Membership Benefit: Advocacy and Soft Edge

Late-winter and early-spring is the peak of PTNY’s advocacy season, as we call for the legislature to take action on various proposals. For us, advocacy is centered on ensuring adequate funding for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Environmental Protection Fund, which directs hundreds of millions of dollars to open space conservation and stewardship efforts, including outdoor recreation initiatives. Our 2022 Advocacy Priorities focus on these critical funds, as well as those programs that benefit Friends groups, like Park and Trail Partnership Grants.

Advocacy is nothing more than an activity that aims to influence decisions and just because PTNY’s advocacy efforts happen at the Capitol, does not necessarily make them more impactful than a campaign in your park’s or site’s local community. Friends groups can be powerful, knowledgeable, and impactful advocates which is why we are offering our Friend Group Members engagement tools that will not only educate local stakeholders about the needs of the places you champion, but can be leveraged into a promotional tool to connect with future volunteers and donors.

Using our online software subscription to Congress Plus, we can help you create an engagement campaign that will help your Friends group reach key stakeholders and decision-makers in your community. We have the ability to develop a customized sign-on letter or petition campaign that will raise awareness of your issue with municipal, county and local leaders, and encourage your members, volunteers and broader community to participate by sharing their support on social media and through local news outlets. The ability for your message to be shared across platforms can be an incredibly powerful tool to raise awareness of your group and engender action by current and future supporters.

Perhaps most importantly, working with PTNY on your campaign creates new opportunities for the growth of your Friends group. When your online action wraps up, we can provide you with a wealth of information that can be leveraged to connect you with potential supporters. Contact information for the people who participated--including email and mailing addresses, as well as the option to sign up for your newsletter--help you curate and expand your audience. Learning more about folks who got involved can not only help you measure your impact in the community but help you grow your social media presence, which is essential for communicating your mission, events, and activities with visitors to you park or site. We are happy to help you break down the information and create action plans for strengthening your group and, ideally, your bottom line.

So tell us–do you have a project at your park or site that you want to raise awareness about? Is there a partnership or event that would benefit from additional attention in your community? Are there local leaders who need to be informed about a critical issue? If so, please reach out to the Parks Team at PTNY and let’s discuss the tools and strategies we can offer to help create positive change around your public land.