ED Update: Challenges and Building Sale

Like many nonprofits, Adventure Cycling is facing serious challenges. Our membership has declined, revenue in routes and tours has dropped considerably while costs rise, and despite cutting over a million dollars from our budget, we’re still operating at a deficit.

Incremental changes have not kept pace with the challenges, which is why we listed our headquarters building in Missoula for sale this summer. It’s a strategic decision to secure our organization’s future during a challenging time.

Adventure Cycling has received an advantageous offer to purchase our Missoula headquarters building for approximately $2.55 million, providing us with much-needed capital to continue our mission work while allowing us to remain in our historic building.

We heard clearly from our members that preserving our physical presence in Missoula in our historical location is a priority. In response, as part of this sale, we have negotiated favorable terms to lease back storefront office space in the building. This ensures we maintain our local presence while providing community access to our historic bikes and memorabilia in a portion of the same beloved space that has been home to the organization for decades.

Our building has impacted all who have visited — a place to share stories and connect with staff. We are grateful for the memories and work accomplished within its walls. But today, we face a choice between maintaining an underutilized, aging building or advancing our mission.

Starting November 3, 12:00 PM mountain time through November 24, 11:59 PM mountain time, we are encouraging our members to vote FOR the building sale. As our most important stakeholders, we want to give you additional information to help you better understand the current situation and why your participation now is crucial to our future.

Why We’re Asking for Your Support

Adventure Cycling faces serious financial challenges that threaten our ability to serve you.

The Financial Reality

Our membership has declined from nearly 40,000 members in 2023 to approximately 18,000 today due to aging out of cycling, lack of perceived value in membership, and other changes to our programming. Donations to the organization have declined as well. Travel methods are changing, and combined with economic issues and inflation, demand for guided tours has softened. With the proliferation of free tools and routes online, demand for maps and routes as products has also declined.

All of these issues, coupled with drastically rising operating costs in recent years, created a substantial revenue problem in 2024. In October 2024, the board and staff took decisive action, reducing our 2025 budget by over $1 million while protecting the three program areas that make us unique and matter to you: routes, inspiration (magazine and blog), and guided tours. Despite these cuts, we will still operate at a significant deficit in 2025.

We’ve shared this information in previous communications, such as June’s Board Update, July’s Bicycle Retailer article, and October’s Member Webinar (find the recording here).

How the Building Sale Solves This

Selling our headquarters provides a $2.55 million financial runway to rebuild Adventure Cycling without sacrificing any of our main programs. The sale proceeds will:

• Stabilize our finances and fund our plan to reverse membership decline
• Allow us to continue building new routes, running guided tours, and creating our magazine — programs current members rely on
• Enable us to improve your digital experience, create opportunities to connect in person, and enhance your membership value
• Help us focus on member retention by ensuring current members find value in their annual membership and future members find our brand and programs relevant to their needs
• Rebuilding membership will put us on a path to future growth.

Why This Makes Sense

As a national nonprofit, Adventure Cycling’s staff has become increasingly comprised of passionate people who live all over the country and work remotely for the organization. Currently, we have 7 staff members in our 10,000-square-foot Missoula building that once housed over 40 employees. The aging building is not only underutilized; it’s due for expensive repairs we have been deferring.

The favorable lease-back terms ensure we only pay for the space we need, maintaining our local presence for visiting cyclists and community members, while not being responsible for costly and increasingly frequent repairs. The building is symbolic, but our mission to inspire, empower, and connect people to travel by bike is what truly matters as we head into our second half-century of operations.

How the Money Will Be Used

The proceeds from selling the building will be added to Adventure Cycling’s investment reserves and managed according to our investment policy. These funds will serve as a strategic bridge to help us return to financial sustainability and membership growth.

Currently, Adventure Cycling operates on a deficit despite a very tight budget. The building sale proceeds will allow us to invest in programs and improvements that attract and retain members, while we work toward breaking even operationally within the next 3-5 years.

The reserves will fund initiatives proven to drive membership growth and engagement:

• More routes and more frequent route updates – expanding our core offerings
• Digital and website improvements – enhancing the member experience online
• Strong advocacy tools – including petition-signing software to amplify cyclists’ voices
• Expanded tours program – more options and better-delivered experiences
• Member-specific events – both in-person gatherings and online programming

We will draw on these reserves strategically as we build toward operational sustainability. This approach balances financial prudence with the necessary investments in programs and innovations that will generate revenue and grow our membership base.

Without the building sale, we lack the resources to make these critical investments. Members’ FOR vote provides the financial foundation Adventure Cycling needs to thrive for the next 50 years while we transition to a sustainable operating model.

What We’ve Already Tried

Since recognizing troubling trends in 2018, we have implemented a new strategic plan, applied for pandemic support funding, adjusted membership fees and tour prices, eliminated programs that weren’t serving members well, reduced staff multiple times, deferred building maintenance, and implemented rigorous financial oversight.

Incremental changes have not turned the tide fast enough.

The Alternative

If we don’t sell the building, we will need to ask our members and donors for an additional $750,000+ per year for the next 3-5 years just to maintain existing programs and rebuild membership to ensure financial sustainability. We do not believe that our current membership base alone can reliably sustain that level of annual support without significant new growth, and the clock is ticking.

If you want more information about voting, the building, or our finances, we’ve provided additional details in the FAQ section of the voting landing page.

Voting Rules

All members current as of 7:59 AM Mountain Time on November 3, 2025, are entitled to a vote.

All membership types are entitled to one vote. We acknowledge that some member types allow multiple household members to share an Adventure Cycling membership. In these scenarios, each household is limited to a single vote, so we ask that these members come to their own consensus before submitting their vote.

Each member can vote only once and cannot change their vote after submission.

Casting a FOR vote means you authorize the board to evaluate and pursue the sale of the building under terms that are beneficial to the organization.

Voting Period: November 3, 2025, 12:00 PM mountain time through November 24, 2025, 11:59 PM mountain time

How to Vote: We’ll email members detailed instructions along with their member number and unique PIN, starting on November 3.

See all voting rules here.

Your Vote Matters

This decision is about more than a building. It’s about securing Adventure Cycling’s future so we can continue serving you and the broader cycling community for years to come. We urge members to vote, and to vote FOR the sale, on November 3.

The board is committed to focusing our resources on the three core programs that define Adventure Cycling: routes, guided tours, and the magazine. These are the programs you rely on, and they will remain our priority.

We also commit to keeping you informed. We will hold regular member webinars, monthly member newsletters, and quarterly updates from leadership. You deserve transparency about how we’re rebuilding Adventure Cycling, and we’re committed to earning and keeping your trust through consistent, honest communication.

Thank you for your continued support and for being part of the Adventure Cycling community.

Sincerely,

Andy Williamson
Executive Director

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