In addition to the National Park Service celebrating its 100th birthday this year, a well-known national park in North Carolina and Tennessee is also celebrating more than 63 years with its nonprofit partner.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA) have partnered together since 1953 and have worked together to promote “greater public understanding and appreciation [of the park] through education, interpretation, and research.” As a cooperating association, GSMA operates several bookstores in the park and nearby communities, and develops unique park-themed products to generate sales that benefit GSMNP.
Since the start of their partnership, GSMA has raised more than $34 million to support the park and just this past year, helped open the Collections Preservation Center in Townsend, TN that enables the park to care for 418,000 artifacts and 1.3 million archival records from nearby historic sites, recreation areas, park sites and scenic rivers. Artifacts such as tools, clothing, pottery, furniture, household items, photographs, documents, and archaeological specimens dating back 8,000 years are now cared for in a climate-controlled research space, in part thanks to GSMA’s efforts in raising funds.
According to GSMNP Superintendent, Cassius Cash, GSMA’s support for the new center was also strengthened by working with the park’s friends group, Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains:
"Great Smoky Mountains Association continues to be a leader in creating unique educational products and services that share the Smokies with millions of visitors each year," said Cash. "But, just as importantly, they continue to model leadership in how a cooperating association can support parks by working hand in hand with philanthropic partners like Friends of the Smokies.”
Through working collaboratively, Cash explained, these two groups were able to provide critical funding and together raised $1.9 million overall for the center.
The new 14,000 square-foot Collections Preservation Center opened this past May
Friends Group Executive Director Jim Hart also believed in the value of working with GSMA in his group’s support of the park: “Cooperation, not competition with GSMA, enables us both to be more effective in in our work. The park’s management teams understand our role as fundraisers and their cooperation is key to successful outcomes. Open dialogue and good communication mean we can better understand the park’s needs and respond to them in a timely way.”
Together, the two nonprofits not only raised funds for the collection center but jointly raised dollars to open the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center in North Carolina and were recently awarded a $250,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to restore Clingmans Dome Observation Tower. To receive the grant, parks and their partners were tasked with promoting their preservation project and then they called on the public to vote for them. Both GSMA and the Friends Group made the vote a priority and promoted the contest at their store registers and to their members, respectively, which resulted in them winning one of the highest grants available through this contest.
In the past few years, many public land nonprofits have gone the route of merging their organizations with other nonprofit partners in order to better serve their agency partners. However, GSMNP’s nonprofit partners have found success in operating as independent organizations that collaborate their efforts towards a common shared mission to support the park. Lisa Duff, GSMA’s Marketing and Membership Director said that it’s about being part of the “park family.”
“When we sit down to consider projects,” she explained, “we all come together.”
Project meetings include both partners, and the mission to support the park and preserve the Smokies remains the focus.
Jim Hart added that the park’s continued appreciation for their efforts helps ensure sustainable partnerships. “It’s very meaningful that our partners in green and gray frequently let us know they appreciate our efforts. A sincere ‘pat on the back’ is a great motivator,” he said, acknowledging that the park’s ability to understand and acknowledge the value of the nonprofit partners is also key to sustaining a healthy partnership future.
Learn More
To learn more about GSMNP’s nonprofit partners visit Great Smoky Mountains Association at https://www.smokiesinformation.org and Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains at http://friendsofthesmokies.org.
Public Lands Partner Award
Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Great Smoky Mountains Association were selected as a recipient of this year’s Public Lands Partner Award for their strong demonstration of partnerships in increasing the visitors experience on public lands. Learn more about the Partnership Awards Program here.
GSMA Executive Director Laurel Rematore and Superintendent Cassius Cash
with their Public Lands Partner Award Certificate