What is 'Choose Your Gift'?
Here at the Cottonwood Gulch, we aspire to be at the forefront of inclusive practices that can help build our community and strengthen the bonds between us.
We are always trying to find new ways of making our programs more accessible, so even more of us can share in the growth and beauty of our summer expeditions.
We would like to introduce you to a new tuition model we will be offering this year for our Prairie Trek, Turquoise Trail and GO Trek: It’s called a ‘Choose your Gift’ Tuition model.
Why a gift?
We use the phrase 'choose your gift' because your child's trek has already been paid for by a past participant who believed in this experience. Likewise, your contribution is a gift that will enable future trekkers to participate, continuing the circle of support that made your child's trek possible. This model shifts us away from a purely transactional mindset and towards a community where each family and each generation helps enable the next.
(Note: your gift is not considered a donation, subject to charity tax law, but an investment in an inclusive trekker community)
HOW: instead of telling you a specific dollar amount to pay for a trek (tuition), we ask you to determine what amount you would like to pay (gift) based on your means and investment in our program.
During your application you will be invited to fill out a google form. In this form you are provided with a helpful formula which is explained below that helps you determine your chosen gift amount. Once you have filled out the form and provided us with your chosen gift amount, we will then list that as the tuition for your chosen trek.
WHY: We believe this is a more reciprocal payment model that makes our programs more accessible and inclusive.
Currently if you can’t afford the tuition you would apply for a scholarship and receive a range of 25%-100% of your tuition covered; but what if we just asked you to pay what you could from the start? The result would be the same, but you would no longer be reliant on receiving a scholarship and would instead, be invited into our community regardless of your financial means. Alternatively, if you have seen the life-changing power of our programs, and have the means to cover the full cost AND more, then you can pay it forward and help cover the tuition cost for others who may not be able to afford it.
“...could we imagine a human economy which is based on reciprocity rather than extraction? Could we imagine an economy which is circular and regenerative? …I'm going to invest in relationship. I'm going to invest in belonging rather than belongings.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer author of 'The Serviceberry'
We first tried this model in 2024 with GOTrek and received excellent feedback from all our participating families. We know there are a lot of factors that go into what you can pay and what programs you choose, and we hope that this model will ultimately make this unique summer opportunity accessible to more people.
We asked parents to tell us about their experiences with this tuition model and here are some responses:
"Empowering and exciting, definitely made the trek accessible"
"It made camp possible for my daughter. So grateful."
"The model was clearly explained and once we realized our child would be able to go because we could afford it - we felt like we won the lottery. If the model doesn't continue, we are not likely to be able to afford to send our child again."
With this ‘choose your gift’ model we want to build stronger social bonds and empower the families who join us every summer. We want to consciously connect you to the amount you give, so that the gift means all that much more. Our aim is to give the gift of the gulch to as many people as possible. Now you can be a part of that too.
