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
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 20 Parks & Recreation
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
| N OV E M B E R 2 02 1 | PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N .O R 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
