As you know, NRPA's Field Report is the most comprehensive collection of detailed park and recreation agency data, presenting information about local and regional park agencies and state park systems from across the United States. The most recent edition, published last spring, presents insights about our profession based on data from more than 500 agencies and focusing on significant trends affecting park and recreation departments.  

The NRPA Field Report empowers you and your agency with data to make informed decisions on budgeting, programming and long-term strategies. Examples of questions answered in the report are:

• What are typical operating expenditures and FTE counts per acre of parkland managed?
• What is the typical number of full-time and part-time workers employed by park & recreation agencies?
• What programs and activities are offered by park & recreation agencies?
• What are typical operating expenditures per resident served by a park & recreation agency?

We are already working on the next edition of the NRPA Field Report, which will be an even more robust collection of data and insights that will help you make the best decisions for your agency. Look for that report in April.

15 minutes of your time can ensure that the 2016 NRPA Field Report is the best park and recreation resource yet. The data presented in NRPA's Field Report comes from PRORAGIS, NRPA’s benchmarking tool for park and recreation agencies. Over the years, we have asked all park and recreation agencies enter their data into PRORAGIS.

At the same time, we know that some agencies have been reluctant to enter their data because of the significant time and effort required to do so. Let me say that we have heard your feedback and have made some changes.

The 2015 Agency Performance Survey includes only the key questions from PRORAGIS that make up the NRPA Field Report. The 30 question survey focuses on:

• About your agency (location, population of jurisdiction served)
• High-level finances (top-level revenue, expense and capital budget information)
• Personnel  (e.g., counts of full-time workers, part-time workers, volunteers)
• Workload (e.g., number of parks maintained, number of programs offered, number of people served)
• Agency responsibilities
• Facilities (including counts of indoor and outdoor facilities, fields, pools, etc.)
• Activities (e.g., sports, arts, health & wellness, summer/after school camps)

The streamlined instrument will take most agencies only about 15 minutes to complete. And the level of effort is further reduced if your agency had entered data into PRORAGIS in previous years. These agencies can easily “push” their previous year’s data into their 2015 survey with a simple click and then update the information where needed.

So, don’t delay, enter your data today. You and/or someone at your agency already received an email invitation to enter your 2015 Agency Performance Data.  By clicking through on that email, you will be taken directly to the survey. If you cannot find that email, click here to either log in or create a new account to start entering your data.

We want to make entering your 2015 Agency Performance data as easy as possible. So, we are also here to help you. Should you need assistance to create/enter your agency’s account or have a question about the data we are seeking, please contact either Greg Manns or Daniel Espada.

Let’s work together to make the 2016 NRPA Field Report the most robust offering of park and recreation data and insights. It starts with you by taking 15 minutes to enter your 2015 Agency Performance Data today.

Kevin Roth is NRPA's Vice President of Research.