February 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 47

in the state of Oregon. " With key government partners committed to help - and
with six-figure commitments from both
Providence and the Timbers/Thorns organization - the district was ready to engage
foundations, corporations and individuals
in the region.
" Once we could define what above and
beyond meant, we felt we could attract a
group of people who were interested in investing themselves and using their networks
to open doors for private fundraising, "
Roach adds. That group took the form of
the Champions Council, an offshoot of the
Tualatin Hills Parks Foundation, which
raises money to support the park district.
" Everyone that you invite to be on the
council needs to have a passion for the
project, " Roach continues. " Ideally, you'll
get enough people and enough of an initial commitment to cover 10 percent of
the overall fundraising goal. We asked
that each member of the council commit
to a major gift up front (major gifts began
at $10,000). Every councilor contributed
and most became major donors. And, we
promised that they would only need to attend one meeting a year - but they had
to be willing to take our calls. I think the
lack of meetings resonated, and the council came together quickly. With Providence
and the Timbers on board and the Champions Council engaged, we could go to the
foundations and demonstrate that community leaders were behind this project. "
" The 'Access for All' theme resonated, "
Menke says. " Most people have some connection to parks, or at least understand what
they are. Our proposition - 'wouldn't it be
nice if everyone had access?' - was easily comprehensible. " Over two years, the
Tualatin Hills Park Foundation's Champions Council and THPRD raised nearly all
the necessary funds: 50 percent came from

Courtesy of Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Department

Doug Menke (at podium), general manager
for the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation
District, addresses community members
during the Mountain View Champions Park's
grand opening ceremony.

public sources and private foundations, 40
percent from corporate donors and the remaining 10 percent from individuals. " In
the end, after we'd gone through all our networks, we were still about $100,000 short, "
Roach adds. " We went back to the Timbers,
and they doubled their initial investment. "
The capital campaign was thus completed.
Providing Ongoing Involvement
From the outset, THPRD saw Mountain View Champions Park as a first
step toward providing a greater array
of recreational services to people in the
community who, historically, had been
underserved - not simply a one-off.
To that end, THPRD formed a steering
committee populated by people from the
nonprofits who had initially contributed
their feedback to the park's construction.
They will assist with programming for
people with disabilities - not just for
Mountain View, but for other park district programs as well.
With Mountain View Champions Park
completed, the Tualatin Hills Parks Foundation turned its attention to raising funds
on an ongoing basis to support programs

for people with disabilities across all district
facilities. " We're working with the steering
committee to determine what's next to help
more people in our community participate
in park activities, " Doug Menke explains.
" More court infrastructure? All-season
futsal? Scholarships to help low-income residents take part in fee-based activities? All
these ideas are on the table. "
One unanticipated development of
the Mountain View project was that it's
brought THPRD employees closer together. " We had limited means to pull this off, "
Menke observes. " To make it happen, our
people had to set aside their territories, any
battles for resources. The program of inclusiveness for our community members
broke down barriers within the organization, too. The borders between departments - aquatics and developmental recreation and athletics centers - went away.
Our staff members grabbed onto this. They
became champions for the larger cause.
Together, we were able to do something
remarkable. "
Chris Santella is the Principal for Steelhead
Communications (chris@steelheadcommunications.com).

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February 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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