12 | 2023 National Recreation and Park Association PROGRAMMING The 275 million people who visited a local park or recreation facility last year were able to select from a wide variety of offerings that met their needs and desires. Each of those people represents a touchpoint or “contact” for parks and recreation. “Contacts” include many different types of interactions with a park and recreation agency, such as visits to a local park, running or biking on a local trail, visits to a local recreation center or other interactions with any park and recreation facility operated by an agency. Moreover, a person can have more than one contact with parks and recreation. Someone who swims at their local agency’s aquatics center 10 times a year and bikes along a local trail five times a year would have 15 contacts. The typical park and recreation agency registers approximately 341,000 contacts every year. The number of contacts varies dramatically from agency to agency. For example, the typical agency at the 75th percentile has more than 1.3 million annual contacts. Engagement between large park and recreation agencies and visitors is even more frequent — the typical agency serving a population of more than 250,000 has nearly 1.9 million contacts per year, with those at the 75th percentile serving more than 4.1 million people annually. Programming is a crucial driver of engagement with parks and recreation. The typical park and recreation agency generates more than 20,000 contacts through its programs alone. Those agencies serving more than 250,000 residents may have more than two-anda-half times the number of contacts compared with agencies overall. Registration fees for special programming are the largest source of non-tax revenue for most agencies. The typical agency offers 200 programs each year; 141 of those programs are fee-based events. Agencies serving a population of less than 20,000 typically hold 30 fee-based programs per year, while those serving more than 250,000 residents offer 400 fee-based programs annually. Programming provided by agencies spans a variety of park and recreation activities — many of which touch on one or more of NRPA’s Three Pillars: Health and Wellness, Equity, and Conservation. Key programming activities offered by at least seven in 10 park and recreation agencies include: • Themed special events (offered by 89 percent of agencies) • Social recreation events (88 percent) • Team sports (86 percent) • Fitness enhancement classes (81 percent) • Health and wellness education (80 percent) • Individual sports (77 percent) • Safety training (71 percent) • Racquet sports (71 percent) • Aquatics (69 percent) A group of children play at a community center in Lexington, Massachusetts. PHOTO COURTESY OF LEXINGTON RECREATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
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