January 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 33

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Portland

or bricks, know that their tax dollars are being spent
carefully-and that the private sector is stepping up
to help parks succeed. Hardigg advises taking care
to give recognition without " making the parks look
like a billboard. "
Palm notes that that most of the time that balance is
not difficult to achieve. In her work with the Chicago
Park District, she found that " anyone who is giving
to parks wouldn't expect that their logo be splashed
around. They want their donation to be respectful
and in line with the park. "

Cater to the Community
Hardigg says the main difference between the current fundraising model as compared with that of few
years ago is the reality of widespread economic constraints. " Now, everyone has to make due with less, "
he says. " You need to offer a solution to a problem,
not just speak to the problem. " He stresses the importance of finding out when setting project goals
what excites the community. For example, in Portland, many people would rather improve existing
park amenities than build new parks. " You have to
have that awareness in community of what is fundable. In Portland, that is concentrating on doing the
best we can with the parks we have, " he says.
And tapping into the community's priorities can
also lead to repeat donations. " Would you rather have
a dollar from [each of] a million people or a million
from one person? " asks Black. " If you had a dollar
from one million people and spend it wisely, you can
come back to them and ask for another dollar next

year. " And there are other benefits to having a large
pool of small repeat donations. " Beyond the cash, "
says Black, " you get the advocacy-whether for funding or policy. "

Utilizing Social Media
Leveraging social media is also a powerful tool for
communicating the needs of parks and raising money for projects. Portland Parks Foundation, for example, recently nabbed $20,000 from Safeway through
social media. When Safeway sponsored a national competition looking for " America's Most Natural City " via Facebook, the parks department and
Portland Parks Foundation garnered votes through
their social media presence-and ultimately won the
contest.

A Successful Model
Today's new economic reality has resulted in increased pressure on parks foundations to produce
results. Successful foundations will embrace the new
challenges and use an array of strategies to engage
the public and raise money. Satariano notes that
when it comes to fundraising for foundations, there's
not a one-size-fits-all solution. " Parks and rec departments are as unique and individual as the city
they are in. Understand your city and its needs, then
develop your goals and objectives. Fundraise to accomplish these goals, " he says. Since each foundation is unique, it is up to the executive director and
board of directors to tweak their business model to
their advantage.

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& Recreation

January 2012 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2012 - Parks & Recreation