December 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 46

The Board is accepting more responsibility
for being active in fund-raising-rather than
simply saying to the staﬀ, Why haven't you
raised more money from outside sources?
about national issues and to visit their representatives in their Capitol Hill offices.
This year and next is the time frame for when
NRPA will roll out of its new public partnership model, America's Backyard. Board members will work
with their communities in introducing the " friends "
program while identifying alliances for solidifying
the launch.
Central to serving on the newly restructured
Board of Directors is the new requirement that Directors actively assist in fund-raising. Traditionally, the Board worked with NRPA staff to pursue
non-dues revenue. In its simplest form, each Board
member will now be required to " give or get "
$5,000 as part of their duties. Directors will have
the option of writing a check (or series of checks)
for this amount or identifying an outside source to
accomplish this. Importantly, as Tulipane explains,
give-or-get is much larger than writing a check.
" It's really about helping us to expand our partnerships, " Tulipane says. " It's also about working
with staff in our Partnership and Business Development department. "
As a key player of the past four years in revamping the profi le of participation on the Board of Directors, Rankin recognizes the magnitude of what
lies ahead.
" It is ambitious, " she says. " We are assuming
more responsibility for the work plan. The Board
is accepting more responsibility for being active in
fund-raising-rather than simply saying to the staff,
'Why haven't you raised more money from outside
sources?' The Board is saying, 'Let us help suggest
people and corporations or partnerships.' "

Focused and Energized
Going into last October's seminal planning retreat,
Rankin worried about some of the advance concerns coming from some Board members. The retreat addressed their concerns and the board for
the fi rst time in decades emerged energized and
focused on specific tasks.
" We had some Board members who said, 'Gee,
this wasn't required when I signed on,' or 'We've

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never done it that way,' " Rankin continues. " At the
retreat, however, people were really buying in. I
was impressed. All of a sudden, everybody was
energized and ready to go to the next step to develop this work plan and to assume responsibilities
for various task forces. "
Will NRPA members directly notice the changes in their Board of Directors? Probably not. The
results will be gradual, she says. " The way membership will actually notice is through the changes
in NRPA Networks [the new electronic system linking members by interests and specialties], " Rankin
says. " They will go more to the NRPA website for
answers and to connect with each other. It's the services delivered they will notice. They may notice
the improved look of their membership magazine,
but they won't say, 'Gee, I wonder if it's because
they have a 21-person Board?'
" I think the way membership will notice is that
NRPA will have the resources when they need
them, " Rankin continues. " They will be able to go
online and look for an answer to a question or look
for help in drafting a letter to their city council about
the importance of parks and recreation. Frankly,
that's the way it should be. "

Creating More Activist Directors
One benefit of the smaller, energized Board of Directors will be the likelihood of attracting more involved board members. The experience of Steven
J. Thompson, the executive director of Wisconsin
Parks and Recreation Association, reflects the feelings of many members who felt deterred from participation in NRPA leadership.
" In 2003 at the NRPA Congress, I decided to attend the NRPA Board of Trustees' Meeting to see this
body in action, and to assist me in determining if I felt
that I should consider taking the step needed to have
my name sent to the Nomination Committee for future consideration, " Thompson says. " I already knew
that there was a large Board
in existence, but entering the
meeting room really took me
by surprise at the enormity of
the board structure. A banquet
room was needed to accommodate approximately 25 tables set with a microphone at
each one to allow the 72 Board
members to communicate durthompson
ing this meeting.

December 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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