Organizational Development Skills and Competencies

Specific skills used in development of organizations for trails and greenways work: creating and building a nonprofit organization; managing boards and staff; recruiting, training, and rewarding volunteers; managing finances and legal issues.

by American Trails Staff

Hollister hills off-road association helped ensure the successful completion of a new OHV riding area in California

Skills for Organizational Development

  • Creating or adapting organizational structures
  • Recruiting and managing members
  • Establishing and maintaining a board of directors
  • Establishing committees and working groups in the organization
  • Creating work plans, timelines, and tasks for staff and volunteers
  • Identifying goals and objectives for long and short term

Skills for Publicity and Promotion

  • Identifying and developing an organizational image
  • Developing appropriate means of promoting the orgainzation's goals
  • Finding and working with media partners
  • Explaining benefits and values, mission, and operation of trails and projects
  • Creating and managing events
  • Writing quarterly and annual reports

Skills for Volunteer Development

  • Creating or adapting a successful volunteer program
  • Recruiting, recognizing, and rewarding volunteers
  • Identifying skill needs and training volunteers

Skills for Managing Legal Issues

  • Identifying and managing risk and potential liabilities
  • Applying state and federal laws on user and volunteer liability to reduce risk to a minimum

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Unifying the Trails Community

By recognizing the common goals that all trail user types share, and fighting for those goals together, it is possible to create a real and positive impact on the trails world.

Public Outreach, Marketing, and Interpretation Skills and Competencies

Database management; website development; trail and facility inventories; trail assessment and maintenance records; identifying and gathering needed information.

Partnership and Collaboration Skills and Competencies

Creating and maintaining partnerships; interagency project management; structuring agreements among partners; nurturing cooperation among a variety of recreation and conservation interests; planning trail systems across jurisdictional lines.

Diversity American Trails advances the development of diverse, high quality trails and greenways for the benefit of people and communities.
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