in an increase in the last few years.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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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.
HOOSIER HIKERS COUNCIL INC
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2024
Stevie Addison
President
Term: 2017 -
Bonnie Wilcoxson
Stevie Addison
Marsha Hubbs
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
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? Not applicable -
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