Navigating the twists and turns of funding skateparks
1. Webinar | September 27, 2016
Hosted by Stantec’s Action Sport Group
Navigating
the twists &
turns of
funding
skateparks
2. Speaking Panel
Kanten Russell
Project Manager in Stantec’s
Action Sport Group
Peter Whitley
Tony Hawk Foundation
Meredith Noble
Grant writing/funding
Specialist, Stantec
Mike McIntyre
Principal for Stantec’s
Action Sport Group
Sarah Anderson
Nyack, NY Skatepark
Keith “K-Dub” Williams
Town Park Skatepark,
Oakland, CA
Tariq Saqqaf
Madison, WI Skatepark Fund
Patrick Hasburgh
Madison, WI Skatepark Fund
3. Introduction
(the value that skateparks bring to a community)
Examples
(from other successfully funded skatepark projects)
Fundraising Toolkit Preview
Your Message
Your visual message and social media
Funding Sources
(you may not have thought about)
5. Why Fund a Skatepark?
5 Reasons to Have a Skatepark
1. With 6.3 million skateboarders in the U.S., and only
about 3,500 skateparks available for them to ride, the
need for more safe skateparks has never been greater
(right now it’s 1800 people to each skatepark).
2. Skateboarding is popular - It’s the 3rd most popular
sport among youth ages 8-18, after football and
basketball (SGMA study).
3. Healthy activity.
4. Improves communities – provides a
safe place to recreate.
5. If a city doesn’t have a skatepark,
it is a skatepark.
6. Typical cost & size of a skatepark
Nyack Skatepark
Lynch Family Skatepark
Nyack Skatepark
• Example of a small skatepark
• 5,000 SF
• $220,000
Lynch Family
Skatepark
• Example of a large skatepark
• 40,000 SF
• $2.8M
Watch the
video here
7. from other successfully funded skatepark projects…
• Goodman Skatepark, Madison, WI
• Town Park Skatepark, Oakland, CA
• Nyack, NY Skatepark
Examples
11. Project Background
• The all-volunteer, Madison Skatepark Fund, had
a goal to bring the truly public skatepark to
Madison.
• Founded in 2001 and completed in 14 years.
• Madison Skatepark Fund raised 3/4s of the
$1.2M price tag.
Madison, WI| Goodman Skatepark
12. What We Did
• 4000 signatures
• Grass roots efforts (benefit concerts, website, social media, skate jams)
• Parcel of land secured & $300,000 from the City $10,000
challenge grant: Tony Hawk Foundation
• $200,000 Dane County Board
• "Willy Street Co-op Eggplant Bowl“ $50,000
• Goodman Foundation: $250,000 for naming rights
• Additional grant: National Parks Service
Madison, WI| Goodman Skatepark
13. Project Benefits/Community Impact
• 100 people visit the park every day
• A "Friends" group has been formed
• Promotes diversity – weekly women’s skate night
• No complaints about noise or traffic at the park.
Madison, WI| Goodman Skatepark
16. Project Background
• DeFremery Park - wanted to create a safe,
constructive environment for the neighborhood’s
youth.
• 2007 - built wood ramps.
• 2014 - with the help of Levi’s, organized a community-
wide volunteer effort to build the park. Phase One of
the Park opened.
• 2015 – after a similar community volunteer effort with
Levi’s donation, Phase 2 of the park opened.
• Total cost: $700K.
Oakland, CA| Town Park Skatepark
17. What we did
• Showed the need for a free public skatepark
• Gained support from the City of Oakland
• Connected with Levi’s to fund the project
• Did a public outreach with the skating community
Oakland, CA| Town Park Skatepark
Project Benefits/Community Impact
• First free public skatepark in the area
• Place for kids to stay active and out of trouble
• Place for public art
• Has hosted events for the local community
20. Project Background
• Petition: 1,000 signatures
• Launched the “Nyack Needs a Skatepark” Facebook
page
• Nyack village trustees voted unanimously in favor of
the park in March 2013
Nyack, NY| Skatepark
22. Nyack, NY| Skatepark
Project Benefits/Community Impact
• Unified skateboarders
• Full scholarships for youth in need
• The 1st and only free public skatepark in Nyack.
• The most utilized feature of Nyack's Memorial Park.
• Inspired several other skatepark movements in the area
and serves as a model for those projects.
• Nyack has gained some east coast notoriety!
24. Visual Messaging & Social Media
Examples
• Websites for project info, surveys, and donations
• Great source for skatepark education
• Grassroots fundraising campaigns
• Guerrilla marketing to get people’s attention
• Promote crowdsourcing for funding
• Social media is a great tool for visual impact
29. Funding Sources
• Tony Hawk Foundation Grant
• Other Funding Sources
• What are the Current Costs for Skateparks?
30. Tony Hawk Foundation
What We Do
400+
Skatepark
projects
reviewed
in 2015
$5.5M
Awarded by
THF
572
Skatepark
projects funded
by
THF in the US
5.5M
Visitors annually
who enjoy
THF-funded
skateparks
31. Tony Hawk Foundation
Successful fundraising requires:
• Project awareness by the community.
• A multi-faceted approach that relies on as many
difference sources as possible.
32. Tony Hawk Foundation
Funding Sources
• Grassroots Fundraising (T-shirts, car-washes, art-deck raffles, & change jars)
• In-Kind Donations (Product and service donations)
• Business Donations (Local businesses via direct donation)
• Local Government (General fund, capital improvement funds, and capital funds from
levies or bonds)
• Local Charities (Non-profits, churches, fraternal organizations, etc.)
• Large Grants (State and county grants)
33. Tony Hawk Foundation
What are the Current Costs for Skateparks?
• The Tony Hawk Foundation uses a range of $40 to
$50 a square foot for estimating the cost of a new
skatepark project. This is approximate and will vary
based on project conditions.
37. Funding Buckets
General
Funds
Recreation
service
area tax
assessment
Parks & Rec.
Grassroots
fundraising
Materials
Labor
Land
Equipment
38. Funding Buckets
General
Funds
Recreation
service
area tax
assessment
Parks & Rec.
Grassroots
fundraising
Community
Development Block
Grant
State parks/
facilities funding
EPA Brownfield
Clean-Up funds
Legislative
appropriations
Materials
Labor
Land
Equipment
39. Funding Buckets
General
Funds
Recreation
service
area tax
assessment
Parks & Rec.
Grassroots
fundraising
Community
Development Block
Grant
State parks/
facilities funding
EPA Brownfield
Clean-Up funds
Legislative
appropriations
National foundations
Local foundations/trusts
Employer giving programs
Individual donors
Corporate sponsorship
Materials
Labor
Land
Equipment
40. Funding Sources
It’s very rare for any one funding source to provide 100% of a project’s financial
needs. Skateparks require a multitude of funding sources to bring all of those moving
pieces together.
41. Funding Strategy
Sample Funding Matrix
Funding
Agency
Eligible
Projects
Eligible
Applicants
Funding
Available
Application
Deadline How to Apply
(State) Land and
Water
Conservation
Fund
Funds outdoor and
recreational
resources.
Local gov’t. Non-
profit conservation
orgs. School
Districts.
Unclear (likely
$50-75k)
May 1 http://dnr.wi.gov/Aid/LWCF.html
Kohler
Foundation Inc.
Support projects
with educational
and arts initiative.
Public institutions or
non-profit
$5k* Mar. 15, Sept. 15 Recommend identifying an art oriented
partner and pitching Kohler’s support in
developing ‘rideable’ art pieces.
http://www.kohlerfoundation.org/grants/
Andersen
Corporate
Foundation
Funds projects that
build, promote and
preserve
communities.
Capital projects
allowed.
Non-profit,
universities
$2-50k. Feb. 15, June 15, Oct
.15
http://www.andersencorporation.com/corpora
te-responsibility/community-
involvement/andersen-corporate-
foundation/#toggle-id-5
Tony Hawk
Foundation
Support skateparks
in low income
areas.
Local gov’t, non-
profit.
$25k max. Jan. & July http://tonyhawkfoundation.org/grant-
application/
EPA
Community-
Wide
Assessment,
Planning and
Clean-up Grants
Supports inventory,
assessment,
planning and clean-
up of brownfield
sites for reuse.
States, communities,
tribes, non-profits
Varies per
program
Varies per program https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
Research Funding
Opportunities
42. Research Funding
Opportunities
• Set up an excel form like that on the previous slide to track funding
opportunities. Google any possible funding source that could fund a
portion of your project. This process should take roughly 20 hours.
• Think Creatively. Can the site manage stormwater runoff? Is there
grant funding for outdoor energy efficiency lighting? Can features of
the park be rideable art? How does the project support economic
development?
• Verify that you are eligible to apply before preparing an application.
(This can take longer than you would think).
• Your best opportunities are local and state based.
43. Tips for Funding Research
• Request examples of successful applications from past recipients
and learn about what the requirements were to pursue and manage a
certain grant.
• Ask what percentage of applicants are awarded so you can assess
your odds of success.
• Research a Foundation’s funding history through 990 Tax Forms.
You can often access this database at your local library for free:
https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/
44. Tips Continued…
• Identify a non-profit partner
• Form a diverse ‘Advisory Committee’
• Appoint a leader for managing the
fundraising process
• Research funding history through 990 Tax Form:
https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/
45. This 990-form was pulled from the Tony Hawk Foundation website to show an example of communities that were awarded
funding and in what amount. Most libraries can provide free access to the Foundation Center directory. The value of doing this is
to see what kind of resources each Foundation has and to make sure that their giving history would align with your project.
46. Funding Strategy
• Select top funding sources to pursue. This may
only be two or three opportunities.
• Summarize your funding strategy on one page.
Share this ‘road map’ broadly.
• Expect the plan to change. Update your funding
strategy and carry forward.
• Integrate your Public Awareness and Involvement
Campaign.
• Take breaks as needed and have fun!
Develop
Fundraising Plan
47. Programs of Note
Land and Water Conservation Fund
(State Program)
HUD Community Development
Block Grants
Placemaking such as Southwest Airlines
Project for Public Spaces, National
Endowment for the Arts, ArtPlace, etc.
Placemaking projects could develop rideable pieces of art.
EPA Brownfield Assessment, Planning, & Clean-
up Grants and Revolving Loan Funds
(This may be relevant if you are interested in developing a contaminated property into
a skatepark. Contact chris.gdak@stantec.com for more info).
48. Funding Strategy
• Stantec’s Project Managers can help
• Have a back up plan for changes in the project
team
• Maintain detailed project records
• Your reputation as an awardee is important—
always submit reports on time and of high quality
• Build your skatepark!!!
Implement Plan
& Administer Awards
49. Questions?
Please feel free to contact us at
actionsport@stantec.com
We’ll direct your question to the appropriate person.
Editor's Notes
This stat is from Peter: With 6.3-million skateboarders in the U.S., and only about 3,500 skateparks available for them to ride, the need for more safe skateparks has never been greater.
The skatepark will provide a safe place to recreate.
2. Skateboarding has millions of participants nationally and is growing while team sports participation is in decline. It’s the 3rd most popular sport among youth ages 8-18, after football and basketball (SGMA study), but it is also inter-generational.
3. With national health issues looming for today’s youth, it’s time to offer a greater number of healthy, athletic choices.
4. Skateparks support vibrant, healthy communities, just like many other athletic facilities.
5. If a city doesn’t have a skatepark, it is a skatepark.
Tell a quick story about all the great benefits a skatepark you worked on brought to the community…
Founded in 2001, the all-volunteer, Madison Skatepark Fund had a goal to bring the first free, public skatepark to Madison, Wisconsin.
The project took exactly 14 years to complete.
The Madison Skatepark Fund raised about $900,000 of the $1.2M pricetag
MSF started by collecting over 4000 signatures to show community support for Madison's first public skatepark. The group then focused on grassroots fundraising efforts such as hosting benefit concerts and skate-jams.
Eventually MSF shifted strategy and worked with local alderpersons to secured a 20,000 square foot parcel of land in the soon-to-be-built Central Park and $300,000 from the City of Madison in 2010. MSF began their fundraising efforts in earnest and was awarded a $10,000 challenge grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation in 2012.
A grant available at the County level with a focus on community recreation seemed like a good next step, but after being denied twice their $150,000 request, the group rallied local skaters and successfully lobbied the Dane County Board to secure $200,000 by the spring of 2013!
The next big piece of funding came from the Willy Street Grocery Co-op, a cornerstone of the community where the skatepark was to be built. With MSF's plan to have a pool-style bowl in the park, and the Co-op using an eggplant in their logo, the "Willy Street Co-op Eggplant Bowl" was born and the group was another $50,000 closer to their goal!
At this point, community enthusiasm was rallying around the skatepark. It almost seemed like foundations and private donors were lining up to support the project. The crucial gift came from the Goodman Foundation who donated $250,000 for naming rights.
100 people visit the park every day, drawn by its large size and variety of skating elements.
A "Friends" group has been formed to help open, close and keep the park clean during the cooler months and promote a sense of ownership.
Promoting diversity - women’s skate night every Wednesday at the park.
No complaints about noise or traffic at the park. Residents are proud to have the park on their side of town. “The big complaint we’ve heard is that it’s not open enough”.
Located in DeFremery Park, long a center of social, political and community activity, the Town Park skate park came out of the commitment and passion of Keith “K-Dub” Williams, a local artist, teacher and youth activist who wanted to create a safe, constructive environment for the neighborhood’s youth.
In 2007, he began working with the City of Oakland and the community to build wood ramps there in the hopes it would prove that there was enough interest to warrant constructing a permanent, cement park.
Now, seven years later with the help of Levi’s in partnership with K-Dub, he organized a community-wide volunteer effort to build the park.
A ribbon cutting with Levi’s president James Curleigh, K-Dub and city officials—unveiled Phase I of the park. Phase II will begin in a year later.
Total cost: $700K
The campaign began when Sarah Anderson ran a petition 1,000 signatures. That's also when she launched the Nyack Needs a Skatepark Facebook page to drum up support and keep the public informed on the project's progress.
Nyack village trustees voted unanimously in favor of the park in March 2013 and allocated an area of Memorial Park to be used for its installation.
Sarah Anderson who, along with the Nyack Needs a Skatepark Committee, has been lobbying for the skateboard park's installation since 2010.
The 5,000-square-foot concrete structure, officially opened with a celebration at Memorial Park featuring live music, food vendors, skateboarding contests and more.
The initial money came in small chunks from the community. Wright Brothers Realty was one of our first bigger initial donors. We raised $12,000 with the Deckade board show. Then the Misfits played a benefit show and raised $22,000. Soon after we were awarded the top grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation ($25,000). Then New York State Senator David Carlucci procured a $100,000 grant from New York State. In all we raised $175,000.
Project Benefits:
The project unified skateboarders throughout Nyack and even the larger community.
The project inspired a public recreational skateboarding program which includes full scholarships for youth in need.
The skatepark is now the most utilized feature of Nyack's Memorial Park.
The skatepark is the 1st and only free public skateboarding facility in the county which means it brings people and hence business to our village.
Community Impact:
The youth of our community now has a free public recreational outlet where they regularly interact with people of different generations and backgrounds and with each other.
The skatepark has inspired several other skatepark movements in the area and serves as a model for those projects.
Nyack has gained some east coast notoriety! The park was even featured in the Wall Street Journal.
Quotes (if you need them):
Joseph Ondrek has been part of the skatepark committee since day one and said the village was the perfect spot for such an attraction.
"Nyack is such a vibrant, young community with so many people my age with families just starting out with young kids," said Ondrek, 42, who's been skating for more than 30 years and said he looks forward to taking his son to the new park.
Support from the community, he said, was tremendous.
"All those people came together to form the skatepark committee, to be donors, to lend financial assistance and guidance at all the community meetings and board meetings," he said. "It's just been an overwhelming response from all different people to make this project happen."
"I think the community is really excited and I think that there are more kids skating than ever before," Anderson said. "I have kids telling me and moms telling me that they’re going to get a skateboard for their kids.
"There’s already some things to do (at Memorial Park)," she said, "but now there’s one more thing to get people outside. We’re all so happy and people are so thankful."
More than 400 skatepark projects Worldwide received critical Advocacy Training and Review from the Tony Hawk Foundation in 2015.
$5.5-million have been awarded by the Tony Hawk Foundation to help create public skateparks
572 skatepark projects in the U.S. have received funding from the Tony Hawk Foundation.
5.5-million visitors annually enjoy skateparks that the Tony Hawk Foundation helped fund
Why Skateparks Matter
With 6.3-million skateboarders in the U.S., and only about 3,500 skateparks available for them to ride, the need for more safe skateparks has never been greater.
Good community awareness is the foundation of good fundraising. Projects that do not have the benefit of a strong partnership between the users (skate advocates) and local government are going to struggle to produce a facility according to any particular vision.
Fundraising sources can be categorized in lots of ways. I prefer this typology:
1. Grassroots Fundraising
T-shirts, car-washes, art-deck raffles, and change jars. These programs are better at raising awareness than funds and often don’t pay for the effort they take or organize. However, there are other benefits that cannot be found elsewhere. These events demonstrate to the general public that the skaters are involved and committed to a responsible path. In other words, the skaters aren’t looking for a handout; they’re willing to work for it. These are “All-American” values.
2. In-Kind Donations
Product and service donations are the easiest types of donations for small businesses. By trading-up, the fundraising team can leverage small donations into larger ones and eventually get into cash values. Every in-kind donation has cash value to someone somewhere.
3. Business Donations
Local businesses via direct donation (smaller businesses) and applied donations (charitable programs).
4. Local Government
General fund, capital improvement funds, and capital funds from levies or bonds.
5. Local Charities
Non-profits, churches, fraternal organizations, and so on.
6. Large Grants
State and county grants.
There are several buckets to work with to piece together a funding solution. There is strategy involved in when and how to access different funding buckets. You must start with local funding. Local match is most often provided through general operating fund dollars through whatever City Department is responsible for park related projects. Some communities have Recreation Service Area Tax Assessments which taxes a specific area within a community to fund park related projects. I live in Anchorage Alaska where this is done if you are looking for an example. Local funding can also be sourced through grassroots fundraising, which I won’t get into detail because the sky is the limit on how to creatively fundraise.
Local funding can also include in-kind contributions. This can come in the form of materials like donated fencing or fill dirt, labor, property, or equipment.
State and Federal grants or low-interest loans should be your next focus area because they typically have the longest lead time between preparing competitive applications, waiting to find out about an award, and the time it takes to get an executed contract. Many communities use their Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds – which in larger urban areas is typically awarded based on population and percentage of residents with low to moderate income. Often smaller communities can access CDBG funds through a competitive grant application process. Some states have dedicated park and recreation funding. Another potentially creative source of funding would be through the Environmental Protection Agency brownfield assessment and clean-up grant funds. Brownfields are contaminated properties from previous use and a skatepark can potentially serve those sites by capping them in cement. There is also legislative appropriation funding which requires direct coordination with your local representatives.
The next two buckets characterize private donations and funding from Foundations and Trusts. Your best bets are always to start locally and then work your way out. Begin by asking yourself what major employers are in your area that have corporate community giving programs or Foundations with a mission to support youth and community.
It is very rare for any one funding source to provide 100% of a project’s financial needs. Skateparks require a multitude of funding sources and coordination to bring all of those moving pieces together.
Now let’s move on to the nuts and bolts of how we strategize on funding. The first step is to research funding opportunities. I suggest setting up an excel spreadsheet like the one shared here. Have a column for the funding agency, eligible projects, eligible applicants, amount of funding available, application deadline, how to apply and a notes column. Google is your friend in this process. This process shouldn’t take more than 20 hours.
A few tips on this process…when researching funding, you want to get creative in how you think about it. For instance, can a portion of the site manage stormwater runoff? Are there programs in your state that fund energy efficiency lighting that can help with lighting the park? How can features in the skatepark become placemaking assets and rideable pieces of art? Does this project fight childhood obesity? Does it support economic development in the area? Think about your project in small fundable chunks instead of exclusively a skate park project.
It is very much worth your time upfront to verify eligibility before preparing a complex application – and this can be harder than you would expect. This is where phone calls and in-person time with funding agencies can help you discuss the project and flush out those important details. This is a good time to contact other communities and request a copy of their successful grant application and learn about what it was like to pursue and administer that grant. There are times when the reporting requirements are so onerous it isn’t worth the funding – so this is the time to work through those important considerations.
A really important issue we need to cover is the fundraising team. Foundations and Trusts and even some state grants are only available to registered 501c3 non-profits. Establishing a memorandum of understanding, or some other mutual agreement on how to formally work together is key for maximizing the amount of funding sources available to you.
An Advisory Committee or whatever better name you can come up with, is important. A team could consist of a municipality or some form of government, non-profits, a school district, end-users, neighborhood councils, a private developer, the community at large, etc. You may also consider folding in those that are or could be against your project which may seem counter intuitive but a good way to prevent conflict. Bringing diverse community thought-leaders and real ‘doers’ together is essential for A) getting things done and B) showing agencies like our friends at the Tony Hawk Foundation, that your project has broad support. It is essential to appoint a leader for managing the process – ideally someone in the community with experience fundraising and a municipal representative.
Lastly – another fun tip worth sharing is researching non-profit funding history through 990 tax forms. 990 forms share annual funding contributions – sharing how much was awarded and to who.
I pulled this 990 form from the Tony Hawk Foundation website as an example of communities they awarded funding to and in what amount. Most libraries can provide free access to the Foundation Center directory. Go to your local library and usually with a library card number you can access it. The value of doing this is to see what kind of resources the Foundation has and make sure that their giving history would align with your project. If not – don’t waste your time.
In my opinion the hardest part of the process is deciding what funding options are most worth your limited resources – be that time and money. Select a handful of programs – possibly only two or three and summarize your funding strategy on one page. Share this living road map broadly. It will evolve as you move forward - perhaps the Foundation requires a letter of inquiry first and they decline a full proposal. You would scratch them off the list and pivot. Perhaps a new funding source comes up that makes a great deal of sense to pursue so you would add it to the strategy. The point though is that this gives you a road map for securing funding that matches the amount of your project budget. This is not a sprint – it is very much a long distance endurance event. Take breaks as needed, especially depending on how heavily you rely on volunteer power. And remember to have fun! The feeling of finally pulling project financing together is one of the finest feelings in the world.
There are a few specific programs I wanted to call to your attention. The National Parks Service Land and Water Conservation Fund has a state and federal program. I recommend competing for your State’s LWCF allocation if you choose to pursue this. Skateparks are eligible projects, but that is to a degree state dependent so you need to tactfully contact your local representative to discuss the project. You want to find out what percentage of submissions was awarded funding and decide if the cost to prepare NEPA documentation, historical preservation permitting, etc. is worth the grant value.
Another program is the HUD Community Development Block Grant. This program can fund site acquisition, environmental site assessment, clearance, demolition, and actual construction costs for a skatepark as a community facility assuming it benefits low to moderate income residents.
Placemaking is a hot new funding category – basically placemaking is community-planned and designed projects that build strong communities. This is where partnering with a local arts organization to develop rideable art pieces can come into play.
Lastly – if you have the time to pursue EPA brownfield assessment and clean-up funds, this federal program can help you inventory brownfield properties (both publically and privately owned), perform Phase I and Phase II Environmental site assessments, develop re-use plans and ABCA’s – A____ Brownfield Cleanup Alternative plans. If you have a reuse in mind, say for a skatepark, clean-up level standards may not be as high as it would for other uses, essentially if the cement in the skate park can be used to cap the contamination. If you are interested in learning more about this, I will advise contacting Chris Gdak. Chris and his peers here at Stantec have helped communities secure over $30M in EPA and State brownfield grants since 2005 in over 18 states and 6 EPA regions.
The last step in the funding process is managing your project and administration of diverse funding sources. Have contingency plans for changes in the project team, which nearly 100% of the time will happen during the life of your project and most importantly, protect your reputation. Submit quality and timely reports as required – be a pleasure to work with. Project Management and Administration is something our Project Managers often helps with – it just depends on the resources your community has and how much help is needed.
So with that, I want to open it up to questions.
Please feel free to type your question into the side panel. We’ll try to get to all of them, but if we can’t, please email us at actionsports@stantec.com and we’ll distribute your question to the correct speaker and get back to you.
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