To ensure that we are successful in implementing our Mission, the board of directors focuses on the following Value Proposition to ensure that all our stakeholders – including the kids and their families, our donors, and our partners – know what they can expect from the Small Champions Organization:
Transform and Empower: Small Champions gives kids with disabilities the rare opportunity to develop autonomy, independence, and self-confidence. Our trained adaptive instructors work one on one with the kids as they discover how to minimize their limitations and maximize their inherent abilities. This experience can be “Life-Changing”. They become a part of a group that gives them identity and friendship. They are taught the joy of being free to be who they are. Their bandwidth is expanded. They gain experience that may eventually support their ability to live independently and hold jobs later in life.
We measure our progress using qualitative behavioral and satisfaction assessments of our kids, submitted by their families and our instructors before and after each season.
The Best Instructors: Our instructors are the most important part of the life changing transformations, and our ski/snowboard instructors are the core of this group. All our instructors are members of PSIA/AASI and are employees of Vail Resorts. All have specific adaptive training, and many are certified adaptive instructors. They understand how to engage and motivate our Small Champions, so they maximize their abilities and expand their capabilities. We provide financial support to instructors who want to become certified or want to increase their level of certification. For our other programs and sports, we select the best qualified partners who provide the best instruction possible.
We measure our progress by tracking the total number of qualified partners, certified instructors, and the number of kids they coach each year.
Fun Activities: Small Champions is all about the kids. Our mission is to help our Small Champions gain confidence in their abilities and to help them use this confidence to grow and learn. The best environment for kids to thrive is a fun environment. We provide a host of fun activities, indoors and out, in all seasons, to ensure that every Small Champion can be fully engaged and have a great time on their journey. Most of our activities are designed for groups that allow our Small Champions to build friendships and connections as they have fun.
We measure our progress by tracking the number of programs we offer and the number of kids who participate.
Community-Wide Awareness: Our top priority is to teach our Small Champions how to maximize their abilities in an environment where they learn through fun, regardless of their disability. Our focus on education and awareness continues through our commitment to provide the kids with the best instructors who engage in ongoing development and certification. We also believe that it is important that parents, friends, donors, and the community at large are well educated about the range of disabilities and the positive impact that Small Champions can have in helping kids maximize their potential. Through outreach and education, fears are removed, empathy is created and motivation to belong and support is developed.
We measure our progress through the number of educational outreach initiatives we implement each year.
Donor Value: Small Champions would not exist without the generosity of our donors. It costs approximately $3500 a year to deliver our life changing programs to each Small Champion. We are committed to exploring every possible avenue to generate revenue, including large donors, small donors, grants, and charity events. We manage our organization in a manner that is as efficient as possible while being transparent to our donors, athletes, parents, and other stakeholders. In terms of efficiency, we ensure that every dollar received from our donors is maximized and spent on providing programs and other support to our athletes and their families. We utilize in-kind donations as well as volunteer labor whenever possible. Management and fund-raising expenses are always kept to a minimum. We routinely measure key processes that we believe are representative measures of performance. These results are published and shared with all our stakeholders.
We measure our success through the amount of revenue generated, the percent of repeat donors and the percent of total revenue that is dedicated to program expenses.
Trusted Partner: Small Champions relies on a network of local organizations and community members to deliver our programs to our athletes. Small Champions strives to be a trusted partner in each of these relationships through open and candid dialogue, regular opportunities for communications and a shared goal to provide the best programs possible for the kids.
We measure our success by the number of partnership agreements, the satisfaction of our partners and the percentage of returning partners.
