As COVID-19 continues to affect the global economy and the way in which everyone interacts with their surroundings and peers, parks & recreation professionals across the board are working hard to create safe spaces for all visitors.
Here at CommunityPass, we put health and safety first. The way society operates is changing every day on a global, national, and local level. Above all, we want to help you keep your community safe and answer key questions that many of you likely have. Learning how to rapidly adapt to not only legal changes, but also the needs of your patrons is crucial for maintaining everyone’s safety, as well as their trust.
That’s why we’ve written this guide to help parks and recreation leaders survive and thrive amid these new challenges. We’ll cover:
Our guide will give you the resources to navigate the current and lasting effects of the pandemic to help you operate at your best. Let’s get started.
With constant changes to recommendations from the CDC and fluctuating comfort levels of patrons, it can be difficult to figure out how to proceed. You may often feel like things have changed as soon as you figured out a plan.
While there will likely continue to be changes, you can follow a few best practices to help streamline your plans and maintain consistency in your policies.
As the pandemic continues to change and progress, some patrons may be fully vaccinated or feel comfortable attending indoor events. However, keeping your events outdoors ensures that everyone who may want to visit can do so safely without feeling uncomfortable.
This is easy to do during the warmer seasons but may present challenges during winter or particularly rainy seasons. As you plan for the future, consider what outdoor facilities and features already exist on your property and if there are any additions you can make to allow for outdoor activities during less favorable seasons.
Even as winter starts, you can consider hosting winter-themed activities like:
Transitioning as many events as possible to the outdoors is one of the best ways that you can continue in-person programming while keeping your patrons and staff safe!
Even when you have patrons coming to your facilities in-person, having a robust digital system can enable them to sign up, fill out required forms, communicate, pay, and explore your resources without needing assistance from staff and without using communal items, like pens.
This is not only a great option to limit physical interaction during a pandemic, but it also helps streamline your processes. When patrons can complete items beforehand or at the same time from their individual devices, you can complete sign-ups and check-ins, faster. The right software will give you a wide variety of capabilities that allow your patrons to do as much as possible from their own devices. Software specifically made for parks and recreation departments, like what CommunityPass offers, will be best able to meet all of your specific needs when it comes to events, resources, communication, and more.
Software with contactless solutions allows patrons to:
CommunityPass parks and recreation software offers the ideal kind of contactless options that your departments need right now.
3. Allow your staff to work remotely when possible.
While remote work has become the norm for many organizations, we know this is not a possibility for all parks and recreation employees.
However, if there are members of your staff who can perform at least parts of their job from home, giving them the opportunity to work remotely can keep everyone safe while being a big perk for many employees. Allowing remote work shows your employees that you care about their well-being and are dedicated to helping reduce their stress during such a difficult time.
Especially because not all of your staff will be able to take advantage of flexible work policies, it’s important to offer adequate sick leave to accommodate individuals who may get sick or exposed. You may also want to consider offering some mental health relief policies and resources.
As discussed, the winter and rainy seasons will present challenges for hosting outdoor events if you do not already have the facilities to do so. In some cases, it will be entirely impossible. For the times when you have no choice but to host an event indoors, ensure everyone’s safety by requiring masks to be worn at all times.
You can facilitate mask-wearing by:
Inevitably, you will likely have a few patrons who forget or are resistant to wearing a mask but if your policies are clear and you and your staff are proactive in enforcing them, you will be able to keep your patrons as safe as possible.
Because guidance and the policies of different organizations are changing so rapidly and frequently, it’s of the utmost importance to keep your patrons updated. Similarly, your staff should always have accurate information about your policies for themselves and to share with patrons who may ask. Here are a few ways to prioritize communication:
It’s also a good idea to implement measures like offering free masks if any patrons do not get the chance to read your communications.
During the beginning stages of the pandemic, you likely saw a dramatic decrease in attendance, followed by a wave of interest in virtual events. As Zoom fatigue has set in, excitement for virtual events has now waned and you may be struggling to re-engage many of your patrons. To help get you and your patrons back in the swing of things, here are a few ways to engage patrons:
Multi-channel marketing essentially means spreading your message in several different ways. It makes sense that sharing it in more than one place would reach more people! Of course, not every channel is going to be best for reaching your desired audience so use your best judgment to make good use of your resources. A few different methods you can use include:
Wherever you choose to market, it’s important to reach different audiences and do so in a way that best utilizes the platforms you chose. For example, if you choose to put up posters in your community, send out a monthly newsletter, post events on Facebook and start building a brand on TikTok, you need to do your research to learn the best practices for each of these channels.
How long are the most effective Facebook posts? What kind of videos get a lot of attention on TikTok? What’s the best subject line to use if you want readers to open your email? Take the time to learn best practices and adjust your strategy as you go for the best results.
The reasons your community came to you before may be very different than why they might come to you now. For example, the pandemic has increased the need for mental health-related programs. While mental health may not have been a focus of your programming prior to the pandemic, it’s a good example of how you may need to pivot your usual programs to better suit your community’s needs.
Here are a few examples of ways to incorporate these needs into your programs:
While no one expects you to be mental health experts and be the primary resource for your community, it can still be helpful to show your community that you understand their struggles and want to support them however you can.
Despite everyone being in front of some kind of screen every day, your patrons may still struggle to engage for a variety of reasons. Depending on their comfort level with technology, they may face difficulties navigating your website or getting the information they need. Even if they’re adept at using smartphones and computers, they may simply get overwhelmed by confusing information or just forget about events! Here are a few ways for you to support your patrons and help them get engaged:
While these suggestions may help some of your patrons, others may be experiencing different issues. Take the time to reach out to and talk to some of your frequent patrons who are not as engaged lately. You might learn how you can better help them and others like them while showing them that their participation truly matters to you.
Because different members of your community have different levels of comfort with in-person events, and because you want to keep everyone safe, it’s best to offer a variety of program options to accommodate everyone’s needs. As a recreation center, you are in a great position to offer many different kinds of events and services that are both safe and fun for all ages.
Having options for all members of your community is one of the best ways to promote engagement and get everyone involved. If you’re unsure of where to start, we have several ideas for exciting virtual, hybrid, and in-person events listed below to help you out.
Although you still may not be able to run all of your normal parks and recreation programming, you have an opportunity to engage your community members in ways you haven’t before. Luckily, parks and recreation departments are uniquely positioned to be able to provide more outdoor programming than many other types of organizations.
While you modify some of your usual programs to better protect your patrons’ health, you might still find the need for some tech and software to enable you to offer virtual experiences. Some popular digital delivery methods include Zoom (for video conferencing), Facebook and Instagram LIVE (for live streaming), Youtube (for content creation and sharing), and public access channels (for reaching a mass audience, especially less tech-savvy senior citizens).
Regardless of the balance that you’ve found between virtual, hybrid, and in-person events, the most important thing is to continue providing ways for your patrons to stay engaged. To help you keep your programming engaging, we’ve provided some ideas for virtual, hybrid, and in-person events.
This is only the beginning of the many activities that you can organize to fit everyone in your community’s comfort level. With a little creativity and feedback from your community members, your calendar can be full of exciting and unique virtual, hybrid, and in-person activities.
CommunityPass is a dedicated parks and recreation management software solution. Founded in 2002, CommunityPass was launched by people just like you: parks and recreation professionals.
Not only is CommunityPass beneficial for day-to-day recreation management, but it’s also a helpful solution for those that are struggling with the new virtual necessities brought by COVID-19. Here’s how CommunityPass can help:
Our messaging system can help you stay in touch with your patrons.
Use our Instructor tool to manage classes and events.
With a dedicated software solution like CommunityPass, you’re prepared for anything that comes your way. Easily facilitate working from home, keep community members and staff informed and connected, and have the tools to bring engaging programs and opportunities to your residents’ homes.
We value our customers and community members more than anything. As the pandemic progresses and we all do our part to get back to normal, make sure to maintain safe and healthy practices, while also continuing to keep your community engaged with our updated resources. If you’re ready to see if CommunityPass is right for you, try our free demo!