Meeting with Mel Poole, CATO February 5, 2001
I met with Mel Poole to discuss his comments on the NCR fundraising proposal. Superintendent Poole has not reviewed these comments. Although Mel did not submit formal comments on the NCR proposal he offered the following ideas, concerns and suggestions.
Superintendent Poole is supportive of the NCR fundraising proposal. However, Mel has a number of ideas he would like considered in the design of our effort.
Mr. Poole believes that if our effort is to be an umbrella for fundraising it must be a true umbrella. He does not believe that the proposed effort will benefit his parks. He believes that the NCR fund needs to be more inclusive than it is now. He raised concerns about the recently announced "Urban Ecology Center" as an example of an umbrella effort that doesn't fully recognize the character and demographics of the entire region. Specifically he wondered if there was a more inclusive name we could use for this effort?
Although he greatly appreciates the value in tying into the Nation's Capital identity he worries that such a down-region image won't be positively embraced in his area.
Mel also expressed concern about the relationship of the proposed fundraising structure to NPS. He wonders whether the proposal creates a structure that will sit off to the side. Mr. Poole wonders whether we are moving too far too fast and urged us to design a proposal that will let the organization grow on its own.
Superintendent Poole also wondered whether a big pot of funds would reduce the motivation of individual parks. He also wondered what would happen if this effort were unsuccessful and the NCR fund dried up?
Mel offered a number of ideas for how our proposal could be improved. First, he really likes the NPF fundraising brochures that have been done for Glacier and CHOH. He likes the idea of having those for each of the parks, especially CATO.
The Superintendent supports the idea of using themes to advance fundraising. He believes that the themes are a way to link parks together. Although CATO has many resources and interpretive themes, Mel feels that they are often looked at as a natural park. He feels an alliance with SHEN, ASSAT, and PRWI.
Mel also mentioned that CATO was one of 44 areas designated by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of a New Deal initiative aimed at restoration and recreation. PRWI and 16 other areas remain as part of the National Park System. Evidently NPS has done a thematic study about these recreation demonstration areas but Mel wasn't aware of any efforts to link them or use an FDR theme for fundraising.
He also spoke about the importance of recognizing the link between parks in close proximity to each other. He is linked closely to Appalachian Trail, SHEN, GETT, HAFE, CHOH, etc. and often shares staff, expertise and equipment.
Mel's biggest supporters are the Boy Scouts of America. He also is involved with a group called "Alternative Sentencing" which is led by the county government and offers legal offenders a non-jail option.
Mel's efforts are shaped by past partnership events at CATO. Evidently a group called Catoctin Area Mountain Park Environmental Resources (CAMPER) was a big supporter of NPS efforts at one time. They operated portions of the park, captured revenue and distributed a portion of the NPS budget. The arrange evolved into a difficult one which eventually was changed because NPS thought the partnership was out of balance.
This bad experience left an imprint on the minds of the park staff and community leaders and has created uneasiness with both groups.
Mel thought that our strategy needed to look closer at the relationship with State park agencies. He mentioned that each State now has an NPS Superintendent that serves as a liaison. He also noted that he was involved with other NPS park managers within Maryland and they were trying to get a network.
Options that Superintendent Poole identified include:
Prepare a NPF fundraising brochure for Catoctin.
Provide funding so that all of NCR parks will have a partnership coordinator. Mel believes that each park needs a Lisa Mendleson-type of partnership coordinator to help the park handle their part of this proposal, develop in-park capacity and pursue friendraising and fundraising opportunities. Mel believes that he must build relationships first and that a dedicated staff person is essential.
He also believes that if we do not have dedicated staff to give partnerships a priority, operations and visitor services will always get their time and attention.
Mel would like us to take a look at the Catoctin Regional Studies Center as an alternative for pursuing grants and partnerships in his area. The Center is a partnership between CHOH, ANTI, CATO and HAFE.
Mel suggested that we incorporate a provision into our proposal that will provide revenue sharing like the Fee Demonstration Program. He believes that at least 10% of what we raise should go equitably to each of the NCR units. He stressed the importance of making sure that everyone benefits from this effort.
Superintendent Poole discussed the importance of linking revenue generation to the NCR fundraising effort. We discussed different models such as Golden Gate, St. Louis and Ellis Island and the need for NCR to become more sophisticated in this area. Mel believes that we should look within NCR to see if we have a "cash-cow" similar to Acaltraz at Golden Gate to help us generate funds to support the fundraising effort.
Conclusions: Mel Poole will support the NCR fundraising effort. However, Mel wants to see some significant changes to the proposal before he will believe in it. His ideas about revenue sharing and NPF brochures for each NCR Park would go a long-way to making him feel that this is something that will benefit CATO.
Action Ideas:
Talk to Jay Vestal about getting CATO and other NCR units a fundraising brochure similar to CHOH and Glacier.
Incorporate revenue sharing into NCR fund proposal.
Discuss the cash-cow strategy.
Is there another funding strategy that Mel could link into involving other NPS natural parks? Are we partnering with the major natural value organizations? Can we get them to help with fundraising?
I met with Mel Poole to discuss his comments on the NCR fundraising proposal. Superintendent Poole has not reviewed these comments. Although Mel did not submit formal comments on the NCR proposal he offered the following ideas, concerns and suggestions.
Superintendent Poole is supportive of the NCR fundraising proposal. However, Mel has a number of ideas he would like considered in the design of our effort.
Mr. Poole believes that if our effort is to be an umbrella for fundraising it must be a true umbrella. He does not believe that the proposed effort will benefit his parks. He believes that the NCR fund needs to be more inclusive than it is now. He raised concerns about the recently announced "Urban Ecology Center" as an example of an umbrella effort that doesn't fully recognize the character and demographics of the entire region. Specifically he wondered if there was a more inclusive name we could use for this effort?
Although he greatly appreciates the value in tying into the Nation's Capital identity he worries that such a down-region image won't be positively embraced in his area.
Mel also expressed concern about the relationship of the proposed fundraising structure to NPS. He wonders whether the proposal creates a structure that will sit off to the side. Mr. Poole wonders whether we are moving too far too fast and urged us to design a proposal that will let the organization grow on its own.
Superintendent Poole also wondered whether a big pot of funds would reduce the motivation of individual parks. He also wondered what would happen if this effort were unsuccessful and the NCR fund dried up?
Mel offered a number of ideas for how our proposal could be improved. First, he really likes the NPF fundraising brochures that have been done for Glacier and CHOH. He likes the idea of having those for each of the parks, especially CATO.
The Superintendent supports the idea of using themes to advance fundraising. He believes that the themes are a way to link parks together. Although CATO has many resources and interpretive themes, Mel feels that they are often looked at as a natural park. He feels an alliance with SHEN, ASSAT, and PRWI.
Mel also mentioned that CATO was one of 44 areas designated by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of a New Deal initiative aimed at restoration and recreation. PRWI and 16 other areas remain as part of the National Park System. Evidently NPS has done a thematic study about these recreation demonstration areas but Mel wasn't aware of any efforts to link them or use an FDR theme for fundraising.
He also spoke about the importance of recognizing the link between parks in close proximity to each other. He is linked closely to Appalachian Trail, SHEN, GETT, HAFE, CHOH, etc. and often shares staff, expertise and equipment.
Mel's biggest supporters are the Boy Scouts of America. He also is involved with a group called "Alternative Sentencing" which is led by the county government and offers legal offenders a non-jail option.
Mel's efforts are shaped by past partnership events at CATO. Evidently a group called Catoctin Area Mountain Park Environmental Resources (CAMPER) was a big supporter of NPS efforts at one time. They operated portions of the park, captured revenue and distributed a portion of the NPS budget. The arrange evolved into a difficult one which eventually was changed because NPS thought the partnership was out of balance.
This bad experience left an imprint on the minds of the park staff and community leaders and has created uneasiness with both groups.
Mel thought that our strategy needed to look closer at the relationship with State park agencies. He mentioned that each State now has an NPS Superintendent that serves as a liaison. He also noted that he was involved with other NPS park managers within Maryland and they were trying to get a network.
Options that Superintendent Poole identified include:
Prepare a NPF fundraising brochure for Catoctin.
Provide funding so that all of NCR parks will have a partnership coordinator. Mel believes that each park needs a Lisa Mendleson-type of partnership coordinator to help the park handle their part of this proposal, develop in-park capacity and pursue friendraising and fundraising opportunities. Mel believes that he must build relationships first and that a dedicated staff person is essential.
He also believes that if we do not have dedicated staff to give partnerships a priority, operations and visitor services will always get their time and attention.
Mel would like us to take a look at the Catoctin Regional Studies Center as an alternative for pursuing grants and partnerships in his area. The Center is a partnership between CHOH, ANTI, CATO and HAFE.
Mel suggested that we incorporate a provision into our proposal that will provide revenue sharing like the Fee Demonstration Program. He believes that at least 10% of what we raise should go equitably to each of the NCR units. He stressed the importance of making sure that everyone benefits from this effort.
Superintendent Poole discussed the importance of linking revenue generation to the NCR fundraising effort. We discussed different models such as Golden Gate, St. Louis and Ellis Island and the need for NCR to become more sophisticated in this area. Mel believes that we should look within NCR to see if we have a "cash-cow" similar to Acaltraz at Golden Gate to help us generate funds to support the fundraising effort.
Conclusions: Mel Poole will support the NCR fundraising effort. However, Mel wants to see some significant changes to the proposal before he will believe in it. His ideas about revenue sharing and NPF brochures for each NCR Park would go a long-way to making him feel that this is something that will benefit CATO.
Action Ideas:
Talk to Jay Vestal about getting CATO and other NCR units a fundraising brochure similar to CHOH and Glacier.
Incorporate revenue sharing into NCR fund proposal.
Discuss the cash-cow strategy.
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