Outreach and Engagement

How did you discover your favorite place to play? Did a friend mention it in passing? Perhaps you saw an ad on social media. Maybe you struck up a conversation with a Ranger at a festival or your local library. Each of these experiences extend an invitation for us to try something new. The process of reaching out to new visitors is called outreach. Outreach experiences open the door to the Staircase to Stewardship. When sites are wildly successful with these opportunities, their visitation reflects the diversity of their community, now and in the future. Strong community outreach results in passionate and engaged advocates for your site for years to come.

  • Prioritize Diversity

    Just as biodiversity strengthens a habitat, diversity strengthens your organization internally and externally.

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    Crowd of people crossing a busy city street with cars and buses, tall buildings, and trees in the background.

  • Reflect Your Community

    Park visitation should reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

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    Multiple hands resting on a fallen tree trunk with a large tree behind in a green forest setting.

  • Build Bridges

    Identify leaders from these underrepresented communities and find a way to build (or rebuild) a relationship with them.

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    Two women smiling and talking in a modern office with a large window showing an outside building with multiple windows.

  • School Engagement

    Connect with school groups to transform students into stewards.

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    A man with a beard and glasses explaining a plant to a group of children, some in orange shirts, outdoors with green foliage in the background.

  • Interpretive Social Media

    Social media is a gateway to new audiences.

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    A person with painted nails wearing a green jacket and graphic t-shirt, holding a smartphone, standing near a metal railing outdoors with blurred greenery in the background.

  • Booths and Tabling

    Be deliberate about where you participate in outreach events.

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    Three people with light-colored hair facing away from the camera, sitting outdoors at a festival or gathering under a large white tent with colorful decorations, with many other people in the background.