Boost the visibility of the Carolina Mountain Club's (CMC) trail maintenance event and promote trail stewardship through volunteer efforts.
Impact
1,054 work hours valued at $35,00 contributed on a single day
25% volunteer growth year over year with 130+ participants
120k impressions for the CMC across social media and on AllTrails
“Wow, what a weekend! Thanks to AllTrails' support, we had 130 volunteers out [on the trail] making a huge impact. No doubt, AllTrails helped us to spread the word about CMC and increase our volunteer numbers”
Background
Founded in 1923, the Carolina Mountain Club is the oldest and largest trail maintenance organization in the southeastern United States. The club maintains over 400 miles of trail in Western North Carolina, including 94 miles of the most memorable parts of the Appalachian Trail. The CMC and its volunteers work with multiple agencies, including the US Forest Service and the National Parks Service, to keep trails open and accessible.
Challenge
The Carolina Mountain Club is fully volunteer-run and has limited resources for reaching visitors to promote their trail work days. While trail visitors may be aware of the impact their activity has on the trail system, they are unsure of how to help mitigate damage and help improve trail resilience.
Due to limited resources, the CMC needed to find ways to reach a larger group of trail-goers and promote stewardship and advocacy on a regional scale.
Approach
The Carolina Mountain Club partners with AllTrails to promote the CMC's tradition of a quarterly trail work day on National Public Lands day. With help from AllTrails, the CMC promoted its campaign through:
Co-branded campaign assets including flyers, email blasts, and social media content
Incentivize volunteerism through an AllTrails+ membership giveaway
Geo-targeted ads on AllTrails across Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee
*Due to the impacts of Hurricane Helene that brought significant damage to Western North Carolina, the original trail work day was rescheduled until late Fall when trail recovery efforts were approved to start.
Outcome
With the help of the AllTrails community throughout Western North Carolina, the Carolina Mountain Club exceeded its number of volunteers at any trail maintenance event by 25%. Through its commitment to the trail and to its volunteers, the CMC promoted trail stewardship, community, and advocacy, ensuring that the trail system will be maintained for future generations.
