Coming in 2021:

FAQs

So what is this platform and who is it for?

Our dedicated platform—Our Outdoors—is designed as a community gathering space for anyone seeking to make unstructured outdoor play a part of their routine. Whether you have kids of your own, care for kids regularly, or work with kids in a daycare, school, or other setting, you’re welcome to join!

Our reason for being is to create a world where all kids grow up playing outdoors. We believe every culture has a unique connection to nature, and we strive to create an inclusive, multicultural community where caregivers get the support they need to step into nature.

What are the benefits of the Our Outdoors platform?

The new platform offers a number of benefits including more reliable communication, event RSVP and waitlist capabilities, training and resource-sharing, engagement analytics, and more. Importantly, it will allow us to institute an initial orientation for all volunteers and members to help ensure that the FFS community as a whole functions in a way that upholds our values of inclusion, equity, and the celebration of diversity. It also will ensure that every participant has signed the waiver and Community Agreements, which protect volunteers and set clear expectations on how we treat one another.

The platform’s additional capabilities will also alleviate much of the administrative burden that previously fell to local chapter Directors—including member approvals, Facilitator training, and communicating out organizational updates to local participants. This reduced burden will allow for a broader and more diverse group of people to serve as local leaders, which is an important component to ensuring the equity and inclusion of our programming—and will allow volunteers to focus on the time they spend outdoors with kids.

Shifting our local operations off of Facebook and onto our own platform will open access to the many people who have been unable to engage because they do not have or want a Facebook account. It will also alleviate the struggles we have faced both nationally and locally associated with the limitations of Facebook’s platform, and enhance our sustainability by eliminating our reliance on an external platform we have no control over.

Finally, bringing the whole community onto the platform will allow us to provide all our members with the rich benefits that thus far we have been able to provide only to our Directors—such as in-depth training modules and connection to a national network of fellow caregivers.

How will I know when I can join?

Don’t worry—we’ll be shouting it from the rooftops when the platform is available for members! This page will be updated monthly with information on the relaunch timeline. In addition, we will be sending monthly updates on our relaunch progress as steps are completed and new features become available. To keep up to date, you can sign up below, or follow us on Facebook or Instagram. Members wishing to serve as volunteer Group Hosts (to moderate their local county group on Our Outdoors) are able to join now. The general public will be able to join the week of May 17.

Sign up here to receive updates on our progress, including an invitation to join the platform when it is live.

When will events be starting and will they be different from pre-COVID events?

The projected date for restarting in-person events is June, though that date is dependent on the status of the ongoing COVID pandemic and related public safety concerns. Events will be largely the same—they will take place on public land, be open to caregivers of young children, and focus on unstructured, child-led play. There will be some minor changes to allow more flexibility to our event model; more information about those changes will be on the platform.

How much will it cost to join?

First and foremost: Everyone is Welcome!

Membership will be available on a sliding scale. In the spirit of community reciprocity, we invite you to contribute at a level that matches your capacity. As guidance, we offer suggested annual rates that correspond to income levels. You may also choose to contribute toward a membership for another family. Free Forest School is a community based in generosity and care, where everyone is welcome regardless of their ability to contribute financially.

Annual Household Income / Suggested Annual Membership Contribution

  $0 – $30,000 $0

  $30,000 – $60,000 $7

  $60,000 – $90,000 $15

  $90,000 – $120,000 $25

  $120,000 – $150,000 $37

  $150,000 + $50+

Learn more about why we chose this approach and how a sliding scale system promotes equity.

Why is FFS shifting to a sliding scale suggested annual membership contribution? 

While there are of course many ways to get outside and play with your children that are absolutely free, we have found in the course of our work with caregivers across the country that fostering connections to community, curating key resources, and providing transformative experiences followed by opportunities for reflection can help to empower caregivers to take steps they otherwise wouldn’t have thought possible to increase their children’s access to unstructured outdoor play.

Doing the work to provide these opportunities in a thoughtful, accessible, and robust way requires staff support and technological infrastructure that has real costs. As the FFS network has expanded, the volunteer model—while still effective locally—has become unsustainable at the central organization level. Paid staff positions in leadership, administration, programming, community management, communications, and development are necessary in order to support our existing and aspiring local volunteers and programs. As we seek to provide training and support directly to all members as opposed to only Directors, and to expand towards better serving those with fewer resources and more barriers, this paid staff becomes increasingly necessary. Paying a livable wage is also critical to being able to attract, retain, and adequately compensate a diverse staff who are passionate about this work.

While Free Forest School has in the past and will continue to pursue and receive support from grants, sponsorships, gear sales, and seasonal fundraising, we have found definitively that the most successful and reliable income source comes from inviting our broad network of participants to each contribute whatever amount, if any, is within their current means to ensure the sustenance of the community. This approach is also rooted in a core principle of our Free Forest School gatherings—the communal approach of each doing what we can to support one another’s needs. This value is exemplified in everything from shared snacks to the moment when someone carries another person’s tired toddler because they already have a baby on their hip, or keeps an eye on their 6-year-old while they run off to chase a wandering preschooler.

By inviting our community members to contribute freely within the scope of their personal capacity, we are acknowledging a core truth of our shared reality—that we are all in this together, and that it is through each giving what we can and accepting what we need that we can create the reality we desire for our children, our communities, and our world.

See the article “Embracing An Equitable Sliding Scale” for a further exploration of the hows and whys of a sliding scale approach.

What will membership contributions go toward?

The short answer is that the bulk of membership contributions will go towards paying staff who are working to provide support for the Our Outdoors community and to develop additional platform content. We are committed to providing our members with transparency and accountability regarding our organization’s budget, income, and expenses. Keep an eye out for our updated Annual Report webpage, which will feature updated information about our budget, how your donations are used, and our financial plan for the future.

How else can I support FFS?

There are many ways to give back to the FFS community. We are currently seeking support in the following areas:

• Apply to join the Board of Directors through our Open Call for Nominations!

• Graphic Design

• Videography / Video Editing

• User Experience Design

• Web Development

• Blog Post Writers

Do any of these opportunities spark your interest? Contact us at info@freeforestschool.org

How was the relaunch plan developed?

The relaunch plan arises out of a months-long Community Visioning processing as well as feedback given by the FFS community at large during 2020. Community needs and ideas were compiled from Community Forums, Snap Surveys, and in-depth workshops held with Working Groups in the areas of Parent/Caregiver Support, Community Gatherings, and Institutional Partnerships. We also conducted interviews with numerous experts in the fields of early childhood development, outdoor learning, family social services and community outreach.

The staff team utilized all these inputs to identify needs and priorities for programming that would empower parents and caregivers from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences to step into nature with their kids. The Board of Directors provided feedback and oversight related to equity & inclusion, governance, and financial sustainability. The Relaunch Plan is a result of these months of work. (You can read more about the Community Visioning process here.)

How is FFS centering DEIJ in the relaunch?

Last year, we identified a number of areas where the initial Free Forest School model fell short of our commitment to equity and inclusion. There were some areas that would have been simple to change—such as altering the language used in our training to reflect “suggestions” rather than “rules”. That felt like a band-aid approach at a time when much deeper consideration was being called for. Hence the months of Community Visioning to rethink the organization from the ground up!

Here are some of the specific ways DEIJ has been or will be centered in our relaunch:

• Retooled mission and vision

• Sliding scale membership model

• Strategic plan that emphasizes meeting the needs of underserved communities and building an anti-racist organizational culture

• Intentional shift from top-down leadership model with power concentrated among a few individuals, to a bottom-up, empowering approach with broad community involvement

• Board training and overhaul of Bylaws and policies

• Board recruitment to achieve BIPOC-majority representation

• Organizational transparency through routine Community Forums, website updates and newsletters, Annual Meeting, and Annual Report

• Phased relaunch plan that prioritizes resources for caregivers new to nature play

You can read in detail about our DEIJ efforts in 2020 in our recent Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge Report.

What will happen to my existing chapter?

Previously Free Forest School oversaw over 200 chapter-based Facebook groups that were established on the basis of city/county designations. For a variety of reasons, we are moving away from the local-chapter model at this time. Chapter-based Facebook groups will be phased out this summer once the Our Outdoors platform is available, and members of those groups will be invited to join Our Outdoors.

The Our Outdoors platform will offer the opportunities previously found through Facebook chapter groups—and much more! As a member of Our Outdoors, you will be able to participate in local events, train and volunteer as an event host, and connect with other caregivers in your local area, as well as nationally. You will also have access to a rich resource library to help you learn more about unstructured outdoor play and get outside with the kids in your life. Ongoing training opportunities will also be available over time.

Free Forest School will continue to maintain a more limited presence on Facebook to help new members learn about Free Forest School and the platform as well as to share resources. No events will be scheduled on Facebook.