Measuring the impact of what you do. (Tip-Off).

We all know that recreation programs improve communities. But the best way to get program support is to show how you do that. The next time you develop or implement a program, identify underlying conditions or circumstances that relate to the target, and monitor them as you proceed.

Consider the issue of truancy and school failure. Some conditions known to be related to these two behaviors are free time, a developed sense of helplessness owing to poor academic performance and boredom. Therefore, strong program goals in this area would relate to developing a young person's sense of achievement and fulfilling his or her need for challenge. You can do a pre- and post-program survey to see if it increases participants' sense of achievement, decreases truancy violations among program participants or increases academic performance among program participants. Your program goals should be determined before determining the nature of the experience. In this manner, program content and structure can be designed to directly address program goals.

By taking what you learned in your survey--participants' grades improved by 10 percent after being in the after-school program, for example--you can then parlay those findings into your marketing efforts. For example, "community afterschool program at the recreation center helps kids improve grades by 10 percent." In other words, recreation professionals don't have to change what they're doing to better their community; you just need to monitor your impact.

For tips on benefits-based programming, NRPA is coming out with a new Benefits-Based Programming Training Manual, by Lawrence Allen, Ph.D., and Nelson Cooper, a doctoral candidate, both of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. For more information, select "NRPA Store" at www.nrpa.org.