February 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 57

ny's headquarters or to build new facilities.
Later this spring, NRPA will be releasing a
new research study that highlights success
stories, where park and recreation leaders
are active participants in their regions'
business development activities.
Identifying and Securing New,
Innovative Funding Sources
While park and recreation leaders need to
continue making the case for greater and
more stable funding from their local government, their efforts may not sufficiently fill
the funding shortfall afflicting many park
and recreation agencies. Ongoing budgetary pressures, competition from other local
government services and the inevitability of
another recession in the future highlight the
need for agencies to identify, and successfully retain, new sources of funding.
Some communities may have an opportunity to press for a dedicated revenue
stream, such as a percentage of property
or sales tax receipts earmarked to support
park and recreation operating and/or capital expenditures. Agencies are identifying
new opportunities to generate revenue
from their operations - although ensuring
services are financially accessible and affordable to all members of the community
can pose a challenge. In other cases, there
may be opportunities for public-private
partnerships or grant opportunities from
government entities and nonprofit foundations that could help close the funding gap.
Tomorrow's successful park and recreation leaders will become acquainted with
the advantages and disadvantages of each
funding source and identify a funding plan
that makes most sense for their agency.
More so, these leaders will develop productive working relationships with government
and private-sector partners so they can effectively execute their financial plans.
Training Leaders for Tomorrow
The growing percentage of part-time
workers in the park and recreation profession has significant implications for
both employers and educators. Park

and recreation agencies have a broader mission with more responsibilities
while having access to fewer full-time
professionals to deliver on the promise.
Future park and recreation leaders will
have to be more agile and flexible as they
wear more hats in their day-to-day role.
They will need to be more adept in fiscal
management (including how to tap new
sources of funding) and enhance their
persuasion skills so they can advocate
for parks and recreation to government
leaders, potential funders and the public.
Universities educating tomorrow's park
and recreation leaders should be evolving their curriculums to prepare their students for the new reality of tighter fund-

" Future park and recreation leaders will...need to be more
adept in fiscal management (including how to tap new
sources of funding) and enhance their persuasion skills so
they can advocate for parks and recreation to government
leaders, potential funders and the public. "
ing and fewer staff resources.
However, in many cases, today's and
tomorrow's leaders may not have a
park and recreation college degree on
their résumé. They may come with educational backgrounds as diverse as the
public they serve. As a result, NRPA
and other organizations have a critical
role to play to ensure park and recreation professionals are best prepared
to meet the future changes and innovations facing the profession and society.
This means making sure new professionals entering the field have access
to educational events, webinars and
conference sessions that fill in present
and future knowledge gaps they may
have about parks and recreation so the
industry may benefit from their diverse
background and experience.
Based on the most recent park and
recreation expenditure data, parks and

recreation clearly has not only borne
the brunt fiscally from the Great Recession, but also the detrimental impact
on budgets and staffing has continued
years into the economic recovery. This
suggests a more structural shift has occurred, and park and recreation agencies could be subject to an even greater
struggle to maintain funding into the future. Leaders need to act now to address
this challenge to ensure all members of
their communities will be able to enjoy
the benefits of parks and recreation well
into the future.
Nicholas Pitas, Ph.D., is a Post-Doctorate Fellow
at Pennsylvania State University (nap5045@psu.
edu). Austin Barrett, Ph.D., is an Independent
Scholar (austingordonbarrett@gmail.com).
Andrew Mowen, Ph.D., is Professor of
Recreation, Park and Tourism Management at
Pennsylvania State University (ajm194@psu.edu).
Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA's Vice President of
Research (kroth@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

February 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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