Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Reservation Systems (gossip edition)

Apparently people are very dissatisfied with Active Net (this was everyone I spoke to).  Some told me Active Net was looking to build or create a rather large facility in Texas but people are jumping ship and looking for alternative solutions due to the high fees.  Just like us, there are negotiated fees for credit card and POS transactions.  Some solutions people talked about were:


  • Setting up a separate POS system that takes credit cards and using Active Net only for reservations, sales are actually done on a separate system with no fees paid to Active Net.  

  •  Several people told me they switched to Rec Track (https://www.vermontsystems.com/products/rectrac/)

  • RecDesk was also mentioned a few times (https://recdesk.com/) along with MyRec (http://www.myrec.com/)

Others were trying to figure out how to hide the Active Net fees on the receipt (sound familiar).


Getting Back in the Groove

After catching up on what seems like a million emails, phone calls and the like, I finally have some free time to keep recording my notes from the conference. 

All of the PPTs from the training are now located at:

      I drive > Conferences & Workshops > NRPA Revenue Development School

There are 13 folders with from presentations which include Advanced Budgeting, Contracting/Outsourcing, Marketing and Consumer Trends. 

More to come...

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Base Budgeting (103)

Presented by:
Kimberly McNeeley,
Acting Director Parks and Recreation,
Austin Texas

Various Methods for Operating
  • $0 Based Budgeting (start at $0 every year)
  • Performance Based Budgeting (making the most impact, goal are met)
  • Fixed Allocation (figure out how to divide budget)
Where $ Comes From
Operating Budget
  • Property Taxes
  • Sales Taxes
  • Sponsorships
  • Concessions
  • Grants
  • Fees / Admissions
Capital Budget
  • Grants
  • Impact Fees
  • Bond Funding
  • Mitigation Fees
  • Parkland Dedication Fees


Allocation of budget should align with organizational values!

Guiding Documents
  • Strategic Plan
  • Business Plan
  • Horizon Issues
    • Demographic Changes
    • Industry Trends
    • Regulatory Changes / Revisions
  • Operational Data
  • Community Input
INDUSTRY VALUES
Conservation / Health and Wellness / Social Equity

Example:





Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Bringing Back Some Materials for Review


Day 2: Theory of Revenue Development

March 12th
Sunny and clear but 27 degrees at 8am

NOTES from Day 2 (101 & 102)

*P&R = Parks and Rec

*Waiting for NRPA to reset password to NRPAConnect. Cannot access instructors PPTs...

The Enterprise Approach
Presented by M Ruiz from Miami-Dade County, Florida

Theory behind the Enterprise approach which is boiled down to getting resources to achieve organizations Mission.

Enterprise Approach is definitely about Social Entrepreneurship (Social, Environmental, Cultural) and finding a balance between Social and Financial entrepreneurship is important so you can focus on things that need to be subsidized to make services accessible.

The Enterprise mindset is understanding that everything an organization does goes to the greater Mission.

Enterprise Divisions (those that make money) give the net profit to other divisions to make services accessible to everyone in the community. For example, a contract class that makes a lot of money my haver the net profits go to subsidizing the same class in another part of town where residents may not be able to afford the full class rate OR the net profit may go to a camp that is not financially self sustaining but is a great program that provides greater access to people in the community.

Levels of Enterprise include:

  • Agency
  • Facility
  • Program
  • Event

There are social and environmental responsibilities that P&R are trying to achieve.

Tenets of NRPA include:

In order to make the Enterprise approach work you need good leadership that can help keep the organization on track and focused on the Mission the organization is trying to achieve. They need to be able to articulate why funding is spent to make things not only equal but equitable for the community.  Why some facilities, programs or events may make a lot of money that then gets rerouted to other facilities, programs, events.

Revenue Management Philosophy
by Richwine

"As an industry we are all over the board in regards to what is considered cost recovery"...does it include staff time or not...what constitutes 100% to one person may mean something different at another organization.

There is the:

Social Model (intrinsic value) - the value P&R brings to the entire community

VS.

Business Model - what each program generates (the business model is secondary to the social model)

 Types of Revenue Sources:

Compulsory Resources - revenue through taxes (property, sales, income tax, special assessment - hotel, rental car, food & beverage)

Financial Resources - earned income (entrance/admission fees, rental, user registration, sales charges, license/permits, special services fees)

Earned Income/Entrepreneurial Funds - Self sustaining department (golf courses, specialty, water arks, zoo, performing arts venue, convention center)

Revenue Received through Legal Agreements - Land Leases, Cell Towers, sale/lease backs, bonds, user agreements, concessions

Direct Costs - Directly attributed to program

Indirect costs - based on staffing, (often non-resident)

Class Line Up for the Week


View from Glessner Hall...




Monday, March 12, 2018

Welcome and Oirentation (Day 1)

This blog serves a series of notes from my time at NRPA Revenue Development and Management School.  Although they are not complete they are comprehensive and help to provide a a sense of what was covered at the school. 

PPT of each presentation are available via NRPA Connect however, NRPA is currently being contacted to reset my password as there is a glitch in the matrix and it is currently not allowing me to log in to see the information. 



Sunday, March 11th
Oglebay (pronounced Oh-gull-bee) Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia

*Donated to and maintained by City of Wheeling Parks and Rec


NRPA is the National Recreation and Parks Association
NRPA Connect (www.nrpaconnect.org)

This is the 53rd year offering the Revenue Development & Management School

People also take this training to earn CEU units (1.9) to maintain their CRPR:

Certified Park and Recreation Professional Certification
The Certified Park and Recreation Professional certification is the national standard for all parks and recreation professionals who want to be at the forefront of their profession.

Lots of people from Alexandria, Virginia, Chicago, and Illinois.

A few people from California including St. Helena and Downey.




Reservation Systems (gossip edition)

Apparently people are very dissatisfied with Active Net (this was everyone I spoke to).  Some told me Active Net was looking to build or cre...