From the Desk of the Friends Leadership Council
By Kathleen York, Executive Director; Friends of Knox Farm State Park
Whether you are a volunteer board member, or a paid staff of a Friends group like I am, it is easy to feel like you are working through the constant challenges of your organization in a vacuum. I work in an office of one; you may work from your dining room table. Either way, a monthly committee or board meeting rarely offers the support we may need to create programing, find funding, navigate board commitments, and cultivate volunteers.
In 2019 The Friends of Knox Farm State Park became the recipients of a PTNY Partnership professional development grant, allowing them to hire a part time Executive Director, and allowing me to put a lot of past work experiences into a new focus. If your organization is at the point of transitioning from a strictly volunteer basis to including a paid staff member, I would highly encourage you to research the PTNY Professional Development Grant. For us it has been a game changer; Having someone to field inquiries about the park and the opportunities to support improvements has resulted in a much more efficient funding stream and a more effective relationship with NYS Parks. Successes here at Knox have self-perpetuated; the more varied ways we find to utilize our resources, the more opportunities present themselves. This is a “good news-bad news” conundrum; it has resulted in the problem we all strive for; too many opportunities!
PTNY has become a powerful ally to me as I help my organization navigate these opportunities. Involvement in the Leadership Council has given me not only a network of highly accomplished peers to compare notes with; it has taught me that we are all learning as we progress through the journey of growing our groups. Friends Discussion Forums and workshops provide pertinent information on issues that many of us face, and the office is always responsive and supportive with any question I have. The Friends Group Gateway contains a resource library, Best Practices Manual, and Friends Resource Kit to help organizations work through the logistics of topics such as volunteer management, advocacy, board governance, and development. In everything they do, PTNY puts into practice the goal that they want us to succeed. The tools are there; I encourage you to use them.
I am very excited to participate in one of the most enjoyable events made possible through PTNY: the Friends Conferences. The conferences this year will be hosted regionally. Please find your region’s conference date and location and register today. Any member of your Friends group is encouraged to attend, but must register here. Consider this your personal invitation to join me here at Knox Farm State Park (located in the Niagara Region) on September 22nd. This is a unique opportunity to meet and network with other like-minded individuals, to hear about Parks initiatives, and to realize that we are in fact, NOT working in a vacuum.
The reality is that few of us brings all the resources or experiences needed to competently run a Friends group. I am fortunate to have an amazing board, and they largely compensate for my shortcomings. The amazing staff at PTNY fills in much of the rest. PTNY started out as a funding source for The Friends of Knox Farm State Park. It has grown to be a mutually beneficial relationship, and I am glad that I ignored that voice that suggested I may not have anything to contribute, and got involved with initiatives. Again, the tools are there- it is up to you to utilize them.(See you on September 22nd at Knox!)