November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 20

ADVOCACY
Park and recreation agency
leaders recognize the importance
of advocating to all levels of
government for greater and more
sustainable funding.
Advocacy Makes a Difference,
But Where Do We Start?
By Dan McCarthy and Melissa May
W
20 Parks & Recreation | NOVEMBER 2 0 2 1
e know that as leaders in their respective communities,
park and recreation professionals hold tremendous power
and wield the ability to impact public policy and budgets.
NRPA works to foster and support this important work by
providing relevant information, salient resources, and additional expertise
and capacity to our members. NRPA's continued survey work provides one
of the best ways to learn about the public policy and advocacy needs of our
members. As such, this past summer, we surveyed our members to gauge
their views on advocacy, their capacity to advocate and the ways NRPA can
support their advocacy work. Here is what we learned:
Key Takeaways
It's clear that park and recreation
agency leaders recognize the importance
of advocating to all levels of
government for greater and more
sustainable funding, though many
consider their efforts only moderately
successful. Unsurprisingly, agency
leaders view their relationships with
local government officials as much
more productive than those with
state or federal officials. Whether it
is through site visits to tour agency
facilities, ribbon-cutting ceremonies,
municipal meetings or other public
engagement activities, park and
recreation professionals have forged
strong ties with their local government
officials and constituents.
Given the capacity of many park
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
and recreation agencies, it often
falls to the agency directors to be
the main or sole advocacy resource.
This lack of dedicated advocacy
staff limits how much an agency
can focus on these efforts during
the week. No stranger to having
more work than hours in the day,
park and recreation professionals
regularly partner with community
groups, foundations, nonprofits
and others to engage in advocacy
efforts. In recent years, at least 70
percent of respondents engaged
their government officials and the
public in advocacy. However, recognizing
the growing importance
of advocacy, agencies want to do
more in this space.
So, while directors view advocacy
as essential and local-level efforts

November 2021 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2021 - Parks & Recreation

November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 1
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 2
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 3
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 4
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 5
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 6
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 7
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 11
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 16
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 17
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 18
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 19
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 20
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 21
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 22
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 23
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 28
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 29
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 33
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 36
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 37
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 38
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 39
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 40
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 41
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 42
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 43
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 44
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 45
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 46
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 47
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 48
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 49
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 50
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 51
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 55
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 56
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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