Municipal governments continue to struggle with decreased funding. In order to offset depleting funds, agencies rely on volunteers to provide resources to the public. In youth sport programs, parents provide much of the support, and it is estimated that 90% of youth sport coaches are parents. Given that parents have been instrumental in youth sport programs, the purpose of this study was to understand parents' experiences and insights associated with volunteering by using a youth soccer program located in a mid-sized town in Illinois as a case-study. Specifically, the study was designed to examine (a) parents' motivations in volunteering, (b) challenges parent coaches faced while volunteering, and (c) parent coaches' recommendations to agency personnel. Using a qualitative approach, 11 parents were interviewed. Findings indicated that parents were motivated to volunteer in order to help their children, and several expressed a desire to give back to their community. The primary motivation and benefit for volunteer coaches was their relationships with the children. Relationships with other adults in the program were also significant, but they tended to be secondary. Challenges in volunteering included working with the children, parents, and agency staff. Recommendations included providing incentives to coaches, conducting player assessments, ensuring that recruited volunteers share the agency's philosophy, and addressing volunteer concerns.

Although local park and recreation agencies rely on various types of funding, tax-based allocations are the most significant funding source. Unfortunately, tax-based allocations have not kept pace with growing user demands and maintenance backlogs. As such, successful tax referenda are becoming critical for sustained operations and capital investment. Among the various activities that may sway public opinion, strategic messaging through a variety of media may be one of the most important. Using a county-level public park agency’s 2020 tax referendum as a case study, the purpose of this study is to identify successful communication strategies of open space referendum campaigns that secure support from voters. Data were collected from the campaign’s official Facebook page to examine what message content and post type were effective in increasing voter awareness and engagement. Results from regressions showed that messages that explained the ballot in plain language (e.g., Simplify Ballot Language), demonstrated support or approval from local organizations or local champions/celebrities (e.g., Endorsement), broke down the total amount of tax being requested (i.e., Temporal Reframing), and empha-sized the direct benefits if the referendum were passed (i.e., Direct Outcome) were most effective in increasing the awareness of the referendum. Among Facebook page followers, posts that demonstrated campaign efforts/activities (i.e., Demon-stration) and acknowledged individuals’ or organizations’ efforts to support the campaign (i.e., Acknowledgement) effectively increased engagement. In terms of Facebook post types, photo posts and video posts generally performed better than link and shared video posts. The study has three main practical implications for open space referenda advocates and managers concerned with campaign commu-nication: (1) solicit and demonstrate support from highly regarded local organiza-tions or individuals; (2) emphasize the direct benefits and break down the total amount of tax being asked; and (3) use short videos and scenic images.

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Although other sources exist, tax-based funding accounts for the majority of operating budgets for NRPA member agencies. To keep pace with ongoing maintenance and service needs, and to increase agency capacity to provide services into the future, many municipal and county level agencies often turn to voter referenda – a form of direct democracy, wherein citizens in a given area hold decision making authority in specific elements of the public policy process – to increase tax-based funding. These referenda take a variety of forms, including permanent increases to property, income, or sales tax, or the approval of a one-time bond resolution. Despite their prevalence and importance, the scholarly body of work addressing the referendum process as a tool for open-space and environmental conservation is relatively small, with very little scholarly work specifically addressing referenda focused on community level park and recreation services. The purpose of this manuscript is to begin to address the gaps in knowledge surrounding the referendum process, specific to the financing of community park and recreation services. We employ a qualitative case study approach to examine the historical and contemporary context of a successful park and recreation referendum, conducting in-depth key-informant interviews with stakeholders within and external to the agency.

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