SPECIAL FOCUSWorking with AffiliatesYouth sports organizations and parent booster groups can be a boon for your agency... if you communicate early and often Affiliate groups that work with park and recreation agencies have relationships that vary almost as much as the sheer number of affiliates. Examples of affiliates include parent booster clubs, youth sports organizations, historical societies, foundations, advisory committees, preservation societies. Fourth of July committees, and volunteer groups. These groups help to enhance die services offered by local taxing districts. If you are the new staff representative to an affiliate group you may be curious about how these relationships become successful. The answer to this question is, whatever works for the affiliate! Staff representatives who have had years of experience with a variety of affiliates indicate that extraordinary levels of communication is one of the common variables that contribute to the success of affiliate relationships. Guaranteeing this level of communication is the responsibility of the staff representative, and sometimes easy and other times not so easy to accomplish. Affiliate leadership will run the gamut from excellent leaders to the phantom chairperson who is rarely involved. Additionally, the goals and objectives of the affiliate might be in sync with those of the district or they might "spin out of control" and proceed down their own path. Policies that oudine specific criteria determining whether a group is eligible for affiliate status can help to identify the relationship between the group and the district in the early stages of existence. Frequently, however, an affiliate group evolves over the years starting with volunteers who help the district fill a need. Then, the next thing you know the affiliate has a more formal interaction with the district with a distinct set of objectives and they may or may not wish to operate within the philosophies of the agency. The very nature of the affiliate group is to involve volunteers, which creates the setting for a very difficult relationship at best. A good agency representative makes absolutely certain that the communication with this group is consistent, honest and clear on a year-round basis. Attendance at the affiliate meetings is a must and, ideally, the staff person can be the affiliates best advocate for support with the more formal boards of commissioners and city councils. Typically, the staff representative is a person who is interested in and in support of the affiliate group. For example, the athletics supervisor usually represents the agency with the youth athletics affiliates; a park naturalist serves with the Environmental Education Committee; the museum curator is part of the Historical Society. The challenges associated with affiliate relationships can be significant even with staff who are interested in the success of the group. A staff representative who doesn't understand or care about the needs and desires of the group is destined for failure. Youth athletic groups are perhaps the most common affiliates, particularly with park districts. Frequently, these groups of volunteers have very distinct ideas about what they want to accomplish, how they want to accomplish it and what support they want from the district. This may or may not be in accordance with the district's expectations for the affiliate. When the affiliate organizes and registers participants, creates schedules and hires officials, all they may require from the district is use of facilities.
38 | Illinois Parks and Recreation Communication regarding game schedules and facility use is crucial particularly when the district plays a role in the preparation of the facility, such as a baseball game or swim meet. Again, this communication tends to be more successful when the staff representative is actually part of the affiliate board and understands their needs. As mentioned earlier, it is up to the paid staff person to work hard and ensure that communication occurs. When there are situations in which an affiliate relationship has deteriorated or the goals of the affiliate are different than that of the athletics division, staff may wonder about the value of an affiliate. Let's look at an example of the contributions from a common affiliate, the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). If a spring AYSO program has 800 participants with 20 players per team, there would be 40 teams. If each team had a coach at $6 per hour and one assistant coach at $5 per hour, with three hours per week of activity for a ten-week session, the payroll for the coaching staff alone would be $13,200. And, as we know, volunteer coaches frequently invest more than three hours per week and paid coaches generally are paid significantly more than $5 or $6 per hour. This simple AYSO example shows the monetary value of the affiliate. Another valuable aspect of affiliate organizations is feedback. Advisory committees are an invaluable opportunity to get feedback on programs or facility operations from the participants themselves. Although, they may not always tell you things you want to hear, time invested with regular participants in your programs or at your facilities are valuable. Often, good relationships with your affiliate will grow into a variety of forms, for example: the Golf Advisory Committee provides volunteers for the Junior Golf program; the Preservation Society hosts a pancake breakfast as a fund-raiser for preservation materials; a parent booster club staffs the swim meets; and the Recreation Advisory Committee hosts a series of focus groups or needs assessment surveys. Other typical characteristics of an affiliate relationship include use of meeting rooms at no charge, providing secretarial services such as the meeting notes or copy work, and help or advice with fund-raising projects. Affiliates also help schedule or train officials or providing insurance coverage for a program, league or event. Fund-raising is an element of an affiliate relationship that should definitely have guidelines based on district policies. Affiliates that fund-raise should have specific guidelines for the distribution of the proceeds before the money is raised. Affiliates that have large bank balances at the conclusion of their "annual year" can present real problematic issues when collecting program fees and/or fund-raising particularly on district property. Many district foundations have become fairly sophisticated in the area of fund-raising and distribution of those funds. If your district is thinking about formal agreements between the agency and its affiliate groups, your foundation may be able to play a role in the distribution of proceeds. Many affiliates and the relationships they share with a variety of agencies accomplish great things for the communities in which they operate. A positive, efficient, win-win relationship is certainly the goal of both the affiliate and the agency. ž
TEENA MACKEY, CLP |
September / October 1998 | 39