When you support Outward Bound USA, you make more than a donation—you ignite transformation. Every gift helps young people find their courage, confidence, and sense of purpose through challenge and adventure in the outdoors. Because of you, students are becoming bold, compassionate leaders who shape their communities and our world for the better.
When you give to Outward Bound USA, you’re investing in more than a single experience. You’re funding the whole ecosystem that makes transformation possible—and ensures it lasts.
Your gift funds scholarships and removes barriers—covering tuition, gear, travel, and support so students from under-resourced communities can access life-changing outdoor education. You’re making sure financial obstacles don’t stand in the way of potential.
Our instructors don’t just lead trips—they create conditions for growth. Your support funds their training, safety systems, and the facilitation expertise that turns challenge into confidence for 30,000+ students every year.
You’re supporting research-backed curriculum, safety protocols, community partnerships, and evaluation systems that ensure every course delivers real, measurable impact. Students leave with skills they’ll use for life.
Your gift strengthens all 9 regional Outward Bound Schools, amplifying our reach and impact. Together, we’re building a movement—empowering youth to rise with courage and lead with compassion, from coast to coast.
Hear it in their own words—how students describe their experience, ones that you make possible.
Social Return on Investment
Independent research by Accenture shows that every dollar invested in Outward Bound yields a social return of $9. That’s a ninefold return, rooted in long-term benefits like increased academic engagement and graduation rates, improved mental health and emotional wellbeing, stronger workforce readiness and life skills, and reduced disengagement and risky behaviors. Your support creates measurable social value that extends well beyond the trail—strengthening students, families, communities, and our country.
The Summit Fund
The Summit Fund is our flexible scholarship initiative that bridges the gap between what programs cost and what students can afford. Your contribution supports our ability to deliver the full experience—tuition, gear, travel, instructor expertise, and ongoing evaluation. Every gift removes a barrier and opens a door. And because Summit Fund contributions are mission-restricted, your donation is used wherever it’s needed most to get students on course.
Outward Bound USA Home
play
