February 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 53

enough funding and support to move
forward while also bolstering community support for their initiatives.
The Lake County Forest Preserve's
project in Illinois raised half the funds
they needed to sponsor a full crew of
four students for the 2015 season on
the Green Youth Farm crew. This
sustainable agricultural program
grows 10,000 pounds of food for
the local community each growing
season. The Green Youth Farm isn't
only a youth development and sustainable agricultural program, it also
provides fresh and nutritious food to
underserved families.
Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Department in Ohio was
hugely successful in raising $56,369
of the $65,000 they needed during
their campaign for rejuvenating one
of Bowling Green's most economically challenged neighborhoods.
Their project proposed the creation
of a 3.5-acre public park on the site
of a former elementary school, the
first park in the ward. Bowling Green
approached fundraising on multiple
fronts including grant writing, partnering with other nonprofits and having an aggressive local on-the-ground
campaign. They contributed their
success to their fundraising strategy
and in-kind donations. They also
garnered donations after the close
of their campaign and currently are
expecting to reach $85,000 in donations. They have purchased their
equipment and will have a park build
with volunteers in the spring of 2015.
In California, Riverside County
Regional Park and Open-Space District's goal was to revamp a community park named Good Hope with
playground upgrades and ADA features. With the tag line, " Every Child
Deserves a Safe Place to Play, Good
Hope Park Project, Adaptive and Ac

cessible, " Riverside knew what they
were trying to achieve. Good Hope
Playground is in a park-poor area
with no other park within a five-mile
radius. With the funds they raised
along with in-kind donations to install the equipment, Good Hope will
have a new playground very soon.
California's Santa Clara Parks
and Recreation Department, Wisconsin's West Allis-West Milwaukee
Recreation and Community Services Department and Texas' City of
Sugar Land might not have reached
their funding goals through their initial campaigns, but with assistance
through grants, other donations and/
or budgetary monies, were able to
move forward with their projects.
West Allis will install their outdoor
exercise equipment in the spring of
2015. Sugar Land has continued to
fundraise and hopes to break ground
on their playground soon, and Santa Clara is moving forward with
their Bracher Park community improvements project. Indiana's Porter
County Parks and Recreation staff
are still fundraising around their
playground build, but will be able to
purchase elements of their project
with the funds they have raised. The
City of Edmond, Oklahoma, and

Grand Blanc Parks and Recreation
in Michigan are still raising funds for
their projects.
Project leaders suggested that
crowdfunding should be used as
one of many tools during a comprehensive fundraising campaign. It
is important to listen to community
feedback and identify projects that
mean the most to them in order to
generate a good level of support. As
community leaders, park and recreation agencies have great connections with citizens, local businesses
and nonprofits, but it is important
to have support and momentum before launching a campaign. Overall,
crowdfunding is great opportunity to
engage new audiences and solidify
community relationships.
For more information on Fund
Your Park, please go to www.nrpa.
org/fund-your-park. To read about
each project that has been hosted, visit
www.fundyourpark.org and review the
archived projects. The next application
process will be announced in the spring
of 2015. In the meantime, start planning your next fundraising project and
building momentum!
Michele White is NRPA's Executive Assistant
(mwhite@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

February 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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