April 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 22

RESEARCH
NRPA Park Pulse Data Can
Enhance Your Marketing
By Kevin Roth

he NRPA research team works to help park and recreation professionals on two primary goals: making optimal decisions on
operations, programming and spending, and making the case for
greater funding. We share our findings through detailed reports
and easy-to-understand graphics that touch on the main research findings.
These findings also provide you the opportunity to market your offerings to
the public and to highlight your agency's contributions to the community.
One example is NRPA Park
Pulse, our monthly poll that gauges the U.S. public's opinion on
park and recreation-related topics.
The goal of each poll is to champion the work of every park and recreation professional by broadening the public's view of the many
ways you impact our communities. The polls have covered fun
topics (e.g., dog parks, outdoor
holiday celebrations, parks as staycation destinations) and touched
on some of the most pressing issues facing our communities (e.g.,
healthy food options for the most
vulnerable populations, support
provision during and after a natural disaster and tobacco bans in
public areas).

Parks & Recreation

We present the NRPA Park Pulse
poll results in an infographic that
we publish in every issue of Parks &
Recreation magazine, share through
NRPA's social media channels and
post on our website (nrpa.org/
ParkPulse).
NRPA Park Pulse poll results
and infographics are ready to
share, whether it is to market your
agency's amenities and services or
to make a case to public officials
or other key stakeholders. Consider an example from January, when
the poll found that nearly 3 in 5
U.S. adults acknowledge that they
are less physically active during the
winter months. In highlighting this
result, the infographic noted that
" local park and recreation agencies provide a variety of indoor
and outdoor options to beat winter
inactivity, " including indoor gyms
and pools, yoga and skating.
On January 2, we shared the
poll results and infographic on
all of NRPA's social media channels. Thousands of park and recreation professionals and enthusiasts viewed the infographic on
these platforms, with many liking
and sharing the posts with their
networks. Some agencies used the

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shareable findings to highlight how
they are an easy-to-access, lowcost/no-cost solution to the winter
doldrums. A few examples include:
* Chicago Park District shared
the poll's key findings on Twitter
and stated, " We have you covered
with a variety of indoor/outdoor
options to beat the winter blues,
including fitness centers & classes, swimming, ice rinks & trails. "
The tweet, which also featured a
graphic of the agency's outdoor
ice skating offerings, ended with
a link to the agency's website.
* Lafayette (Indiana) Parks and
Recreation tweeted out the infographic with the question: " Did
you know a monthly pass to
workout at McAllister Rec Center is only $30? And a day pass
is only $2?! " and linked to the
agency's website.
* The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
featured the January poll results
in an interview with Colleen
Tusa of St. Paul (Minnesota)
Adaptive Recreation on recreation opportunities the city offers
to people of all abilities.
Keep an eye out for NRPA Park
Pulse each month. Even better,
we welcome your feedback and
ideas for future poll questions.
Please email me your poll question
ideas at kroth@nrpa.org. I look forward to seeing your suggestions.
Kevin Roth is Vice President of Research,
Evaluation and Technology at NRPA
(kroth@nrpa.org).

April 2020 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2020 - Parks & Recreation