You Need a Creative Park Funding Strategy

Time spent in a well-planned and maintained park is a lesson in slowing down and enjoying life. Plants enrich the soil, soil feeds plants and creates a home for worms, song birds and squirrels find homes and nourishment. That same park absorbs run off to reduce flooding or serves as a buffer to protect homes from fire. People walk along paths or rest in the shade of trees, enjoying air cooled and cleaned by their leaves. Parks are essential to the health and resiliency of communities.

For many communities, however, a lack of staff capacity and funds keep the benefits of parks and open space out of reach. The solution is creativity, persistence and a little help from your friends. CCLR and WRT published Let’s Create a Park: Planning a Creative Funding Strategy for Successful Park Development to explain the components of a solid organizational framework for park funding. This guide includes actionable tips to find funding, links to helpful resources, and an appendix of success stories that showcase how communities leveraged and stacked funding to develop parks.

In this blog we’ll offer a quick overview of five fundamental principles for building a creative park funding strategy.

Step 1: Understand

This part of park development is all about planning. You’ll need to select a site that’s suitable for park development and assess factors like topography, soil composition, site size, existing habitats and cultural significance. At this point, remember that resilient planning pays off. The more we can do now, the less risk of consequences from extreme weather or natural disaster. This will also be a time to create a specific vision with input from community members.

“A clear, well-defined project vision responds to the unique characteristics of your site and community. “

Step 2: Identify

Now that you have a project plan informed by diverse voices, it’s time to find the right funding to support your vision. Most public park development relies on municipal funding and grants. General funds from a municipality’s budget, bonds, taxes and fees are all ways local governments offer long term support for parks. For substantial funding without need for repayment, turn to federal, state and privately funded grants.

“Local funding is foundational for financing project construction and long-term maintenance and operations. Grants, on the other hand, provide significant cash flow during critical periods of investment, helping to drive major project milestones.”

Step 3: Sequence & Stack

Successful park projects need multiple funding streams to support all the steps of park development. Stacking and sequencing is a strategy to ensure a parks project stays funded at every phase. It requires researching diverse funding streams and matching them to each phase of the project.

“Sequence funding opportunities by phase of the Park Development Process and determine which sources can be stacked, or used simultaneously, to maximize your funding.”

Step 4: Secure

Once you’ve stacked and sequences potential funding it’s time to prioritize. Hone in your plan and consider data, community voices, and partnerships that could enhance a projects’ credibility. Always focus your efforts on high-potential opportunities. Grants applications can be time intensive and require thorough research, consider bringing in a Technical Assistance provider like CCLR to guide you through the process. Scheduling a meeting is the best way to get this process started!

“Showcase any community-wide benefits, such as economic development, reduced crime, improved air quality, or enhanced quality of life, especially in under resourced communities”

Step 5: Manage

Maintaining robust funding and staying compliant with grant requirements ensures your park’s longevity. Technical assistance will also be an important part of the management stage, CCLR’s experts have 25 years of experience supporting grantees in EPA regions 9 and 10! From reporting, risk management and internal team management, it takes a strong team to complete project milestones.

“Management requires a proactive approach to ensure efficient use of funds and successful completion of project milestones.”

Ready to dive in? Read the full guide and schedule a meeting with CCLR to get expert support for your unique park funding needs!