Non-Profit Beneficiary Application

Thank you for applying to become a Winter Speaker Series Nonprofit Beneficiary! Please read on to learn more about the Winter Speaker Series, the Donor Party, and the expectations of your nonprofit organization should you be chosen. You can download the application below. Upon completing your application, please send it to  info@alpenglowsports.com by June 30th, 2025. Please note, if we do not receive your application by June 30th, it will not be included in the application review.

The Alpenglow Sports Winter Speaker Series is an eagerly anticipated winter tradition for North Lake Tahoe’s adventure community. With over 4,000 attendees annually, as well as a dynamic live stream component, the 20-year-old Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series has become one of the premier forums for adventure storytelling in North America.

The Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series blends two goals: 1) to inspire and motivate mountain athletes to pursue their own outdoor dreams and 2) to educate about, and raise funds for, nonprofit organizations making a tangible difference in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee community.

Five times per winter, a premier outdoor athlete presents an inspirational tale of adventure, creating a forum for motivation, inspiration and education. Every show is free to the public and all ages are encouraged to attend. Along with the in-person shows at the Palisades Tahoe Olympic Village Event Center, the Winter Speaker Series is also live streamed to a global audience. With over 100,000 views annually, the shows have been enjoyed in nearly every U.S. state and over 30 countries.

In addition to inspiring adventure and appreciation of our wild places, the Winter Speaker Series seeks to invest in our community each year by partnering with five local nonprofit organizations that are making a tangible difference. Each chosen nonprofit partner receives a two-year run of support, which includes one WSS show per year dedicated to their organization. These shows could raise up to $95,000 per nonprofit through a combination of giveaways with prizes from our generous sponsors, food and bar proceeds, and anonymous donations from The Donor Party.

The Donor Party arose in 2017 when Winter Speaker Series founder, Brendan Madigan, was approached by a community member who wanted to show his support by anonymously donating $2,500 to each of the five nonprofits represented that season. Since then, The Donor Party has grown to over 125 engaged locals responsible for a massive community philanthropic effort. The result is a collective, game-changing impact that has made a difference in the fabric of the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee communities. To date, the Donor Party, in combination with the Winter Speaker Series, has raised over $2,500,000 for local organizations.

When completing your application, please remember that the Winter Speaker Series Non-Profit Selection Committee and The Donor Party are made up of local citizens who see the value of coming together to discuss and reflect on the issues affecting our small community. We believe that by pooling our resources to support the organizations making the most targeted impact on those issues, we can as a whole make the greatest strides. While we understand your time is limited and valuable, please consider addressing your responses to these engaged locals to help make clear how their support can affect change in our community, rather than copying and pasting from your latest communication.

The Winter Speaker Series Nonprofit Selection Committee will accept applications for the 2025-26 season between June 2nd-30th, 2025.

In early July, the committee will assess applications and narrow down the applicants to five nonprofit organizations. If selected, these five nonprofits will be notified in mid July, and asked to present to the committee during scheduled time slots at the end of July/ early August. There are three open slots for the 2024-25 Winter Speaker Series and we expect a high number of applicants.  Our selected nonprofit partners for the 2025-26 season will be notified by mid-August.   

Please note that any organization applying to become a Winter Speaker Series beneficiary must be a certified 501c3 nonprofit in order to be eligible for selection. Additionally, please read the below expectations/requirements before submitting your application.  

• Each chosen nonprofit must participate for two years in the Winter Speaker Series. The goal is to infuse a large amount of capital for two successive years, versus artificially inflating operating capital/budget for just one year. In exchange for this support, we may call upon someone from your organization in order to speak to the power of the Donor Party at our annual fall gathering or other exciting marketing opportunities.

• Each chosen nonprofit must be registered with the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts. This will facilitate/aid the process you will need to undergo to conduct the in-person raffle.

• Alpenglow Sports will pair each nonprofit with an athlete and confirm the exact date for the upcoming season no later than November 3rd, 2025.

• Each organization will have the chance to speak about the mission of the group through a pre-recorded video segment. This will be scheduled prior to the WSS season, and you will have access to the video that gets created after the season.

• On the night of the show, each nonprofit will be expected to bring roughly 30 volunteers to work the venue. Volunteers are responsible for selling giveaway tickets, running the bar, and generally acting as gregarious stewards to promote funds raised for each group.

• Each nonprofit organization is expected to bring two $200 change banks, as well as any mobile payment processing system needed to process giveaway sales AND donations above and beyond giveaway ticket sales.

• Volunteers from each organization are expected to help clean up and break down after their show has ended. 

• We ask that each nonprofit promote the event heavily via social media channels and associated email databases. The more each organization promotes, the more money stands to be raised each evening. We will provide content and copy for your team to utilize, and encourage you to create your own as well! 

• Each organization is required to present a certificate of insurance (COI). Specifics must include:

• Commercial General Liability insurance covering claims of bodily injury and property damage on an occurrence form with unimpaired limits of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. Alpenglow Sports, Palisades Tahoe, LLC and Alterra Mtn Company must be named as additional insured as respects any liability arising from work, operations, promotions, activities or events conducted by or on behalf of PROMOTER, its employees, associates, representatives and volunteers.

• Each nonprofit organization will also be responsible for pulling a general ABC Permit. While Alibi Ale Works provides the beer for the night of the event, it is each group's responsibility to attain the permit, for which we provide detailed and clear instructions. The organization is responsible for providing non-alcoholic beverages for the event.

• This past year, $100,000+ was raised for each nonprofit organization and it is our goal to maintain that mark for the 25-26 season.

• Alpenglow Sports will bill each organization $6,500 to cover the operational costs of the event. More specifically, half of this will be due on your show date, and half when the Donor Party funds are distributed in the spring. This includes event posters, social media boosting, staff time, and other general advertising costs. 

• Potential to raise up to $95,000 for your organization.

• Access to professionally filmed, produced and edited video about associated nonprofit. 

• Access to raw footage of above-mentioned video. 

• 1x nonprofit-specific email announcement (to 12,000 recipients).

• 1x nonprofit-specific dedicated blog page on  alpenglowsports.com .

• 1x individual Winter Speaker Series show webpages (~ 1,500 web impressions).

• 1x nonprofit-specific Instagram intro video reel (8,000 followers). 

• 10+ nonprofit mentions/@ tags on Instagram stories.

• 1x nonprofit-specific Facebook event page post.

• 6+ mentions by emcee in lead in to show/giveaway.

• 4x inclusion/linked-mentions in Donor Party quarterly email updates (~100 recipients).

• Potential opportunity to present to Donor Party members at annual fall gathering.

• Premier logo inclusion on 100+ show posters spread throughout North Lake Tahoe and Truckee.

• Premier logo inclusion on 500+ show post cards.

• Stand alone nonprofit slide in pre-show loop (60 minutes prior to show).

• Unique activation/interaction opportunity at event. 

The following button will open the application. Please download and fill out the application, and send the completed application to  info@alpenglowsports.com  by June 30th, 2025.