Dear SFPT Members, Partners, and Friends,
I am pleased to announce that on July 12, 2011 at our annual meeting, members of San Francisco Parks Trust (SFPT) voted to form a new, bigger, and more effective park advocacy and philanthropy organization for San Francisco in collaboration with the Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC). The new organization will be called the San Francisco Parks Alliance. As we go forward, I ask for your help in ensuring its success as an advocacy, support, and leadership entity for San Francisco parks and park enthusiasts.
At the meeting, we discussed the goal for the San Francisco Parks Alliance to be stronger, bigger, and better able to advocate for parks, create the vision for parks, and bring more resources to them. Our record of stewardship and philanthropy for San Francisco parks and open space over 40 years is remarkable. Soon we'll send an annual report recapping our 40 years in a final newsletter as a prelude to our exciting future as the San Francisco Parks Alliance.
Essential to being a strong organization is the ability to change and reinvent, while staying true to the mission. Two years ago SFPT undertook a strategic planning process, which reaffirmed our commitment to the Recreation & Park Department, but also to other partners, including other city agencies, nonprofits, neighborhoods and stake holders.
As part of examining our work, our mission, and our role in serving parks and open space in San Francisco, we took a deep look at how we conduct business as a non-profit. In particular, we talked with our colleagues at the Neighborhood Parks Council and noted that over the years, our two organizations had begun to serve park users in similar ways, such as the Park Partners fiscal sponsorship program. We also noted that NPC's vigorous advocacy was leading to a greater philanthropic investment in our parks and that SFPT's philanthropic contributions were leading to more park advocacy. We asked ourselves: "Do we need a new model to serve San Francisco parks and park users? In this challenging economic environment should we do all we can to reduce duplication of efforts and provide a stronger and united voice for parks?" The answer was a resounding "Yes."
By January 2011, the Boards and staff of SFPT and NPC concluded that there was merit to the idea of exploring a new organization. We spent more time working with each other to develop a draft vision for a new park organization. We spoke with the Recreation and Park Department and park organization leaders from around the state to float our ideas and seek input. Our organizations engaged a non-profit expert to help us through the strategic envisioning process and to better understand what the very best practices of non-profits have become in the 40 years since SFPT's formation. By March 2011, NPC and SFPT jointly released the Green Paper (download it here) detailing our shared vision for the new parks organization we now call the San Francisco Parks Alliance. We invited comment through our newsletter and monthly emails. In April, SFPT and NPC held a joint stakeholder meeting at SPUR to get feedback on our vision and we continued to refine our plans. In May, bolstered by the broad support we received for this idea, both the NPC and SFPT Boards voted to form a new organization dedicated to serving parks, the San Francisco Parks Alliance(SFPA).
The SFPT member meeting on July 12 was the final step in this journey. In addition to approving the merger, members also voted to ratify a new governance structure, so that SFPA will be set up to utilize the best communication and outreach methods today and in the future. We continue to be deeply committed to ensuring that the voices of our members, supporters, and indeed all park users are heard. A growing and robust base of supporters is vital to the success of SFPA. A Policy and Advocacy Committee formed of park stewards, volunteers, and activists from each district in the city will be the backbone of the new organizational model, and several members of the policy and advocacy committee will also serve on the Board of Directors. An engaged group of directors with a strong commitment to the mission and detailed institutional knowledge will guide the SFPA. In this way we will assure a nimble, broad-based, and responsive organization that represents the views of our constituents.
When SFPT was formed 40 years ago, a membership that voted annually on nominees for the Board of Trustees was considered the best way to engage with the community. Most other nonprofits chartered in the same era with a voting membership have long since moved to different governance structures because attendance at meetings has dwindled drastically over the years. Today, technology enables more meaningful, effective, and sustained forms of participation and communication, facilitating the rapid exchange of views. We recognize that some members in attendance at SFPT's annual meeting were not in favor of changing from a voting structure, and we respect their opinion and feedback. I assure you that we will continue to hold annual member meetings, and will also add many more education opportunities, meetings, forums, and site visits. We will continue to ask for your participation in public hearings and community meetings.
SFPA will seek out candidates for the Policy and Advocacy Committee and the Board of Directors. There will be many other ways to participate as well. For example, increasing the number of volunteer stewards for parks is an important goal. If you are interested in participating, please contact me.
The mission of the San Francisco Parks Alliance is to inspire and promote civic engagement and philanthropy to protect, sustain, and enrich San Francisco parks and green open spaces. When it launches this fall, we want to have you standing with us -the stakes for parks are so high right now that we all must come together to forge a strong organization capable of responding to the urgent situation faced by our parks.
Again, I offer my deep thanks for your support and encouragement to San Francisco Parks Trust. It has been an honor to work with you, and I ask you stay engaged as we move ahead.
Karen Kidwell