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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0521.000 2004-2006 ~tvw Harry Kim ~,w Jane H. Testa Mnya~ Director Diane L. Ley ~ ~ or w~ Depuq' Direc(or County of Hawaii DEPARTMENT OF RESF,ARCH AND llEVELOPMENT 25 Aupunf Street, Room 109 • Hilo, Hawaii 96%20-4252 (ROA)961-8366 • Fax (808) 935-1205 Gmafl: chresdev@co.hawaii.hi.ua MEMORANDUM TO: Stacy Higa, County Council Chair FROM: Jane H. Testa, Director,`~,~,./~' DATE: November Ol , 2005 SUBJECT: Philanthropic Market Assessment Report Attached, please find the final report and recommendations of the above mentioned contract. Ms. Sanae Tokumura, researcher and author of the report requests one hour to present her findings before the County Council and an additional half hour for questions and answers. She would like to present her report during the November 21 zr meeting if it pleases the Council. Copies of her report will also be made available to your Council members for the purpose of review prior to that date. Mahalo to you and the Council members for their interest and support of this endeavor. Pub Attachment Comm. No. J E Ref. To: ^ I Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider antl Employer Ref. Uate in~ inn MEMORANDUM DATE: November, ?005 TO: County of Hawaii The Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor The Honorable Stacy K. Higa, Council Chair The Honorable Fred C Holschuh, M.D., Councilmember Members of Hawaii County Council FROM: S. Same Tokumura, ACFRE, APR RE: Philanthropic market and infrastructure assessment to determine whether the community would support a special county fund or non-profit park conservancy that would assist the county to acquire park space, conserve open space and upgrade/maintain existing county parks The following report on the infrastructure (internal mechanisms that are involved with managing/developing opportunities for private support of county programs) and public relations systems of Hawaii county, external community opinions re: intent to support a fund or separately incorporated park conservancy organized to assist the county in the acquisition of park space, conservation of open space and the upgrading and maintenance of existing county parks is presented. With respect to the findings of the study, immediate recommendations are included. COUNTY OF HAWAII A PHILANTHROPIC MARKET ASSESSMENT And INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENT PURPOSE: the purpose of this study is w determine whether the community would support a special county fund or non-profit park conservancy that would be organized to assist the county to acquire park space, conserve open space and upgrade/maintain existing county parks. Presented by Solid Concepts, Inc. November, 2005 1279 Honokahua Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96825 (808)396-6070 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. BACKGROUND ...............................................................3 II. METHOD OF STUDY ..........................................................7 III. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................8 IV DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENT ...............................15 A. Areas Assessed .............................................................15 B. Giving Programs ............................................................16 1. Direct Mail and Special Gifts ..............................................16 2. Special Events .........................................................I S 3. Major Gifts ...........................................................19 4. Volunteers/Support Groups ?0 S. Sources of Funds .......................................................20 6. Uses of Funds .........................................................21 7. Telemarketing/Telethons ..................................................21 8. Planned Giving ........................................................21 9. Recognition Program ....................................................22 10. Capital Campaign ......................................................23 C. Systems ..................................................................23 I. Employee Organization ?3 2. Employee Attitude ......................................................24 3, Data Management ......................................................24 4. Comp]iance(Security ....................................................25 S. Development Plan ......................................................26 D. Public Relations Assessment . _ ................................................26 l .Mission and History .....................................................27 3.Research .............................................................27 3. Case Statement .........................................................27 4.Ohjectives 28 S. Evaluation ............................................................28 ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 1 6.Collateral .............................................................28 a. Annual Report .....................................................28 b. General Brochure ..................................................29 c.Newsletter ........................................................29 d.Letterhead ........................................................29 e. Business Cards ....................................................29 f. Campaign Brochure .................................................29 7. Presentation at Site ......................................................30 8.Emergency Plan ........................................................30 V PHILANTHROPIC MARKET ASSESSMENT (EXTERNAL) ...........................31 A. Public Awareness ...........................................................31 1. Hawaii County Parks and Facilities .........................................31 2. Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department Programs .......................31 3. Hawaii County Funding .................................................32 B. Overall Opinions: Hawaii County Parks and Community Partnership ....................32 I. Condition of Parks/Facilities 32 2. Community Partnership (Park Conservancy) _ .........................33 C. Economic Conditions ........................................................34 D. Lead Prospects .............................................................35 E. Community Leadership and Financial Support .....................................36 F. With Regard to the Interviewed Council Members and Staff of Hawaii County .............d1 G. Other Comments ............................................................dl VI. RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................56 A. Infrastructure .............................................................._56 VII. SAMPLE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES . ...................59 A. Security, Recognition and Acceptance Policies .....................................59 VII]. APPENDICES ...............................................................63 A. Conversation Guide .........................................................63 B. List of Interviewees .........................................................67 C. Hawaii County Donor List (FY 2000-2005) .......................................68 ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 2 I. BACKGROUND The following is based on information located at Hawaii County offices: Hawaii County was established as a result of the County Act (Act 39) in 1905 while Hawaii was still a Territory. Power to establish property tax rates was achieved in the 1980x. This year, the County celebrates its centennial anniversary. Hawaii County is currently experiencing rapid growth, a booming real estate market and according to the U.S. Census, is the most ethnically diverse county population in the country. With growth came the concern for preservation of the quality of lifestyle experienced by residents of the County, and preservation of agricultural, rural and cultural traditions. These concerns were addressed in the County's most recent General Plan that was adopted by the Hawaii Council in 2005. Preserving and enhancing existing parks (of various types) and community centers are goals of the plan within the Recreation Element. Open space designations include forest reserves, water areas, potential ?atural hazard areas, scenic vistas and viewplanes, scientific areas including habitats of endemic species, other natural areas and reserves and open space recreation areas. According to the Open Space and Public Lands Element, zoning, subdivision and other applicable ordinances will provide for and protect open space areas. Regarding public lands, there is currently no master plan for the use of these vast spaces, especially those that are designated Conservation. There is at this time no County program or agency whose function is to expedite these types of land acquisitions or to keep abreast of and to initiate various programs on public land. At this time, various County departments will he involved in acquisitions, depending on the nature of acquisition. In November of 2004, Councilman Fred C. Holschuh requested [hat the Legislative Auditor's Office examine issues and options concerning county initiatives to support public parks, open space and preservation lands in the County of Hawaii. The following inforn[a[ion is lazgely extracted in the resulting report entitled Funding Hawaii County Parks and Preservation Lands: A Proposal. The momentum for consideration of a sustainable funding base for new public lands stems in part from a proposed County charter amendment (Bill 270) to dedicate up to 2% of real property taxes annually for a Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund. While Bill 270 was not adopted as a ballot proposal in 2004, it did call attention to the cause of public parks and land conservation. In a lazger © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 3 sense, the pace of growth in Kona, the sale of newly marketed properties in Kau and along the Hilo- Hamakua coast, and coastal preservation concerns arising in [he Kau District following the dissolution of C. Brewer fuel public demand for county-led conservation efforts. This philanthropic marke[/infrastructure assessment was sponsored by Councilman Fred Holschuh, M.D. in order to determine the possibility of creating a special fund or specially organized non-profit organization that is supported by the community's private citizens. The fund or separate non-profit would specifically assist Hawaii County in its effort to purchase or otherwise acquire lands or property entitlements and improvements in the County of Hawaii and also support the upgrading of existing county parks. The envisioned fund's/non-profit agency's purpose was summarized to include Bill 27O's purposes of purchasing or acquiring lands or property entitlements and improvements i? the County of Hawaii: 1. acquisition of lands for public outdoor recreation and education, including access to beaches and mountains 2. preservation of historic or culturally important land areas and sites 3. protection of significant habitats or ecosystems, including buffer zones 4. preservation of forests, beaches, coastal areas and agricultural lands 5. protection of watershed lands to preserve water quality and water supply 6. conservation of land in order to reduce erosion, floods, landslides and runoff 7. improving disabled and public access to and enjoyment of public land and open space 8. acquiring disabled and public access to public land and open space 9. preservation of traditional recreational activities, including hunting and fishing Holschuh's motivation for exploring the possibility of engaging private community philanthropy toward public efforts to maintain/improve overall community health and well-being in this area was based on the following points. 1. Public tax dollars are sorely needed for the annual operating costs of Hawaii County and to address perennial deficits on Caunty infrastructure and public safety-roads, water supply, solid waste management, flood convol, police and fire protection, etc. [n the eoming decade, with adoption of the County's General Plan, subsequent Community Development Plans and Functional Plans, accompanied by various capital improvement projects, infrastructure needs may place great demands on discretionary County operating funds and new debt. 2. Public enthusiasm for parks and conservation efforts is historically proven. It is evidenced by many polls, an array of private-public conservation initiatives, ballot measures and the proliferation of newly established land trusts that much of the public is willing to contribute to the cause of conservation and public lands. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 4 3. An array of policy options and tools to further conservation, many of which require little or no public funding, can be employed. Local government may use a variety of land classification tools to stem development and preserve treasured lands such as zoning (agricultural and forestry districts), planned use developments, open space districts, urban growth boundaries and greenbelts, cluster development and design districts, perfbrroance zoning standards based on permissible impacts, overlay district- superimposing another district boundary (i.e., floodplain district) over current zoning. Similarly, private landowners may place lands in conservation or agricultural easements, or transfer development rights to protect valued lands for the public. Tools such as dedications, use of impact fees, development incentives/disincentives, deed restrictions, concurrency, purchase of development rights and transfer of development rights are methods or tools that may be used as parts of a land preservation strategy that may also include outright purchase of lands. Although these tools are used in other municipalities, the italicized methods above have not as yet heen enacted by Hawaii County. [n any case, outright acquisition of lands using public tax dollars, while sometimes necessary, is not the only option. 4. Voluntary approaches to public needs can build a proactive, positive and affectionate community. For kama`aina residents, a local public lands conservancy offers the opportunity to preserve Hawaii's land for future generations, along with those cultural practices and traditions rooted in the particular history and experiences of places. For new residents, a sense of ownership may evolve when supporting a voluntary institution that their found "paradise" is never lost. 5. As recorded in the Council's consideration of Bill 270, the precedent of appropriating monies via a chuter amendment raised serious concerns. It was noted that voter-approved multi-year spending initiatives in California and Oregon had led to massive budgetary crises. Opponents to Bill 270 believe that although it is critical to protect endangered lands, decisions to fund projects like this should be left to leaders who have been elected to make such decisions, being responsible to the most urgent needs of the community and to balance the county's budget with critical judgment and care. 6. The broad scope of land acquisition activities contemplated by Bill 270 also raised concerns. Such matters as protecting significant habitats, ecosystems, forests or watershed lands historically have been state responsibilities performed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, not the counties. The traditional role of the counties has been to provide, maintain and staff recreational public parks, including beach parks. Where public access and traditional native rights have been asserted-as in the instance of Kohanaiki shoreline-the County has facilitated dialogue between community advocates and the landowner, resulting in a no-cost transfer of shoreline setback property to the County. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 5 7. In 2003, American individuals, estates, foundations and corporations gave approximately $240.72 billion to charitable causes, according to Giving USA 2004, a study released by Giving USA Foundation, a public service initiative of the Trust for Philanthropy of the American Association of Fundraising Counsel. In 2004 [hat figure increased to $248.52 billion. Gifts from individuals accounted for over 75 percent of that total. Gifts toward environmental concerns totaled over $7.1 billion. Annual growth in contributions to environmental concerns has held steady over the past five years. In 1950, just 53 land trusts operated in 26 states. Today, more than 1,300 land trusts operate across the country, according to the Land Trust Alliance. Between 1990 and 2000, the amount of land protected by local and regiona] land trusts through the use of conservation easements increased five times to 2.6 million acres. 8. In July 2004, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the National Center for the Study of Counties at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, issued the first national survey of county-level open space protection efforts entitled County Open-Space Protection Efforts: A Survey of the Current State of Open-Space Protection Efforts by America's Counties. The NACo sun~ey examined various tools and strategies employed by counties to protect open space. When asked to indicate the primary source of funds used to acquire open space, state funds (31%), county budget appropriations (23%) and private sources (1 l °/r,) were most frequently identified. Private fund sources, according to the NACo report, is expected to outpace budget appropriations, bond measures and dedicated taxes. The report concluded: "Survey results indicate that counties need assistance to expand resources for acquisition, planning and maintenance of open space, to increase understanding of ]and protection tools and strategies and to help garner support from federal and state levels of government, as well as from private organizations:' © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 6 II. METHOD OF STUDY The first step in determining the feasibility of creating a special fund or non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Hawaii County parks and preservation lands was to do an assessment of the systems of Hawaii County that interfaced with the process of communicating with the general public and worked with the public regarding contributions to the County. Such systems include all mechanisms, activities and policies that currently exist that affect the process of requesting, receiving, acknowledging and creating County "memory" of gifting history. This was done to detet7nine whether the County is in fact capable of responsibly and systematically soliciting, receiving, acknowledging, maintaining and cultivating philanthropic investments throughout special campaigns for capital acquisitions, and during ensuing pledge payment years. The County was assessed to determine its in-house capabilities for sustaining necessary marketing and public relations programs as well because these systems would be integral to the support of efforts to raise millions of dollars from public and private sources or more modest sums from the same sources for annual operational purposes. The initial stages of this study involving the assessment of staffing and systems of resource/relationship development of Hawaii County's Department of Parks and Recreation, the County's acknowledgment and recognition mechanisms that are triggered by gifts from the community; solicitation and gift acceptance policies; documented history of the County; and present and projected financial plans was accomplished through direct observation and personal interviews with involved staff and directors. Research continued in the external community with the solicitation of opinions from major stakeholder groups. Prospective interviewees were identified by various sources including council members, community leaders and key County staff. Invitations for involvement were mailed to all suggested interviewees. Follow- up calls were made by Council staff to schedule interviews. Consenting opinion leaders were each privately interviewed by S. Sanae Tokumura, ACFRE, APR, att objective third party, for approximately 45 minutes for their insights on the opportunities at hand. All comments via personal interview were promised to he conveyed without attribution. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 7 III. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is organized into five major sections: Fund Development and Public Relations Systems (Infrastructure) Assessment, Community Assessment; Recommendations; Sample Policies and Procedures; Appendices. The Infrastructure and Community Assessments detail the system and public opinion findings. The Recommendations section summarizes specific suggestions regarding systems and procedures of fund raising and related public relations systems through the appropriate venue as addressed in the previous section. This section also analyzes and assesses the gift potential of a hypothetical acquisition project The sample Policies and Procedures section has been provided to demonstrate how a typical charitable organization's fundraising program is supported. INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMARY As with the majority of other municipalities throughout the U.S., there are no systems and procedures for organized fund development present anywhere within the departments of Hawaii County. There are also no public relations programslsystems programmed within Hawaii County that would result in the encouragement of the community to support their county's general and specific departments and service programs with private funds or other resources. With no need to market itself, the Hawaii County simply has gone about its duties to provide core services throughout time. The art and science of philanthropy has never been a part of the corporate culture of Hawaii County. However, private citizens have made many gifts to Hawaii County in the past and gifts continue to be made. Within the last five years, approximately $466,300 in value was contributed by private citizens and organizations of Hawaii Island to one department of the County of Hawaii: Parks and Recreation. Since FY 2000-2(101, thaC department has received items such as live animals (to the zoo), statues, building materials, benches, bleachers, treadmills, rescue tubes and boards, picnic tab]es, sports equipment, vehicles, kitchen equipment and supplies, plants, computers, a karaoke system, electronic equipment, washer and dryer, playground equipment, health equipment, a dressage arena, furniture, lifeguard tower, and hard cash. Of particular interest to this inquiry, a gift of real property valued at .$182,300 was contributed to Parks and Recreation by a well-known local resident in 20(10. This list does not include gifts in-kind of volumeer services and other resources that have not been documented. None of these gifts were solicited. This full list is available in this report's appendices. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 8 In order to obtain this information, painstaking manual research was completed by Legislative Auditor staff. All gifts were [racked through records of County Council resolutions. There is no other way to obtain [his information as there are no systems in place to track gifts, donors or formal gift acknowledgements. Cash donors are grouped together in resolutions entitled "Various Individuals, Businesses and Organizations" and are not able to be individually identified. Donors are not publicly acknowledged. In striking contrast to non-profits that hire specialists and purchase specialized software to track donors and their contributions for the purpose of developing lasting relationships, Hawaii County "donor records" do not exist. A program entitled Friends of the Park exists within the Department of Parks and Recreation to harness another great resource. The volunteer labor of community members to improve and beautify a particular park, combat vandalism/]ittedother illegal activities in park facilities, assist the maintenance staff in restoring deteriorated areas, provide manpower to help stretch tax dollazs, assist in the enforcement of park/facility rules/regulations as well as serve as a vehicle for citizens to provide input toward the creative development of public pazk areas and facilities was mentioned frequently during the interviews. However, Park and Recreation Department officials state that this program is largely reactive rather than proactive, and is frustrating at times since managing a cadre of volunteers can be extremely challenging. Non-profit organizations that work with many community volunteers frequently employ dedicated staffs to manage them. Books have been written and courses are taught for professionals who are brave enough to manage volunteers. ]t is one of the most difficultjobs within the non-profit industry. Hawaii County is currently unable to initiate a proactive effort to secure resources for the enhancement of its current parks, acquisition of added park space and open space with its current infrastructure. It is unlikely that an efficient program of resource development can be created within the County of Hawaii system for the benefit of al] departments without signifcant reorganization of resources and systems. Even if this should be made possible, the community's lack of confidence and trust in the efficiency and humanitarianism of government systems is a significant, formidable obstacle. In the competitive philanthropic azena of charitable organizations, it is not expected that Hawaii County would be able to inspire support when compared with traditional charities, such as those that represent local religious organizations, health and human service, education, arts and culture, em~ironmental. However, partnership with the private sector in order to create community benefit for all and to take advantage of the added community energy generated by such a process is indeed possible. It is possible to identify existent non-profit organizations of like mission that are infrastructurally mature, perhaps with buih- in giving constituencies, that would find the County's purposes to be aligned with their own. It is possible to ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 9 create a new non-profit to work with resource development and public relations matters specific to County imperatives. Although these organizations will be separately incorporated and joined to the County by mission only, the point is that infrastructure and accounting matters are much less complex, project funding is easier to control and can be more easily understood by the general community. For infrastructure details, see Section IV of this report. OVERALL EXTERNAL ASSESSiVIENT CRITERIA Interviews focused on discovering: I . the strength of individual commitment to County park upgrades, need for more park space and open space 2. concerns which affect the overall opinion of whether private sector can/should partner with County for purposes of supporting County park upgrades, acquisition of more park space and open space 3. opinions about capability and strength of County staff and leadership to successfully partner with the community for purposes of supporting County park upgrades, acquisition of more park space and open space 4. belief in the case for supporting community partnership with County for County park upgrades, more park space and open space 5. whether there are sufficient funds available 6. whether enough individuals will volunteer to commit their time, money and talent The findings of this study are summarized as follows: 1. The strength of individual commitment to Hawaii County park upgrades, need for more park space and open space Nearly every opinion leader, philanthropist and stakeholder representative interviewed for this report believes that acommunity-led effort to work with landowners, government agencies and the general community in partnership to focus on and manage efforts to upgrade current Hawaii County parks and seek more land for park space and open space for Hawaii County is a positive step for community betterment. Nearly every leader interviewed feels that an organized, efficient non-profit organization, whether already existent or incorporated solely for these purposes should be the vehicle for community effort toward the purposes stated, and not a Hawaii County department or employee(s). Leaders who feel that this organization should primarily attend to organizing efforts to help upgrade County parks and leaders who © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 10 feel that this organization should primarily attend to acquiring new lands for park space and open space were about evenly divided. Cognizant of the importance of tourism to the local economy, a significant percentage of all interviewed fee] "shame" or regret that Hawaii County's pazks (and State parks) are not in pristine condition, worrying that visitors are negatively comparing us to other destinations. This emotion has led to a desire to see that parks in their respective regions can be assisted in some way through community awareness and involvement. The community is very much aware of many other pressing needs especially in areas of human service. A new non-profit or existent one with new funding needs will find a great deal of competition within the Hawaii County philanthropic market. It was pointed out by several well-known philanthropists that environmental needs are not as high in priority to them and their businesses as are those for human service. The most significant financial and political support will come from a small minority of supporters who fee] strongly that their commitment will depend on a common-sense approach to acquisition of desired lands. They feel that most landowners can do a better job at Gazing for properties that they have owned for generations, or are stewarding for even a brief time. Most landowners will be very open to working with government agencies toward open space, park space and other conservation objectives without the need for outright sale or loss of properties. Nearly every leader interviewed voiced some concern over maintenance and liability issues of lands that are purchased and subsequently owned by Hawaii County or other organization and also encouraged partnership, negotiation, tax incentives and other "win-win" means to arrive at common purposes and avoid unbearable burdens of maintenance/liability. How the mission of this organization is finally stated, how its multiple purposes and distinct projects aze accommodated and able to be distinguished from one another and able to be selected for independent, restricted funding will determine the strength of commitment from a community that is ready to be involved. A significant amount of interviewees agreed to be involved in following up with this effort by assisting as members of a steering committee to help define the conservancy, design/lead a new organization or align with an existing organization. 2. Concerns that affect the overall opinion of whether the private sector can should partner weth Hawaii County for purposes of supporting County park upgrades, acquisition of more park space and open space a. Hawaii County park upgrades are nearly universally desired by interviewed opinion leaders. However, a worry exists about how unions may work against this community desire to pitch in, clean up, build up. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 11 b. Regarding the subject of land acquisition, a large majority of leaders look beyond the title transfer to the urgent issues of continuous maintenance of important properties and the spectre of unbearable liability. These leaders suggest a "no-buy, just agree" negotiation with landowners that would mitigate such issues to an acceptable degree, utilizing partnership with community/government. At the last resort, purchases should be conducted with leveraged public dollars first, prior to looking to private sector support . c. Will resources from the community further curb Hawaii County's spending in the Parks and Recreation Department? Will private support add to community benefit or just cause government to curtail its own responsibility, resulting in a shift of responsibility for essential community parks and open space from the public sector to the private-and therefore not produce an increased base for support as intended? d. Hawaii County is huge, and is made up of many distinct geographic areas. Historically, these distinct areas are proud of their individual communities and do not necessarily feel connected to each other. The organization of this conservancy must reflect each area's concerns. Leadership must be carefully selected. e. [t would cost literally billions of dollars to "buy" the Big Island, not to mention take care of the land after purchase. How can enough money ever be accumulated? If it's all about buying land, this won't work. Or will the conservancy be used to focus on [he issues and the relationships between the community/landawner/government to obtain positive goals? f. There will be expenses related to running this organization. Wouldn't it be most efficient to work with existent regional organizations that are already rooted in their communities if they agree to amending their bylaws to include supporting land acquisition for added park space and open space and county park upgrades? g. Who is going to facilitate the process of getting this whole thing moving? Will there by follow-up and action or is this all talk? h. Upgrading current County parks and acquiring ]ands for park space and open space are all different uses of resources. Will the conservancy allow donors to pick and choose what they want to support with their contrihutions? i. Is this an organized "land grab" that will victimize kamaaina landowners as well as other developers who have legitimately stewarded their properties, some for generations? ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS. INC. 12 3. Opinions about the capability and strength of Hawaii County staff and leadership to successfully partner with the cornmunity for purposes of supporting Hawaii County park upgrcules, acquisztion oFmore park space and open space a. The Hawaii County and its Parks and Recreation Department has not been required to focus on matters such as marketing and public relations. Therefore, staff members are not visible in the communities surrounding County parks. There is no County presence or personality or person to judge regarding capability and strength except for a genera] feeling that County mechanisms are slow and bureaucratic or attentive, depending on personal experience. b. Generally, most respondents feel that government agencies overall do not conduct their tasks with great efficiency and that the impetus and wherewithal for the creation of a partnership between community and Hawaii County will need to be generated through community leadership, with assistance and facilitation by Hawaii County. 4. Belief in the ease,for supporting communily partnership with Hawaii County for County park upgrades, acquisition of more park space and open space There is nearly universal agreement that taxpayer dollars should not be the only source of support for the acquisition of "places of the heart" or the upgrade of current County parks. Most leaders believe that a focused, planned approach to the acquisition of park space and open space and the upgrade of County parks through acommunity-based group that is partnered with the Hawaii County only through mission is the best and most efficient method to avoid "dropped balls," politicization of projects and undesirable delays, while enhancing a spirit of ownership and civic pride in the various regions throughout Hawaii County. 5. Whether they? are sufficient funds available According to most leaders, there is funding available throughout Hawaii County at this time to support the community's most urgent charitable needs. However, nearly every leader admitted that land conservancy was not their personal top priority as compared with other types of charitable concerns in their communities. Many leaders urged that non-cash methods of land conservation be utilized first and foremost, that tax laws be introduced to encourage the cooperation of landowners and that tremendous attention be placed on subsegtSent issues of maintenance and liability prior to carefully executing a studied plan of property acquisition or agreements with landowners. Although most of the donor public may not place land conservation very high on a list o1 charitable priorities, if awell-studied case is presented properly by the appropriate leaders, major gifts to the conservancy will result Regarding upgrades of current parks, leaders predict that many groups of citizens can be found to engage in park clean-ups, and communities can be motivated to improve parks in their respective regions. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 13 6. Whether enough individuals will volunteer to commit their rime, money and talent About 69 percent of all individuals interviewed would agree to participate, many in a leadership capacity, in a facilitated forum or steering committee that would result in the formation of a "Parks and Open Space Conservancy" to be partttered with Hawaii County toward the upgrading of Hawaii County parks and seeking additional park space and open space in Hawaii County. High percentage of voluntarism by opinion leaders is an indicator that apark/open space conservancy for Hawaii County may be a viable resource in the future. CONCLUSION Based on the comments and sentiments received from key constituency leaders and funding sources throughout this fact-finding period, we believe that acommunity-based, government/community partnership mechanism for the upgrading of Hawaii County parks and the acyuisition of land for park space and open space is amuck-desired resource. Key to the success of this effort to create partnership is to engage community leadership early, as this process has done, and move along quickly to facilitate the necessary discussions. Subjects covered should include leadership, mission, form and functions of [he entity. Twenty seven individuals volunteered to be involved in a steering committee or other leadership position to help the process get underway. Ten other individuals volunteered to contribute privately or to solicit support for a future organization. When forming a steering committee, leaders are reminded that representatives of the Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department should be allowed to participate. Hawaii County Council and Administration are advised to assign the task of following up with forming and facilitating [his community-based "steering committee" as soon as possible to the appropriate Hawaii County Department. Most logically, this task should fall to the Department of Research and Development. It is possible to attract very strong leadership w this finally formed entity, and definitely possible to attract major funding, depending on specific projects. It will, however, be difficult to compete for annual funding for the maintenance of staff and office. Possible partial solutions include donating Hawaii County ofl9ce space/phones/equipment to the entity and/or supporting annual funding for a new entity or an existing one through an expected rapid initial growth phase and perhaps later upon formal annual request. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 14 IV. DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENT A. AREAS/SYSTEMS ASSESSED The following material and related administrative functions are usually reviewed in a fundraising, non-profit entity during an infrastructure assessment. In most cases, Hawaii County of course could not offer the listed functions to observe. However, some parallel functions were able to be assessed through various departments of the County and are bolded. It is recommended in the following sections that all of these items be a part of the fund development/public relations operations of the non-profit agency with which Hawaii County will be partnering. In order to obtain public support that is a direct result of solid mission and committed volunteers, the organization must also support itself with efficient fund development programs, overall effective organizational standards, and reliable communication programs. I. Board manual 2. Board member job descriptions 3. Board of Directors list with all available addresses and phone numbers 4. By-laws 5. Campaign committee or any fund raising committee or advisory list and job descriptions 6. Development plan (Including direct mail, special events, major giving, capital campaigns, planned giving) 7. Public relations plan/emergency public relations plan 8. Annual report 9. Long range plan ]0. Mission statement 1 I. Case statement 12. Mast recent audit 13. Current year operating budget 14. List of donors/members; management system 15. Sample grant request 16. Last year's fund raising reports 17. Gift security, recognition, acceptance policies 18. Standards of solicitation and fund use © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 15 19. Fund accounting system a. Reporting format b. Renewal vs. acquired program c. Analyses for efficiency, effectiveness d. Donor tracking capability e. Check and balance procedure f. Imkind, planned gifts accounting 20. Compliance with federal and state fundraising requirements: 501(c)(3) IRS recognition, state registration, most recent 990 21. Agency's general brochure and other literature for public consumption 22. Articles or video/audio tapes distributed by media in last year 23. Surveys, focus group information or other public opinion research conducted in last l2 months 24. Staffing organization for fund raising/public relations functions 25. List of media contacts 26. Volunteer program B. GIVING PROGRAMS The following information describes each type of active, organization-initiated community giving method utilized by non-profit organizations. Where applicable, notes are included in sections that describe Hawaii County activities. However, all Hawaii County fund development activities are strictly passive. There is no organized approach, planning or initiative involved in any of Hawaii County's privately generated philanthropy. (Note: For purposes of this assessment, we are mostly focusing on the Parks and Recreation Department and other related departments that get involved when a charitable gift is received.) 1. Direct Mail and Special Gifts All organized major fund development begins with a foundation of understanding between organization and community. The benefit of this educational activity is not only the eventual receipt of charitable dollars but also the heartfelt and committed support and loyalty of an entire community toward the organization. Usually, in order that the community becomes amacted to you and committed to you, they must learn about you. And more importantly, they should eventually meet with the people of your organization and see it as a whole: elected officials, administrators, employees. Direct mail is a form of fund development that has at its heart not so much major dollars as a goal but instead a "getting to know you" first gift, after preliminary information is imparted. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 16 Such a program would appeal for supportive gifts for unrestricted/restricted purposes to a large part of the community at a certain time of the year. Although direct mail is an excellent method to acquire such new donors, it must be remembered that donor acquisition efforts are the most costly per dollar received. Normal donor acquisition programs cost an astounding $ ] to $1.50 to acquire $1 in donations- a painful but very necessary first development step. Administration of such a program as well as other giving programs would entail end of year evaluation methods such as the following: • analysis of the average rate of return (number of gifts received from all who were solicited) • average gift size • individual donor names tagged to indicate "renewal" or `acquired" status • cost per dollar raised In order to initiate a direct mail program, we must decide what measurable result we wish to accomplish. Then, with these measurable objectives in mind, and true costs per newly acquired donor and renewed donor established, a direct mul program's success might be proven or altered. Measurement of results would indicate whether there is a trend in your prospect base about which you should be aware. The most responsive ethnic, social or special interest constituency is also able to be determined with such tracking. More on reporting and moniwring of the entire development function will be discussed in the Development Systems section below. After receiving newly acquired donors, the individuals and their gifts must be properly documemed and cultivated in a systematic program of gift advancement. Only then will that expensive first acquisition step be fruitful. Acquired donors must be advanced into the higher areas of a development program, eventually to be cultivated toward major gift contributions. An annual "how are we doing" survey in a mailed newsletter to the donor constituency and other friends of the County can guide annual direct mail appeal copy and design by allowing staff to become aware of trends and issues. Renewal mailings, as opposed to acquisition mailings, should be personalized and informative, not just an "ask:' When capable, the organization must not only personalize its membership renewal direct mail appeals, but also mention the past gift and ask For a specific increased amount. When you are addressing active contributors, your appeal will be gaining more of a return automatically if you include the amount of contribution made last year, thank them again for that, and also include the suggested new amount this year. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 17 It takes less resources to procure more from such renewal contributors. This is why your documentation of al] donations is so valuable, and why it is worthwhile attending to renewal solicitations in more detail. Create your annual direct mail solicitation to support parks and open spaces by using Hawaii County's priceless charm-its children, people and culture related to places- to touch people. Stories about families who use(d) the parks, endangered species in a spectacular open space, etc. should be used. Touching heaps is the first step toward building a relationship with a philanthropist. 2. Special Events The special event, benefit or activity are other donor acquisition tactics. Proceeds of these types of benefits usually flow to an unrestricted operations account, or in some cases may be requested by a sponsor to be restricted to a particular purpose. An open house held for the general community afrer new officials are elected, may be considered a special event in which various departments can host tours of its offices and operations. In particular the Parks and Recreation Department would be a special attraction to donors and prospective donors. Special events, benefits and activities are valuable because they have abuilt-in mechanism for prospect acquisition and cultivation. Names and addresses of those individuals and organizations who have similar values as your organization are captured at these events. They are an idea] mechanism for extending yourselves beyond your own walls to touch the broader community. Of course, after the general public is invited to an educational activity, benefit or special event, efforts to engage public participation beyond the event activity in itself must follow in order to retain them for cultivation. A tremendous value to the special event is its donor prospecUvolunteer drawing power and built-in forum to ventilate the mission of the organization to a wider audience. In order to take advantage of this, it is important that the organization "captures" the names and addresses of those who partake of any festivities or activities. The special fund to support Parks and Recreation/Preservation Land can make maximum use of this opportunity by making this list a part of its direct mail solicitation. Written measurable objectives with regard to how much participation/awareness is planned to be generated at the next beneft and exactly what that awareness should be created at all times. Benchmark awareness research created prior to events, such as the external component of this study provides, will allow measurement of added awareness afrer the event is over, either justifying further, perhaps greater funding by sponsors or the cancellation of an event which is found to be not effective. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 1$ The truly greatest expense of a fund raising event is the massive amount of staff time needed to coordinate the event. Eventually, staff of an organization must account for staff time in the preparation of budgets for their events. Any organization would be wise to produce only one or two "major" fund raising benefit events per year. Unless there are support groups available who can completely run a particular event for you, these productions are extremely draining, usually with insufficient funding results in relation to the amount of staff and volunteer effort expended. Income derived from the benefit event is tracked along with the estimated and actual budgets per event. Such information allows the cosC per dollar raised to be determined per event, which can then be used to decide on modifications, extensions or termination of the event. It is important to again note that although some events may not be "money makers" for an organization, the events may have so much publicity, public education and good will value that it is indeed feasible and desirable to continue the work for that value, as long as it remains in the mission and budget of the organization. Note: Net funding is not to be expected to be major from direct mail or event routes. Sometimes the best result to expect from these initiatives is to break even fiscally, taking into account staff time, with an increase in acquired new supporters and publicity as the only tangible positive outcomes. Usually, the achievement of 50 percent of net proceeds of a benefit event is used by non-profits to determine that the benefit has been fiscally successful. 3. Major Gifts A major gifts program is a development program that identifies, cultivates and secures contributions which are considered "major" by the organization For a new organization, an annual major gift level may be considered to be anything over $],000 per year. Wi[hin the past five years, Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department has been given a total unsolicited gift value of X466,296. L 1, according to ahand-accounted summary of charitable donations to that department. Those gifts were largely in-kind in the form of animals to the zoo, statues, benches, bleachers, equipment, vehicles, building materials and small building projects. However, a fair amount of unsolicited cash gifts from individuals and organizations and a major gift of real estate (valued at $182,300 at the time) were also contributed. Many of the cash gifts were lumped together and described as "Various individuals businesses and organizations" Hawaii County has no organized system of gift accounting and does not maintain a permanent record of each donor's contributions per se, except that can be extracted from city council resolutions by hand. A managed system of gift accounting allows management to observe the giving patterns of contributors and supports the cultivation process by providing basic information about donor history. It eould be used w flag © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 19 donors who need to be contacted for a renewed gift or upgraded gift in a major giving program, depending on the program of gift advancement that the organization adopts. Fields to add to this record may include personal information about the donor such as birthday, anniversary, favorite restaurant, favorite areas to support, etc. It's also helpful to include an open area regarding comments during meetings with donorslprospeets. Such a system would insure continuous and timely cultivation of major prospects despite possible staff turnovers. The donor tracking system would also result in the avoidance of the seasonal re-solicitation of individuals who have already supported the organization, or who are being selected for major gifts. If major prospects are solicited in a mass fashion, the gift you get will be substantially less than what could be expected from a major prospect who is cultivated individually. 4. volunteers/Support Groieps "Friends of the Park" is a program of the County's Department of Parks and Recreation. Individuals in these groups serve as a base of hands-on support for a variety of projects. Although the program exists, it is "not actively pursued" due to staff shortages and resulting priorities, according to Pam Mizuno, deputy director of the department. The recruitment of a community group such as a Lion's chapter or other civic or social community group may be an answer to the cost of using key personnel for tedious future fhnd development projects (whether or not within County offices or in a separately incorporated non-profit) such as mailing, or daily general tasks such as answering the phone, maintenance, special projects, etc. As Mizuno knows, pro-active recruitment of groups such as these would of course enhance the numbers of park fiscal supporters as well as reduce the operational cost of park maintenance over time. 5. Sources of Funds Contribution records must be programmed to automatically crack specific gift sources per year such as council members, staff, prior donors, new donors, corporations, foundations, associations, unsolicited gifts, in-kind gifts and others including planned gifts and legacies bequests. The County at this time does not track sources. In the future, such information can be represented in an exciting way in an annual report. This information will also allow the County or future non-profit to understand what the average gift size is and will give its development staff goals to work the groups more efficiently in a focused marketing and major gift program, to establish further goals and to evaluate various giving programs. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 20 6. Uses of Funds Reports on the purposes or uses of contributed funds in detail per program should be properly represented in an annual report. The County's current publicly disseminated annual report uses a pie chart to simply communicate where monies come from and where they are spent. Similarly, but perhaps with more detail, a separate non-profit would issue an annual report that would specifically state how much money was developed through the year from what sources, and how much money was spent in various programs. 7. Telemarketing/I`elethons When a development plan is in place within the Parks and Recreation Department or other department or separate non-profit, the development officer/ fund raising committee may use telephone solicitation methods to inquire about lapsed annual or pledged capital contributors. Telephone solicitations other than [his are not recommended. Telethons may be employed in the future, although faithful follow-up and personal cultivation must occur throughout the future relationship between donor/organization in order for subsequent gifts to be developed. Premiums should be avoided as a means of attracting new donors unless future cultivation methods will be employed. 8. Planned Giving Planned giving has become a vital part of the range of fund raising techniques used by established non- profits in day-to-day work. Outright bequests through wills or trusts, pooled income funds, individual charitable trusts and life insurance policies or retirement plans will be non-profit mainstays in the future. There will be special individuals within your community who may be interested in gifting you with significant planned contributions. Some may be interested in planned giving merely for tax purposes. If so, the donor should be duly informed of what the gift will accomplish in the community and a true relationship between donor and organization should begin or at least be offered. A nationwide issue on individuals using this charitable avenue to manage estates profitably may eventually be the cause of the disallowance of this type of giving for all charities for all time. It is vital that our government understand that individuals are supporting charities with this type of gift vehicle because they are willing to support their communities and not because they have found a tax loophole. With regard to this inquiry, Hawaii County has the maintenance and development of community enhancing parks, community centers and preservation of lands as a worthy goal. This activity will add to the health and well-being of its citizens and is sure to remain cogent for many generations. It is encouraged to create a © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 21 formalized planned giving program as soon as possible whether within County auspices or through a separate non-profit. 9. Recognition Program Hawaii County does not recognize its contributors in its annual report nor in any other venue. A formal policy for recognition of various types of contributors must be adopted to support the maintenance of this tactic, along with others designed to encourage repetition and development of giving relationships, whether within the County system or in an eventual new non-profit. A recognition program is an organized system of highlighting contributors' names in public forums in order to encourage further support from them and their peers, and conveying the organization's deep and sincere gratitude for charitable support. Through private correspondence, newsletter recognition, naming opportunities and sometimes token gestures of appreciation, various levels of donors are systematically reminded of their generosity, the good works made possible through their gifts-of lives made better. Trainloads and buckets full of thanks are the hallmarks of every successful fund raising organization. A sound recognition program is the foundation of a donor cultivation program. Hawaii County should immediately develop a responsible donor recognition program for all gifrs made to it, whether unrestricted or for capital purpose. Its current system of lumping cash contributOns together is not conducive to increasing community goodwill toward its purposes. Consider that these gifts were unsolicited, and [hat initiation o1' other first time contributions and further cultivation of past donors may have resulted in millions of dollars in added revenue to Department of Parks and Recreation in a few more years. An example of a cultivation effort through recognition of donor: the mayor or council chair may give a personal phone call/note to contributors of $1,000 (or other appropriate amount) of capital or annual gift to personally thank them. All acknowledgment notes should have a passive permission request printed in them for participation in the recognition program and a phone number and name to call if permission is being denied. This action will save money and time for gaining permission for printing names. For those who request not to be recognized, mark them in your records to indicate "declined recognition" All donors must be put on your mailing list and receive newsletters, invitations, bulletins and other contact periodically. All thank you correspondence should be mailed within 48 hours of receiving a gift. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 22 Regulaz communication is important for every well-defined donor cultivation and acknowledgment program. All donors who have given recognition permission should be listed in a distributed newsletter (hard copy, website, news release or other periodical) for that period and cumulatively in the annual report. A disclaimer and request for record correction assistance must be placed in each newsletter and annual report so that mistakes in the listings may be corrected. Al] sample policies for recognition, acknowledgement and solicitation practices appear at the end of [his report for general information. 10. Capital Campaigns Of course, Hawaii County has never conducted a community fundraising campaign for capital purpose. Capital campaigns in the non-profit sense are complex, intense volunteer-centered activities designed to raise large amounts of cash and pledges for a restricted purpose. The campaign lasts for a specific period of time and is organized by anon-profit when a project is desired that would result in the increase of capital assets for the organization such as a new facility, property, extension of a facility, new equipment, etc. C. SYSTEMS 1. Employee Organization If an organized fund development system is the wish of Hawaii County in order to supplement allocated funding to support not only the purchase of preservation lands but also the maintenance and enhancement of community parks, then at the minimum, a dedicated staff person that would work toward that function must be allocated. In a separate non-prott, this staff will work to implement an animal development public relations plan as approved by its board to support the organization's (and the Hawaii County's) long range plan. In addition, this staff would also coordinate separate efforts to acquire desired parcels, such as working with volunteers landowners/county to arrange acquisitions via non-cash methods and/or public funding (county, state and federal sources) and rely on capital campaigns in the private sector, most likely regional in scope, if cash is needed. In addition staff would proactively seek and work with regional volunteers and organizations to assist with the policing/maintenance of acquired property if needed. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 23 A formalized program to harness the community's volunteer forces toward the care and maintenance of county pazks began in 1989 through Administrative Rule 12. Deputy Director Ms. Pam Mizuno of Hawaii County's Department of Parks and Recreation is the sole hub of the department's community giving and volunteer activities. Various divisions and sections will approach Ms. Mizuno with their ideas and initiatives [o support their areas and Mizuno guides and coordinates. Since then, the department's efforts have been very positive but largely passive, according to Mizuno. 2. Employee Attitude Every employee in anon-profit organization serves as the organization's representative in its community. Every word spoken about the non-profit even in private time affects the public image of the organization tremendously. , Therefore, County officials, staff and future non-profit staff of an organization that is designed tp support the Couuty's parkfpreservation purpose, no mattes what position, must understand the vision and direction of the Parks and Recreation Department and the possible future non-profit. All employees must also become aware of the role of fund development and the importance of public relations for the supplemental support of the Department of Parks and Recreation preservation fund. Training of all employees and regular communication between the County, non-profit and their respective staffs is advised so that all will know where to direct prospective donors and how to be involved in the philanthropic process productively. 3. Data Management There currently is no formal data management for chazitable gifts to Hawaii County. Eventually, it is necessary that besides all gift amounts and dates of all gifts, sources of funds, etc., that personal donor profiles be eventually included in individual donor history records so that generations of development staff (in Parks and Recreation Department or non-profit) will not miss a beat regarding relationship development efforts with major donors. The purchase of specialized fund development software is recommended upon further development of this initiative.. The immediate and most valuable benefit of having a donor base which has tracking capability is that the County or non-profit will be able to take advantage of its solicitation progress, save dollars on renewal solicitations and gain larger returns immediately. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 24 4. Compliance/Security Standard written and board-approved security and solicitation policies would display to the general public and employees the County's or non-profit's standards of public accountability, solicitation guidelines, practices and governance and administration of funds. It would be advantageous for the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop simple, council-approved standards for charitable contributions and keep them on file in case of public inquiry. We are increasingly having to spend more time on compliance with federal laws and suggested accounting rules because of the scrutiny caused by abuses of the public trust in our (non-profit) field. It is of vital importance that the public have access to accurate public information which it can use to help decide who to support safely. If a charity can instantly respond to a request for a copy of the organization's standards for solicitations and receiving contributions, the organization's 990, etc. the organization's public image will be more positive. Currently, all cash (usually in check form) gifts toward park support or any other department are forwarded to the Treasury Division of the Finance Department for bank deposit. items for deposit are placed into a safe until they are deposited. Bank deposits are made daily. In addition, a request for council action is made by the department that received the gift and sent to the Budget Division of the Finance Department. In turn, a council resolution (aad if necessary, a bill for appropriation) to accept the gift is prepared by the Budget Division. A letter of transmittal to the Council is signed by the director of finance and forwarded to the mayor for approval. The resolution (and if necessary, bill for appropriation) is eventually presented to full council after discussion in the appropriate council committee. Meanwhile, if a bill for appropriation is involved, the bill must be read twice through full council. No record throughout this process is made of donors, gift amounts, type of gift, date of gift or purpose of gift. Individual departments also do not necessarily keep such records. Furthermore, no correspondence is necessarily made with the donor until the gift is formally accepted by Hawaii Council. This process may take up to a month or longer. After formal acceptance by Council, a letter acknowledging the gift is generated by Council and signed by the Council Chair. Acknowledgment letters includes amounts and description of gifts. A simple receiptlacknowledgement process for cash, goods and in-kind contributions from the community must be described and understood by all departments in order to expedite [he acknowledgement of donors. As stated earlier, acknowledgment letterslnotes should be mailed to the donors no later than 4R hours after receipt of the gift in order to encourage positive relationships and repeated/increased gifts. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 25 5. Development Plan There is no written and council-approved development plan in place. A comprehensive annual development plan should eventually be developed for the County's Department of Parks and Recreation in relation to and in support of the General Plan of the County. This plan would utilize a variety of fundraising methods, listing specific dollar goals per method, be timelined, budgeted and able to be evaluated on an annual basis. D. PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSESSMENT For the purposes of this inquiry, we focused our attention on the department of Hawaii County that would most interface with the community regarding charitable contributions to support parks/preservation lands, namely the Parks and Recreation Department, although it is clear that the responsibility to acquire preservation lands is not part of the responsibility of this department. All planning and tasks related [o the vital area of public relations is of critical importance to [he success of a fund development effort. Every component of the public relations process is also employed in the direct application of the fund development program, i.e., research, objective setting, planning and evaluation. In its communication sense, public relations programming will serve to convey your purposes to a receptive and supportive community, avoid missed opportunities, do the groundwork for greater fund raising and volunteer-attracting opportunities, and will maximize usage of resources. The practice of public relations should be a distinctive management function which creates and maintains two-way communication, understanding acceptance and cooperation between the department/non-profit and its various publics, and considers the employee group a key public. It should be involved in the management of problems and issues. It should help management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion. It should define and emphasize the responsibility of the departmenUnon-profit to serve the public interest. It should help management to keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serve as an early warning system to help anticipate trends, and use research and sound ethical communication techniques as its principal tools. Its targeted programs will be primary precursors in every fund raising plan. Looking at Hawaii County's Department of Parks and Recreation systems with this standard, the following is observed: © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 26 1. Mission and History The department has written a mission statement: "To provide a wide an'ay of services for the public with excellence, integrity and aloha" The department's strategic plan can serve as a guide for annual, capita] campaign and public relations planning. Historical documentation/context was absent, but can be easily added. With the insertion of a human element to the historical development of the department and County, an excellent case for support can be written. The important facet of human invitation and persuasion through depth of feeling will become pan of the communication of the department in this way. Fund development begins with this facet. 2. Research Reseazch is the process by which all successful development and public relations programs start and end. Without research, there is no baseline from which to begin, and no standazds by which to measure success. Through focus groups, personal interviews with involved corporate staff or short written surveys, input can be received and channeled to the appropriate committee for response in planning and implementing next year's community focus. A program of communication may be conducted based on the results of the reseazch which would address issues that arise. The Parks and Recreation department monitors "customer satisfaction" with service surveys. Results aze reported at monthly staff meetings. For ongoing quality control and overall internal communication, this exercise is commendable. In addition, it is recommended that the department revisit opinions of each of its constituencies on an annual basis, including staff, regarding how it is doing in various azeas. Development of resources in a small community is keenly dependent on being able to keep an accurate pulse of that community's attitudes. A public relations plan of action can be created to address the various issues raised per constituency utilizing various media, e.g., face to face, speechmaking, editorials, specitd events., etc. A year from the execution of this plan, evaluation of community opinion should be made once again to determine whether the public relations objectives have been accomplished. 3. Case Statement A case statement is a special document which draws together the history and mission of the organization, its mechanisms, visionary goals and hard cost necessities toward these goals. When this story is written with great skill, the document could serve to solicit the most major donor or prospective volunteer It is a ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS. INC. 27 document that serves as the development "blueprint" It is the non-profit organization's business plan. It contains the pitch, the strategy and the "one voice" of the organization with regard to the reasons for the organization's existence. It contains the organization's scope of service, demographics and market for its service, how it raises money, etc. The document is then used as a blueprint for al] grant applications, printed collateral, videos and other presentation media that you may need to use. The existence of this document is essential to the success of future fund development efforts. A case statement that has at its core a case for support of Parks and Recreation/preservation lands must be developed and disseminated to all staff and volunteers. It should be required reading for every new employee. Most elements of the case exist and only need to be put together into the proper format. 4. Objectives The establishment of measurable objectives of awareness building programs and the subsequent evaluation of those objectives al]ow us to decide whether any of our public relations/marketing programs have had any success. Public relations objectives in a public relations plan must be created annually in tandem with the development plan and strategic plan of the department/non-profit. 5. Evaluation At the end of every year, an evaluation of public relations and development programs must be made based on previously stated measurable objectives in the development and public relations plan. Successfu]ly met objectives mean continued funding for that particular development program. Objectives not met require a shift of strategy or cancellation of the funding program. This exercise eases the anxiety of concerned contributors, Council members and administrative staff regarding the expense justification of public relations/marketing and development program components. 6. Collateral The annual report, general brochure and most recent newsletter are the primary vehicles of a solicitation. They should be left with all major gift prospects. In any campaign, they are essential documents for solicitation packets. Basic information on Hawaii County is located on their website. a. Annual Report Hawaii County's latest annual report is a good effort to keep the general community aware of the County's progress. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 28 In subsequent issues, consider taking advantage of this opportunity to articulate afamily-oriented County "mission" The current report is easy to read, full of photos, essential information and is brief. This venue is ideal for recognizing all contributor and should be used to do so. b. General Brochure The intent of this piece is to attract, edify, galvanize the attention of the interested prospective volunteer or donor. A simple general brochure or fact sheet that represents all the departments of Hawaii County should be created. At the least, for purposes of supporting the Department of Parks and Recreation/preservation lands, a brochure that describes the department and effort to preserve open space, etc. should be created. c Newsletter People give resources, time and energy to people, not organizations, and the organization should use this communication tactic powerfully to represent the faces and happy events of its everyday life. Viewed by a potential funding prospect, in the hands of a trained volunteer, such a newsletter will in itself be a strong collateral piece for gift cultivation and solicitation. Hawaii County's newsletter is available on its website. The Department of Parks and Recreation should also issue a quarterly informal newsletter that would work in conjunction with that of a possible future non-profit dedicated to its support. d. Letterhead The general letterhead of Hawaii County and its Department of Parks and Recreation is appropriate. e. Business Cards The County's business cards are coordinated with the rest of the collateral. f. CamRaign Brochure Special brochures summarizing the case statement of either the Department of Parks and Recreation or an eventual separately incorporated non-prott, including the total dollar value of a desired project, the organization's volunteer management and campaign leadership list, giving opportunities and an attached pledge card must be produced for various campaigns that are launched. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 29 7. Presentation nt Site Hawaii County and its Department of Parks and Recreation is capable of greeting visitors and potential major donors although its staff is not necessarily prepared or trained to do so at this time. Because a natural welcoming and friendly atmosphere pervades all offices, it probably would be natural for all potential donors to feel encouraged. Throughout the reception area of Parks and Recreation, it would be useful and appropriate for the mission of the department to be visibly present. Also, framed photos of children and families playing in pazks, wall art by students and displayed collateral can further underscore to a visitor the mission and purpose of the department. A well-run operation looks good and feels good to visitors. A tour of the offices/sites of the pazks must be enough to cultivate any prospect or renewal donor. It is always important that the office staff and environment be in shape for surprise and planned visits by potential supporters, especially when a fund development program begins in earnest. 8. Emergency Plczn There is no emergency public relations plan in place, either for Hawaii County or for its Department of Pazks and Recreation. In case of serious mishap, natural disaster, scandal or funding problem, an emergency communication plan for the County and its Department of Parks and Recreation (or non-profit dedicated to its support) must be ready to be implemented. All employees must be aware of the plan. It will detail who talks to reporters and the protocol of communication with the public on sensitive issues in case of emergency. It will also outline how communication will be conducted in case of disaster and phones or other telecommunications are unavailable. Such a plan for the County and Department of Pazks and Recreation would outline actions to be taken in case of heavy media attention and how donors are to be contacted, what should be communicated, etc. Not only for emergencies, it is important that all staff, board and other volunteers know whom to refer curious media in the event of the rise of any issue related to Hawaii County. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 30 V. PHILANTHROPIC MARKET ASSESSMENT (EXTERNAL) Some leaders, although willing to participate, were not able to accommodate the calendar period allotted for the interviews. A copy of the conversation guide used for community interviews can be found in the Appendices of this report. Information reported for interview subject areas are aggregate comments. Specific sources for all comments are not identified. (Note: Please disregard the misspelling of names in this document. For purposes of expediency, all name spelling was provided by interviewees.) Total Number of Interviews: 55 Community: 43 Hawaii County Council Member Interviews: 6 Hawaii County Staff: 6 A. PUBLIC AWARENESS 7. Hawaii Countv Parks and Facilities Most leaders appreciate the difficulty of the task that Hawaii County Parks and Recreation staff have, with immense distances between properties, abusive park users, etc. Many leaders felt that County parks should be gems to enjoy by locals and Co show off to the visitor industry. However, 36 percent of all opinion leaders interviewed felt that in general, County parks were in need of much greater attention, funding, and felt some personal embarrassment about the condition of some parks. Some mentioned worry that the island's visitors would go away with negative impressions after experiencing the conditions of some parks. A larger segment of leaders, 40 percent, felt that most parks were "okay," but not well-maintained. About a quarter of all leaders felt that Hawaii County Parks were adequate, and some were outstanding, such as Lilioukalani Park. Some opinion leaders were confused by which parks were under County or State control, but concluded that MOST parks, whether County or State, were in need of help. 2. Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department Programs Most leaders were not familiar with many of the programs Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department offers, but mentioned that more emphasis should be placed on improving the Friends of the Park Program. © 205 SOLD CONCEPTS, INC. 31 3. Hawaii County Funding Eleven percent of all interviewed were unaware of how Hawaii County funds its Parks and Recreation Department and other services/programs; 81 percent were aware. Leaders were also aware that individuals and groups from some communities contributed to the maintenance of specific parks and areas of recreation. B. OVERALL OPINIONS: HAWAII COUNTY PARKS, COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP 1. Condition of Hawaii County Parks/Facilities "What is your general opinion of Hawaii County parks and facilities?" Positive Negative Neutral 24% 36%a 40% Suggestions for Additional Programs/Services in Parks and Recreation Department (Note: CounciUStaff comments have been separated from the rest of leadership comments and are noted.) • Create n more aggressive, proactive connection to community groups to assist with policing and maintaining parks. (hX) • Not having a presence at parks affects the quality of parks negatively. User fees may be the answer (8XJ • A process by which current community groups can communicate the community's needs. Then, we can both work to figure our what we can do to benefit the community. (.;X) • Increase signage descriptions at county parks re: what tourists and public are looking at re: significance, history, eg, Pololu, Boiling Pots, Waipio, etc. • Public parks should be our jewels here on the Big Island. As is, we're not spending enough to take care of these declining resources. • Doggie parks would be great. People who have no children pav for parks, but don't make much use of them. • Better, more focused maintenance programs that are not always cut during budgeting time. • Prioriti; ing more money to mountain parks. • The homeless need to be asked to leave the county parks. They try to touch the kids. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 32 • The whale parks department needs ro be overhauled. It's so hugely staffed but ineffective. The Big Island deserves to have world-class parksltrails. • Create n program that Looks into natural alternatives to chemical pest/weed control. (Council/Staff) • Promote culopt-a-park programs. Our parks should he the best in the country. People expect government to do everything, but we need to work together if' we want to achieve this maximum level for the sake of our communih~. (4XJ • More senior programs. • Added hours to pools. • Communit}~ groups .rhr away from being truly responsible for major parks. Volunteers at first seem to be a treasure, but working with volunteers is .ro difficult. if you're not staffed properly to manage volunteers, it's disastrous for alt concerned. Some volunteers are not reliable nr their expertise levels are not There. • Snme groups are not focused on their own priorities, and have internal conflicts, which make managing them especially difficult. • Alliances and partnerships with state, federal, business and genera[ community. • Pat Englehard could ure more support on staff. Planning and procurement efforts need to be supported with additional staff/expertise in the Parkc Department. • Westside parks are in worse condition than ea.rtside. There are not even enough parks over there for the community. • Improve our programs to support youth aetivlty. 2. Community-Based Partnership (Park Conservancy) "Do you feel acommunity-led organization especially formed to support the upgrade of Hawaii County parks and the acquisition of added park lands and open space is desirable'?" Yes No Maybe 96% 2%a Criticisms/comments regarding the formation of a separate non-profit to partner with Hawaii County re: upgrade of Hawaii County parks and the acquisition of added park ]ands and open space (Note: Council/Staff comments have been sepazated from the rest of leadership comments and are noted.) © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 33 • There is an opportunity to partner with existing organizations to do this: like Trust for Public Lands or other land trust. Other land trusts also exist that have donor constituencies already. There is no need to set up a brand nex~ organization, with its start-up costs, for this. (21X) • Buying land is a modest first step. Following that, maintenance and management is a huge responsibility and scary be more than a conservancy and county can handle. (11X) • There's always the challenge of where you find the money to support such an enterprise. (SX) • l be heard that on the mainland, acommunity/government parmerrhip purchased some land and the government used it for something other than what the community expected. • If this conservancy came with monev and told us that they want to help us do what we know our communities need, we'd be ecstatic. But if we're just going to talk about things, we really don't need that. Sometimes we just want to give up because of all the runarou~ul we get. • There may be a possibility of a [and grab attitude here, where Hawaii County may be trying to get all the /and it can, L don't believe I would support taking certain pieces of property that's being cared for properly by responsible owners. Lf there is a threat of condemnation of that type of parcel, there will be a backlash from major donors and this effort w~i[l backfire. • Wouldn't the County have more access to funding sources to acquire lands etc, than another non-prpfit? (CounciUStaft] • A county department could handle this function. I can also see an existing organization handling a partnership. However, considering the specific mission of this effort, an existing organization would probably have to be willing to adjust its bylaws. 1 can also see the generation of an organization from scratch. C. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 1. "Do you feel, given the current public attitude toward such issues, that the community would privately support, both financially and with volunteer services, a community effort to supplement Hawaii County parks appropriations and the purchase of added park lands and open space?" Yes No Maybe 62%a 11°/a 27%a ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 34 2. "Would the community have supported a capital acquisition project such as Honl's?" Yes No Maybe 58% l8`7c 24% 3. "Would the community have supported a capital drive for approximately $2.5 million?" Yes No Maybe 47% 26/0 27% 4. "If no, how much do you feel coutd be raised for such a project?" $50,000 $250,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 (3X) 5. `7f you had a personal, after-tax budget of $10 per EACH of the items listed below, how much would you spend per item?" 55 PARTICIPANTS. ANSWERS ARE AVERAGES. 1. acquisition of lands for public outdoor recreation and education, including access to beaches and mountains: $9.00 2. preservation of historic or culturally important land areas and sites: $7.30 3. protection of significant habitats or ecosystems, including buffer zones: $6.80 4. preservation of forests, beaches, coastal areas and agricultural lands: $7.40 5. protection of watershed Lands to preserve water yuality and water supply: $6.70 6. conservation of land in order to reduce erosion, floods, landslides and runofF: $5.70 7. improving disabled and public access to and enjoyment of public land and open space: $4.40 8. acquiring disabled and public access to public ]and and open space: $4.70 9. preservation of traditional recreational activities, including hunting and fishing: $6.30 D. LEAD PROSPECTS 1. "From whom would it be possible to obtain gifts of at least $100,000 - $1,500,000 if pledgeable over a period of a maximum,five years?" ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 35 Suggested prospects were: Allen, Paul Kamehameha Schools Anderson, Lyle Kobayashi, Bert Atherton Foundation Kukio (2X) Bakken Family (3X) Kurtzig, Sandy Benioff, Mark Marriott Cal Tech Maryl Development Del] , Michael(SX) Morey Boogie Boards Forbes, Steve Norwegian Cruise Lines Greenwells Schwab, Charles (2X) Handgiss, George Strohman, Loi HPM and the Fujimoto family Tinsley, Phi] Jung, Frank Weinberg Foundation (2X) 2. "Which individuals, corporations or foundations do you,feel would provide other major g4~s Bakkens Lundquist, Bo & Karolyn Billabong Miller, Bill and Sherri Blum, Barry MD Nakamura, Kona Gomel, David Pacific Vibrations Gomel, Mike Paultin Family Juvik, Sonja & Jim Pouls, Greg & Maile Koehnen, Fred Quackmoore, Cheryl Lambeth, lames & Phoebe Richards, Monty Legee Family Taniguchi ,Barry (2X) Leithead-Todd, Bobbie Jean Wong, Bill CPA E. COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT 1. "Would you consider assisting with this organization in some capacity?" Yes No Maybe 58% 29% 13% ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 36 2. °In what capacity?" a. General Volunteer, Non-Fundraising 6 b. Fumdraising Volunteer ~ c. Other Steering Committee/Leadership (25X) Donor (SX) Facilitate Relationship with Existing Land Trust (2X) 3. `7f asked by a person you trust, would you consider contributing a personal or corporate philanthropic gift toward the acquisition of a parcel such as Honl's or other property that was important to you to preserve?" Yes No Maybe 60% 28% l2% 4. "How much would you have given?" 100,000 50,000 (2X) 15,000 5,000 (6X) 4,000 3,000 2,500 (2X) 1,250 ],000 (14X) ]00 (3X) 250 (3X) Total offered by all interviewees: $273,300 5. `7f asked by a person you trust, would you consider contributing a personal or corporate philanthropic gift toward the upgrading of Hawaii County Parks?" Yes No Maybe 55% 40% 5°/a © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 37 6. "Who do you suggest would be important leaders to involve in this effort?" Bisel, Leonard Ley, Diane Chung, Lucille Mendoza, Lorraine Domingo, Taka Mizuno, Barry Dorian, Shane Rapoza, Ed Englehazd, Pat Replogle, John Erickson, Neil Robinson. Mike Gomes, Mike Seiter, Kevin Guerrero, Tony Shropshire, Steve Harris, Roger Springer, Hannah Haruki, Warren Takamine, Yoshito Hemmes, Don Taniguchi, Barry Hia, Michael Testa, Janc Hopkins, Dayday Tyler, Curtis Johns, Tim Vitousek, Peter Kanagawa, Chris Vitousek, Randy Kanuha, Duane Vitousek, Sharon Kokubun, Russell Yoshida, George Lapinia, Bobo 7. Comments regarding personal involvement and giving privately to an entity like a park conservancy: • Lf l give you money for the upgrade of a park, will the council take away some money that they normally would allocate to the Parks Department? (24X) • It would depend on where the project is located and how it Kill benefit me ancf my children. For example I wouldn't have given to Honl's. (23X) • Groups are very territorial on the Big Island. A single ruin-profit group would have a hard time working with groups through the island communities. People who wit[ get involved will be usually nan-Local, and this will make it hard to get community-wide acceptance. (22X) As long as the money stays with the organization and doesn't mix with the county. (11X) • My prim-i[ies,for giving fall to social needs first before environmental. (10X) • Who will choose the leaders of this conservancy? has to be a group with breadth arul experience that understands the local and newcomer communities. (9X) © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 38 • If the county wishes to obtain a piece of property, ii better have a plan and budget to develop and maintain it, otherwise 1 wouldn't support it. (9X) • 1 would rather give money to the upgrcufe of current parks. I would not want to give money for the ncquisition of more park lands until they can take care of their current parks. (8X) • We would need to know speci,Fes about where exactly our money is going to. (8X) • [would prefer to go fhe route of Kohartaiki,~ make agreements, educate and involve the public, not purchase oral gain the resporz ibillty of ownership. (6X) • We don't give awgv land. But if Hawaii County wants us to do something with the land, let us know. Cultural preservation, conservation of natural resources, etc., is a top priority to us as landowners. (SX) • I don't think that Hawaii County would remain perpetually committed to this non-profit partner. Bureaucracy may get in the way. Next council may have a different agenda. We should make a law, then it will happen. Pve wasted time with government discussions before. l may be interested in supporting a mature and functioning independent conservancy, but count me out in the planning stages. Too much talk and too much politics lead m wcisted time oral eff"ore in mater cases. (4X) • All of this depends on how well people know and Love the parceUarea. Some very precious areas may go without interest.rimp[y because not enough people know it (2X) • Disabled access is ven~ impractical in some cases and l wouldn't spend a Lot of money for disabled access from this private fund since we're cell paying so much for ADA already. (2X) • High school students should be considered as leaders of this organization, as they will be the eventual recipients of the land. • Wealth moving ro Big Island could be identified and approached for tremendous support of parks/open space. Current families are approached too often as is. •Why would the super rich preserve a local park on the Big Island far away from their own people's notice? Let's face it-they give for political or other selfish re-asons. Why give where they don't really live instead of where they spend most of their real lives? • The donors to this conservanc_~~ will be developers and general public. But the bears'share will be provided b>> developers. • Leaders involved in this entity must be influential from both east and west, who would be willing [o check their egos at the door. • !'nt not a slwreline advocate or user. If it was mauka property, 1 would support. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 39 • !would also donate on an annual basis for unrestricted needs. • It would have to he a project that affects me personally, like if the project would save my view plane. • That purchase of Honl's wa.r very inflated. $3 million for 29,000 square feet? That's ridiculous. What about spending $SOQOOO fora 10 foot easement/walkway to the beach for the surfers? • There's time reginnal empowerment (lrke township governmace) here and because of that, 1 hesitate to give money toward what l see as ineffrient goverrunent. • Pm concerned with maintenance of acquired parcels. Significant money would also have to be raised to take care of parcels that are acquired. • !t would depend an who asks me and exactly what the case for support i.r. • Community money should be used for operations/maintenance of the parks. Big money projects should be done with existing land conservation instruments. If necessar~~, the community's private dollars should be leveraged with federal funds and state funds to make a purchase. • In Kona area, I would like to see active parks develop rather than open space. • Pm not interested only in one area. I'm interested in making sure that the whole island is safe and taken care of. • It's going to get more and more competitive with all the rwn-prufils on d2is island. L'd really rather give to social Issues rather than buying out someone else's liability. • 1 would support the Parks and Recreation Department with my private money if the~~ make significant changes re: their level of expertise with not having to use herbicides and pesticides. • The first project will be difficult, but once it lr successful, things .t~hou[d be easier for the conservancy. The next step to make sure happens is: responsible stewardship of the property. • Maintenance of parks should be left to government, not to the conservancy. Land trusts can hold conservation easements. This is what they do best Conservation easement departments can also be set up within city government. See Gallatin County in Montana. • The average person won't care about these matters. It will be a business "peer pressure' type of giving environment However, you need an entity to facilitate and fallow through with matters of land ace~uisition. And to do this you will need a staff. • Clean water is so fundamental but using that as a platform.for fundraising would backfire. • 1 would support projects that I care about, but Pm unusual. I suspect most people would not give their own money to purchase conservation lands. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 40 • My goat is to see the community come together, period. • There »ut~~ be difficulty raising money for annual upgrade of the parks rather than purchasing dramatic pieces of properr)~. F. WITH REGARD TO INTERVIEWED COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF OF HAWAII COUNTY 100 percent of the Hawaii County Council members and Hawaii County staff who were interviewed indicated that they would financially support a citizen's effort to acquire a special parcel of property to add to park space or open space. 1(>D percent of the Hawaii Council members and Hawaii County staff who were interviewed indicated that they would financially support a citizen's effort to improve an existing Hawaii County park. The community will look to leadership like the officials of their County and the tmstees of the organization that is leading the effort to gauge the level of their own participation if campaigns should occur. G. OTHER COMMENTS For ease in reading, all comments have been grouped in the following subject categories, which are listed in order of popularity. (Note: Council/Staff comments have been separated from the rest of leadership comments and are noted per subject.) I. Maintenance/liability of owned properties; union problems 2. Management structure of the conservancy and its projects 3. Work with landowners; try not to purchase ]ands 4. Conservancy is the way to go; possible resources 5. Hawaii County Charter Amendment Bill 270; excessive taxation; use of taxes 6. Kudos to this process 7. Active parks; core Hawaii County services 8. Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department 9. Follow-up; don't drop the ball ]0. Commission 1 1. It would cost billions 12. Community Development Plan 13. Suggestions 14. Observations of social structure; good projects to come; miscellaneous © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 41 1. Maintenance/liabitit}~ of owned properties; union problems • Main issue: who will maintain the acquired open [and and added park space? (26X) • Maintenance of acquired spaces cannot he county-based. County resources are too inefficient/expensive. (17X) • The major thrust of this effort should be not the acquisition of more park lands and open space but the proper care and maintenanen of our county parks. We have fantastic areas that are neglected and it's just an embarrassment to all people in the count}' of Hawaii (13X) • When you acquire praperi)~ there are incredible responsibilities that come with it Many times land is just an expense if you don't have a plan.for its use. The only winner is the seller of the property who hands off maintenance and Liabilin~. The county would inherit that with the purchase and be saddled with itforei~er. (6X) • Parks are not being maintained properly as is and probably won't be better managed with more money. Private developers/landowners can do a better job. County workers are not diligent. They're not capable. Union constraints and other bureaucratic prob[erru~ prevent excellence in government-initiated programs. (6X) • What kind of message are we .rending wizen our parks are in such a bad way? (SX) •Property taxes can be used w take care of infrcartructure needs like pork maintenance for our community. (4X) • Just make sure we're able to steward the properties properly once we acquire them. • Isn't the County doing the community a disservice by obtaining Lands that they can't take care of.' They should maintain what they have before they acquire more. • Privatize the maintenance of parks, or charge money for people to use it and keep track of who uses it so people respect their parks more. • This is a good mechanism but it's the wrong causeacquiring more land for parks or open space. It's better to save the parks we lwve now. Uon't get more ownership thct/ we won't be able to maintain. •The conservancy should he resporzsib[e for Leading the community's forces to assist with the maintenance of these acquired fancis. The county could never keep up with that. • There would be no excuse for whining if the conservancy invited community groups to come forward to take care of their local park resources. It would allow an excellent opportunity for individuals to he helpful. /t's amazing how rrumy people are willing to do things that they can see and,feel good about. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 42 • Money from property taxes shouldn't be spent on property acquisition, but should be spent on maintenance. • Depending on the situation, government can awn property but community cma maintain it. • Why doer the county have to own the land? Can't it lease the Land.for $I year and use money it would have used to bu~~ it to manage and maintain what it already has? • Cultivate relationships with local non-profits, such as Oceamiew community in ardor to encourage them to care for their regional parks and open spaces. • Visitor industry driver this economy. Keep the beaches fee free and do not take more away from the locals. Once you label something a count) park, ]lability and public facilities standards become enorrrwus issues. Major Land owners will consider liability a huge issue to deal with and the county should be ready to provide some concessions/sotutions. • What is the liability of the county if something happens to somebody on a property owned by the counh~l • How would you avoid the procurement/union problems if part of this is to upgrade current parks? • Protection of land is a strong emotion, but upholding the maintenance of the land spiritually and physically is not so popular. An endowment.fbr the maintenance liability issues should be set up per acquisition. • More than SO% of Big [slnnd land is already in public hands, either state, federal, or county, and are unutihzed. Puna-Maunakea etc. are in disrepair. We can't even take care of what we have right now. Needs that are unmet are f""are protection, etc. and other infrastructure. Where would the monei~ come from to develop land that is acquired? (Council/Staff • The county has a lot more than it can maintain right now. The easy part is to acquire the property, but the hard and e.epensive part is to maintain it and bear the liability. (3X) • Local county park prograrnr are great and people are trying very hard to keep up with maintenance. ICs too bad some few bcul people destroy things and deface things. • I have no problem paying $3 to go to a county park for safety cleanliness. What about setting up parks like that to increase operational budgets? The money should help. • Toilets are clean, lawns' are mowed, but facilities are run-down. • We all come and go. l don'[ care about who the stewards are of those lands. This is about bringing people together to work fir the common good. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 43 • Perks department is never involved in these discussions about acquiring properties. Why not, when they7e the ones to have to deal with it afterwards? • If the land is bought by the county, it should be controlled by the county. • Check out the pos.ribiliry of using easements and friendly condemnation first, so that maintenance/liability issues can be avoided. • !t could be desirable that land should be owned by the counn~, and anon-profet should be responsible for maintenance and liability, but each situation is different. 2. Management structure of the conservancy and its projects: • /n each community, there are land trusts, You should work with these organizations within their geographic areas. Thev are already rooted in the commwzity. The conservancy could be a liaison. (I8X) • The right persons would be required to be involved in leadership. (lSX) • The conservancy needs to get started with county help. h can't just materialize by itself (10X) • The issue of open space/park space acquisition and park maintenance/upgrades are very different and they should not be joined. Just stick to acquisitions. (6X) • It could be better if the boundaries of the six soil water consen~ation districts guide the.farmation of groups that are dedicated to the care of open spaces in those regions. Land acquisition priorities in each district should be set regionally, not by a group that predominantly lives in one of the regions. • It's not wise to create n whole bunch of new land trusts. It'.r possible to work with one organization with board members that come from all areas. However, it is possible to work with regional land trusts if the}''re already formed and enpable. (n the case of an area that bets nn land trusts, the major Hawaii Island Land Trust can take care of that area. If we're all under the same flag of saving precious [and, then we can't afford to be regional. We need to find our commonalities and not our differences. • The results of this effort should determine the mission of the organization. • This should be an initiative of the Big Island's community's leadership, not politically initiated. County should have the role of supporting the indeperulent conservancy°; it should not lead it. • Why can't the Counh~ work with existing organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, and appoint a representative to assist the organization with condemnation, etc. • Euch district should support the effort to take care of their own parks as volunteers or have a paid staff, alt run by a single, independent non-profit. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 44 • We're so regional, each of our regions believe they're unto themselves. The best solution is to have a good plan. • The community's interest in contributing to purchase pieces of property will probably be regional & where they live. Waimea, Kohala, Kona are affluent areas, and would contribute to their areas. But what about less afflaent areas thctd have valuable open spaces that need to he purchased? • I'm reluctant to support the formation of an entity that would have all the answers. How about a consortium of conservation groups and landowners and legislators wlw would bung together the array of al[ tools available and simply work together to make things happen, whether it be by zoning, legislation, or purchase. Ownership of properties if necessary could be divided and maintenance shared. • Hawaii ls[and Land Trust may be a perfect partner for the county to work with becaase it already exists. There would be no need to found a new organization, no start up time lag, no major infrastructure Investment. • This should be done with thoughtful balance so that a[1 segments of the community can be involved. • The community may mgt support a vague idea of starting a conservancy, but would support a passionately led project that x~as the product of a responsible, Legitimate organization. So once the conservancy is founded and it dues its work well, it would be nn its wa}. • Jw'isdiction issues will alwa}'s be present, i.e., what's the state's kuleana, county's kuleana? • Lt's not only a matter of getting the community educated and collecting money from the community. /t's specificalh important to involve Hawaiians in leadership. • The non-profet group t/urt's used for this partnering has to be regional. CovernmenYs role is to help identify the sites to acquire, although government can't force a community to do anything. • See Maui Coastal Larut Trust; it's a great model of what a land trctst should be doing. (Council/Staff • This conservancy needs to define itself ftrst: whether it will do maintenanceJupgrade of parks and/or acquisition of lands. I envision that it can he a tremendous catalyst for community betterment. • Each fundraising effort has to be specific project based. • The current land mists only work with acquisition, not maintenance. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 45 3. Work with landowners; try not to purchase lands: • Hawaii County should Lease Land from the State of Hawaii, derelnpers or land owners.for $1 in perpetuity. Landowners incentive: tax benefits. County should not buy kraut. Work with conservation easements. (/4X) • Landowners may not have m forfeit ownership if you can get kmdowners to retain the land in conservation for a tnx incentive nr other value. Induce the landowners to behave the way you want them to, rather than feel you herve to buv everything. (/3XJ • A more important thing to do rather than raise money to purchase property would be io enact legislation to assist Landowners to make agreements with government or other agency re: land conservation. Protection objectives can be accomplished with conservation easements rand other methods that would allow landowners to retain ownership and responsibilities that go with it. (10X) • A more important thing to do rather than raise money to purchase property would be to enact legislation to assist landowners to make agreements with government or other agency re: land conservation. Protection objectives can be accomplished with conservation easements and other methods that would allow landowners to retain ownership and responsibilities [ha[ go with i[. (lOX) • County could provide indemnification for private owners that public access can be provided. Also, tax incentive could be used to help landowners. Bp doing so, perhaps ownership can be retained, nuiintenance can be shared, but public access ohjectives atn be met. (SX) • Work with kmdowners to support them in hhing responsible landowners. If not, then condemn the property and purchase it,fair[y. (SX) • Land acquisition can be gotten.for free. Large landowners would be willing to give their lands, quid pro- quo, .for rights to develop property in another area. For example, if I gave 300 acres long the ocean, would the county nltow me to develop 50 2-acre lots elsewhere? Ur I could get water meter credits, etc. in exchange. l would gladly lose something somewhere to gain something elsewhere. • Laws have hurt manv landowners. Government doesn't take into consideration the needs of Landowners. • Public beaches are already owned by private people, and used by the public. It's under private ownership, with public access, s'o why do we need to purchase? Why are we trying to own everything? •Instead of buying land themseh~es, the County should give money to the eonservancy or existing non-profit mid let them acquire nnct maintain the land, or work out deals with the Landowners. • Bureaucracy constrnints may be frustrating for donors to the conservancy, Constraints such as union difficulties, legal problems, etc., in arranging an acquisition merv deter donors who may want to help by stewarding Land, or contributing [and, even. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 46 • Current land conservation tools and policies are not being utilized, e. g., zoning, planned use, open space, urban growth boundaries, etc. • I would rather see landowners empowered with public money to take care of their property so that the county wouldn't end up as stewards. This idea goes beyond the land easement idea-landowners should be paid to preserve the lnrul.for puhlic benefit. •Hawaii County should partner with a private non-profit to fund purchases that are necessary after trying to work with tandowners.first. Al( Hawaii County has to do is ask for permission of landowners to use their !and for $I u Year. Communlty can take over maintenance and Hawaii County can inspect. Q. Conservancy is the way to go; possible resources: Don't start a new department at the county for this because it's terribly expensive to do that, considering it takes (more than one person) to do one job there. (9XJ • How is this conservancy going to operate? Where is the nwney going m come}i-om to pay salaries and other costs? Volunteers cannot be relied upon to do this, so you have to hire prgfessional staff. (6X) • How can you depeml un the county to develop significant properties with two year terms? It has to be a community-based group leading this. • 1 don't trust the government to spend donated dollars. If the council can't figure out a landfill, how can they make decisions on significant places of the heart? It has to be an organization separate from the county focusing on larui acquisition. • This process is very important, and valuable. The resulting entity could be a good catalyst for getting the community to be juiced up for the common cause. Further, it could connect up with local land trusts that could handle acquisitions and maintenance of properties, depending on the circumstances. • l can see this entity as a catalyst for making things happen when the priorities of county government regarding conservation become clear. • This is a good opportunity to collaborate and partner with other govenzment agencies for the purchase/acquisition ofopen space. • If sites are particularly important, let the people buy it with their own fiords and actii~ate the community to help do it. • Other than a few rare leaders on the council, most of them are really not high quality'. We can't complain because a lot of the community do not vote and 1 wouldn't want an elected official's job. But al[ this to sail community should lead this effort, not the council, toward acquiring open space and new park lands. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 47 • This effort could bec ome u model for conservancies across the country. • The county can do condemnation and purchases (not more than appraised value) now. The advantage is to depoliticize the process somewhat with the conservancy. The conservancy should u.ce the opportunity to communicate with the community and landowners'. • Making sure that all areas of the defeated 270 measure is considered is a good role for the consen~anc~y. • People are skeptical about gluing money to government purposes, so n private organization focusing on these matters is good. • Federal Department of Agriculture would support soil and water conservation districts. This is a good resource for the conservancy. • Baby boomer newcomers should be involved in the mix of prospective donors. • Get The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Hawaii Lsland Palm Socieh~ and Friends of the Zoo lists for the Big Island. Use as prospect hale for conservancy membership. (Council/Staff • There's a big disconnect between people and government. We need to get back into the community and make it the people's land and parks again in their own minds. The conservancy could be the catalyst to initiate this dynamic. (3X) • We're Late to think of a conservancy by about 40 years. The county has not done a good job with leveraging county funds with other major resources such as government funding and private support. • Money that 's given to the rounty disappears and the county is not likely to be good stewards. Therefore, it'.r good to get this out pf the county process. Privately the volunteer group or conservancy would be able to raise more nwnev and develop the relationships necessary ut acquire key properties. The role of county government. help this work through the planning process, not through purchase. 5. Hawaii County CharterAmendment Bill 270; excessive taxation; use of taxes: • Educate the community re. the 2%a again. Try to revise this-allocate a set percentage and parameters for debt service, to bond issues. A certain percentage should be set aside fitr maintenance of acquired lands. (3X) • We're paying tax money but we still get very little back for the taxes we pay. Our facilities are lacking. (2X) • There's too many watershed restrictions as is. We need to ease up on those aggressive measures that were created many years ago. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 48 • The best vehicle to obtain open space is referendum for voters and.float bonds. If you put money nside for this, just make sure that you can make it flexible so thnt it couldn't be able to tie the hands of our people in government during hard tunes. • What if you distinguish between property taxer from 2nd and 3rd home owners only and put 2% of these monies into the fund."' • At the time, I was disappointed that 270 failed. But now 7 realise that it's wiser to take our time to come up with Long lasting solutions. • !was very unhappy that 270 failed. !s it still possible that a regularly funded aceount,for open space be put inw place? It's not possihle to be successful at preserving open space when it's been developed. • If the county were to be mare prudent with the tax dollars, they'd be able to afford to do more things. • Very little of the county budget is dlscretionarv. They need to be careful how they spend it. • Re: 270, 2°Jo is a significant part of our budget when considered in a recession. (Council/Staff • The State responsibility is to protect culturally/historically important areas, and County should not have to do this (3X) • !wish ]knew the division between state and county re.• responsibility of who does what with colt ervation. Then I wouldn't put the conservanc_1~'s money toward what is already being done. 6. Kudos to this process: • This isn't about parks-it's ahout an administration reaching out to thz community to work together. The end result i.r a more cohesive, positive environment,for al[. (9X) • !give Fred credit. He was asking the hard questions. This is an impressive effort that shows surprising goodwill on the part of government (8XJ • It's wonderful that this process has started. Kudos to Fred, the council and Mayor Kim. (6X) • Thank you for looking for properties that are important to the community with other methods besides taxing us by law. (SX) • 1 think the Council was very correct In doing what they did re: Bill 270. Lt didn't pass for very good reasons. We struggled to thoroughly examine this prior to supporting it publicly. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 49 Dur relationship to the land and ocean is our h f e blood Either government ~a~ raise taxes to protest ghat cif e blood or it ray partner tivith organisations and work like this together f or the solution, • This process takes n huge step forward in determining what to do with Big Island's gigantic land mass and small,fenanee base. 7. Active parrs; core Hawaii County services: • The count}~'s kuleana doesn't include conservation of special lands. They need to stick to core competencies. (12X) • It's important for council members to spend our dollars on Bond core services. Raising private dollars should be a last resort. • Many large communities in this island don't hove enough developed parks. • Active parks should have priority. Should be focus of county, especially in Kau where there is a growing latch key population. • Mayor likes to do what's right but it may not be a core competency for the county. • Core role for County-active parks. • The county should already be spending our money on certain core things like making sure our healtWsafety is paramount, and safe water supply. We shouldn't have to worry about raising private sector money for those arms. • Land to be acquired that can be actively used by the public will be limited. • Hawaii County is not providing enough active parks and the parks that we do have are generetlly not good. Kona has only 2 gyrns.t 8. Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Department: • There's ahead}' a program in Counh~ Parks Department called Friends of the Park. Lt's something that should be enhnrtced. In the past, the program seemed to be better. (21X) • The wrong people are in charge of building relationships with comrnuniry groups to help take care of parks (SX) • Pat Englehard is great. She has been very cooperative. • Administrators of the parks department do not seem to be very "hands-on." •There appears to be bureaucracy issues in the parks department. (Council/Staff • There is some conflict hetween public works and parks. Should parks have their own project management section? Waiting for public works Io get to procuring contracts causes delays. • Some county administrators scty "no can" more than come up ti~ith solutions. My concern is how this will he affected by county sluggishness to change. • County Parks system do not function. What we need is a full time person at each park, and the overall maintenance would be much better. 9. Follow-up; don't drop the ball: • The Council's job is to fadlitate, legislate and revisit this so that we follow through with the development of this partnership. ~ l l X) • The thing we always. fail to do is to follow up. Communicate with the community about what the conservancy is about, what its successes are, after doing a project and in the midst of it. • What happens when this report is received? Whds going to make sure something like a conservancy results from it? • We don't know who's going to be on the council. they're only there for 2 years. Mayor's not going to be there. What will happen when the council changes? Will there he ar much interest in seeing this through? 10. Open Space, Public Access and Natural Resources Preservation Commission • Why doesn't the County ask their communities what they can do to help? We don't need a commission to tell the County what we already know. There are groups all aver who know their regions best. Are these commissioners going to talk to them? • Ken Kaneshiro is a great person to have on the list of commissioners. • The commissions recently put together should come up with paranaeters,for preservation and distribute to local organizations. Let local organizations decide where to preserve. Government should help the groups along as long as it doesn't cost the government anything. • The commission that wa.r recently selected naturally creates n sense of competition between districts. Thi.c is informative but difficult to avoid. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 51 11. It would cost billions • 2% of the property tax base would nat be enough to buy all the precious places we want to save. It would literally cost billions. (]IX) • County or conservancy should avoid buying land. It will amomat to billions of dollars, and will require massive maintenance budgets and will result in huge liability issues. (10X) 1 can't see how it's possible m raise 1OOs of millions of dollars to keep purchasing these expensive beach fronts, etc. maybe they should just do beach access. 12. Community Development Plan • How does this coincide with the cammunity development plan (2X) • Pm behind this to the degree that this group can partner with the community development plan, because it's logical for the entity to help implement the plan. 13. Suggestions: • County needs to be committed first when it comes to putting money down for a project. And community needs to not lose the resources that the county could have allocated if the community comes.forward with money. (8X) • A strong public relations program will be very importantjor the success of this effort. Other wnys of communicating will need to be employed, not only mail and phone and email. (2X) • We need to map the flood zones on the Big Lrland. • Pick a small project ferst. !f we can show success, people will come m understand and support and believe in the conservancy. • As long as you leave it to the political environment, you will bare a potpourri of acquisitions with no rhyme or reason. !f you can come up with a policy that guides the process of acquisition, it would be workable. • How do we make it so our public can enjoy the natural island? The more that can happen the more they'll support this effort. • The kamaaina groups who remember special places could be big supporters of this conservancy. The other group would be newcomers wha want to make sure Hawaii County stays the way it war when they decided to come here. • Challenge grants are a great mechanism for creating excitement In a community during a campnign. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 52 • Build an endowment for the perpetual care of properties or charge $3 for each vehicle/person who goes there. • Better facilities/properties will end up in richer communities. Therefore a portion of every contribution should be kept for general maintenance of current parks and future parks land acquisition. • Be clear about whnt the conservancy rill be accomplishing. It needs to be clear what EXACTLY the money will be used for. Ynta should not be doing what the government should he doing in the first place. Money shouldn't be used as a means of paying for county shortfalls. • There's a perception that County doesn't manage things properly. Ynu need to start with visible projects that show positive results to gain conununity support. • Educate the community re; partnering with government. • Start small and ask the community for a small percentage of the amount of purchase. Float bonds and get community to give the small balance. • First, survey the lands that we {wive, find out how to they fat in those areas of interest, and go from there. • I would want the county to have the final say re: what the community should be doing about park !and acquisition because the county knows what's best regarding planning/r ommunity development. (Council/StafQ • Mnp flood zones to figure out who to solicit for easements. Facility mapping should be done re: roadways, sewer lines, water lines, public utility lines, pipelines so Hawaii County will know exactly what it can use. • A steady stream of money is necessary for a certain period of tune (.3-4 years) to start a new program like this. • Each fundraising effort has to be specifiatlly project based. • The theme of this entire project .rhouid be "For the Sake of the Children." We should have as our focus 50- /00 years ahead. Our vision should be from this perspective. • The Kohanaiki project is a good example as to how these arrangements should be made. It's one of the best examples of this type of agreement. • Utilize Na Leo to inform community of current conservancy efforts. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 53 14. Observations of social structure; good projects to come; miscellaneous: • There will always 6r social needs but the land won't Last and it's urgetu to take care of this now. (2X) •Are we really that short of open space? If we divide the amount of land we have by the amount of people in the county, we'd have a tremendous ratio. (2X) • The property values on this island are nut of the realm of the normal person. This leads to an imbalance in the social structure. Therefore public access to places for people is critical. Gates are going up, and that's really sad. • A great project would be to set up an ATV park Lease land from landowners, Let community build the park, care for it. This could be a great project for the conservancy. • DLNR just approved the [ease of public lands at Kealakehe to a private developer; community is appalled. • The council should come out and recognize what our communities have done to better themselves. • Organizations like the Nature Conservancy keeps the communiq~ away from very special lands. Such arrangements are not good for those of u.r who have been accustomed to freely traveling along trails and areas. • Working with large landowners will be easy re: obtaining conservation easements. But smaller Landowners who have under 50 acres, and thc~~ don't want to part with their land, will be di~cult. Oceanside conservation efforts will be popular but mountainside efforts H~on't be very inspiring. A lot of people won't care too much about mountain access. • Community spirit is strong in some communities. But not strong in others. Therefore you may end up without community support to maintain purchased areas in some regions. • We want to be the captain of our ship. We want to determine where we go as a society. We are altogether too dependent on government and we would be powerful if we realize that we are the masters of our destiny. • Some newcomers are wealthy, some are not. d'm not sure l can speak for local people, but they don't speak up. Local people are not verbal and are not listened to or asked but it doesn't mean they shouldn't have a say. • The whole community needs In participate in nrganization/lendership and giving. People who are not consulted and not involved become lethargic and apathetEc. • Take care of the Land and it will take care of you. These values are still alive in Hawaii. Land has meaning for us here. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 54 • What did Oahu dn? • A group of people once tried to preserve Pu Waa Wcui and after a lot o(effort, the attempt to acquire it failed. • Developers who nren't here for the long term are not going to willingly give to our acquisition projects. They want to maximize their profits and minimize their expenses. They want to get out of here. • Inventory what lands the county has. Why are we selling land in Hamakua if we're trying to preserve open space? • [honestly don't believe this is possible but if it did L would he so happy. (Council/Staff) • Honolii is fantastic example as are Bayfront and Milolii, of how government and community can work together for successful outcomes. People feel guilty when thec see what 2 guys (Skibbs and Waggy) could do oti~er there at Kuhio. • Mau u Mae (White Sand Beach) would be a great place to same for public use. Zoned RS-2Q it's better than Kohanaiki. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 55 VL RECOMMENDATIONS A. INFRASTRUCTURE 1. Give responsibility to one Hawaii County Department, preferably Research and Development, to expedite and facilitate community leader discussions on conservancy development in a possible steering committee format Create deadlines for the completion of discussions. Issues to discuss include form, mission, function and leadership oC this organization, whether brand new or existing. Stay in touch with all volunteers throughout the process, being sure to create a record of all discussions. 2. Create system to track donors and donations to all Hawaii County departments. Report all contributions and contributors (who allow publication of their identities) to the community via annual report, newsletter and other public forums. 3. Train key employees in Parks and Recreation Department re: working with volunteers, public relations and basic fundraising theory/systems. The following recommendations relate to the eventual group that forms as a result of Hawaii County facilitation and community action: 4. Eventually, create an integrated development plan with specific dollar goals per giving program for the support of the new or ongoing non-profit. The annual giving program could include the following programs for the support of operations: a. A direct mail program to acquire the organization's annual "memberships:' b. An annual benefit event to further acquire prospective memberships and create community awareness. c. A major/special gift program to develop restricted or unrestricted program support from likely major donors. d. A grantsmanship program which will pursue opportunities from government and private foundation sources. 5. Create a gift tracking system within this organization to evaluate. gifts of services or cash from sources (foundations, corporations, individuals, board members, employees, other revenue sources, etc.), average rate of return, average gift size, renewal status and cost per dollar raised per giving program. Computerize all donor records to include complete information: a. cumulative gift record including date, purpose and amount of gifts b. full name, address, phone, fax, employer name, business type c. last contact and comments by date, invitations to events, cultivation level © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 56 6. Create additional fields in the donor accounting system which would note personal information about the donor or volunteer such as birthday, anniversary, favorite restaurant, favored areas of the organization to support (park maintenance vs. land acquisition), etc., and include an open field to note comments about the status of gift cultivation per donor/prospect. 7. Create a formal volunteer identification, recruiting and training program to locate individuals and groups for regional park maintenance Casks or other projects. The program should encompass: a. a volunteer recognition system which will formally thank all volunteers annually at a special dinner or other occasion. All volunteers will need to be properly identified and able to be tracked by mail or phone. b. identification of skills so that individuals may be called in as necessary for special tasks such as physical labor, office support, special events, moving, etc. c. a search for groups of seniors or service groups such as the region's Church members, Kiwanis, Lions, environmental clubs, women's groups, etc., which would be asked to "adopP' particular parks/parcels for a limited time, in order to gain long-standing, dependable, supportive, auxiliary relationships. 8. Create a systemized donor recognition program. Some sample gift acceptance and recognition policies are included in this report. Make certain individuals and corporations who provide in-kind support are consistently recognized according to the value of service/goods provided. 9. Gift amounts must be stated in acknowledgement letters. Letters must be produced within 48 hours after receipt of the gift. 10. Deposits of checks/cash must be made daily. 11. Accumulate copies of all incorporation information, IRS determination, 990 and other collateral and make these materials easily available to the general public in the reception area of the administration office. 12. Eventually, the organization must hire appropriate staff such as a director of development and public relations to conduct fund developmenUmarketing programs throughout the year. 13. Create Case Statement. Utilize as the organization's "one voice" regarding immediate and future goals/objectives. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 57 14. Create public relations plan to coordinate with the school's long range and funding plans, establish measurable communication/understanding objectives, implement using sound, ethical communication vehicles as tools. Evaluate annually. Most immediately, include the objective of introducing the board members to [he community by creating opportunities for various members to speak/be quoted on behalf of the organization and publicize its successes. 15. Communicate with all Hawaii County staff and Counci] re: status of the organization's development and planning. Share organization's case statement with Hawaii County family. 16. Assemble an up-w-date, specialized media list [o include phone numbers of beat reporters, addresses, preferred method of contact and most appropriate time to contact per reporter. 17. Train al] staff re: procedures to deal with calls/visits from media. 18. Create an emergency public relations plan. 19. Create a "donor friendly" atmosphere, beginning in the office, where philanthropic collateral is made readily available and the mission of the organization is apparent. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 5$ VII. SAMPLE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES A. SECURITY, RECOGNITION AND ACCEPTANCE POL[CIES SECURITY I .All gifts, whether cash or pledge or in-kind, must be posted on a daily basis and deposited before the end of the banking day. While awaiting deposiC, these gifts shall remain in a locked safe or other adequately secured receptacle. 2. Check and balance system will be employed at all times in the receipt of donations. Two employees will be involved in the process of opening mail and depositing checks. Employee who opens mail and posts gifts will not be the same employee who deposits checks and closes books at end of the day. RECOGNITION 1. All gifts to , no minimum size and from whatever source in addition to annual membership dues will be acknowledged separately by a thank you letter signed by the executive director. Letters for gifts in full or pledged over 51,000 shall be signed by the president. Acknowledgment letters will be mailed no later than 48 hours after receipt of the gift. 2. All members and contributors' names shall be displayed in annual reports for that year. All new contributors shall be displayed in agency newsletters for that period's issue. Passive permission for this display shall be granted to through agreement of a statement to be printed in 's thank you correspondence. 3. Top 10 percent annual members and contributors will belong to the school's Major Gifts program and will be personally solicited for major upgraded gifts annually via volunteers and not included in annual mailings for renewal. 4. Top 10 percent contributors will be personally invited by _ 's president to an annual donor recognition program [annual meeting) to receive certificates of appreciation. 5. Top organization volunteer leadership will be invited to this program and to other special events which are presented by ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 59 6. The following table indicates levels of annual/capital fund recognition in addition to membership dues. (Names of the categories should be developed for annual funds, and a different set of names for capital campaigns.) Category 1 $25Q,OOO and over 2 100,000-249,999 3 50,000- 99,999 4 25,000- 49,999 5 15,000- 24,999 6 10,000- 14,999 7 5,000- 9,999 8 3,000- 4,999 9 1,000- 2,999 10 500-999 I 1 250- 499 12 100-249 13 50-99 14 25-49 ]5 01-24 7. Al] donors and members, whether corporate, individual or organization, will receive 's annual report, and an invitation to the annual meeting at which major donors and volunteers and new board shall be recognized. 8. Category 9 and above will have [he above plus a certificate of appreciation presented at the annual meeting. 9. Category 7 and above will have the above, and a personal phone call by president or executive director to thank the donor for the gift For capital gifts, permanent recognition in the appropriate place on a publicly viewable area will be provided. Annual donors will be listed annually at an appropriate place in the organization's offices or other public area. 10. Category 6 and above will have the above, and will receive personal invitations to special presentations. 1 1. Category 4 donors will enjoy all the above benefits plus the opportunity to share a "visioning" event with organization directors. As years go by, the donors may tour establishments of partner facilities such as neighboring businesses or other sites. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 6O 12. Category 3 donors, besides all benefits above, will be allowed to schedule one speaking engagement with the available organization special speaker (speaker bureau) of their choice each year for five years. Expenses for travel are not included. ]3. In addition to all the benefits listed above, donors in Category 2 will be honored with [he opportunity to name an appropriate segment of a park or open space. Commemoration opportunities will be offered in specific with approval by Hawaii Council members. 14. In addition to all the benefits listed above, donors in Category 1 and above will receive a special memento engraved with Cheir name, presented at the annual membership meeting. 15. Full recognition of a gift shall be made whether annual gifts are made in full or pledged over the course of the year, or in the case of a capital gift, spread over a maximum five years. 16. Donors who contribute the entire annual budget of an operational program of their choice will tagline that program's name for the year. 17. If the irrevocable gift of any restricted contribution is sufficient to perpetually endow a program or service, that program or service shall be named in perpetuity after the donor's preference. If the organization prefers to discontinue that program for whatever reason in the future, it will inform the donor/donor representative of this decision and provide program funding alternatives in similar areas/value. ACCEPTANCE * L Cash gifts shall be discouraged in direct mail projects and personal solicitation situations at all times. Cash gifts received through the mail shall be recorded and secm~ed immediately. *2. Gifts offered which are questionable regarding charitable intent or appropriateness shall first be reviewed by the fund raising committee prior to official acceptance and graciously refused if' necessary. *3. Gifts offered with Yinancial or other obligations inherent in them shall be reviewed by the fund raising committee prior to official acceptance and graciously refused if necessary. *4. Gifts of property, stock or other securities shall be accepted only through consensus of the fund development comrnittee after responsible study. Stock gifts and other securities shall be immediately sold. Gifts of propercy may be disposed of as well. Disposal of gifts of properties will be treated on a case by case basis. ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 61 *5. Gifts with conditions attached shall be reviewed by the fund raising committee prior to acceptance and may be graciously refused if necessary. *6. Gifts other than cash or check shall be recorded by description only for purposes of acknowledgment. Current mazket value or estimate thereof for office purposes only shall be inserted in files. No appraisal of such gifts shall be made by the organization. **7. In accepting all donations, the organization will insure that: a. All donors will be regularly informed of the mission of this organization, of the way this organization intends to use donated resources and of its capacity to use donations effectively for stated purposes. b. All donors will be regulazly informed of the identity of those who serve on the board, and may expect that the board will exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship of donations. c. All donors will have access to the organization's most recent financial statements. d. All donors will have the assurance that their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given. e. All donors will receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition. f. All donors will be assured that information about their donations will be handled with respect and with confidentiality to the, extent provided by law. g. All donors may expect that relationships with employees and volunteers of the organization will be professional in nature. h. All donors will be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors. i. All donors have the right [o have their names deleted from the mailing list upon request. j. All donors should feel free to ask questions when making a donations and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers. 8. Prior to creating a solicitation situation which will result in [he acceptance of community support, annual special events and direct mail projects need to be approved by the development or fund raising committee in light of the event or project's value and appropriateness, with regard to the organization's mission, goals and objectives. *Acceptance policies adopted from Council of Better Business Bureau **Donors' Bill of Rights developed by American Association of Pund Raising Counsel, Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, Conncil for Advancement and Support of Education and the Association of Fundraising Professionals © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 62 VIII. APPENDICES A. CONVERSATION GUIDE Hawaii County Confidential Leadership Imerview Community Staff Council Name Firs[ M. L Las[ Professional position__ _ Business affiliation Business address Business telephone Fax (interviewer, explain imerview's ground rules.) 1. What is your general opinion of Hawaii County parks and facilities'! A. Excellent Good Fair Poor D.K. 2. What are your suggestions as to the need for other programs or services that the Parks and Recreation Department could provide? 3. Were you aware oC how the county funds its programs and facilities? Yes_ No Q{ no, explaiu appropriations, possible community support, overall operational budget) (operations vs capital) 4. (Interviewer: summarize case.) Do you feel a cotmunity-led organization especially formed W support the upgrade of Hawaii County parks and the acquisition of added park lands and open space is desirable? Yes__ No_ 5. If you don't feel the organization is necessary, what are your criticisms'? © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 63 6. Do you feel, given the current public attitude toward such issues, that the community would privately support, both financially and with voluntezr services, a community effort to supplement Hawaii County parks appropriations and the purchase of added park lands and open space? Yes No Maybe 7. IC you had a personal, after-tax budget of $10 per EACH of the items listed below, how much would you spend per item? 1. acyuisition of lands for public outdoor recreation and education, including access to beaches and mountains: 2. preservation of historic or culturally important land areas and sites: 3. protection of significant habitats or ecosystems, including buffer zones: 4. preservation of forests, beaches, coastal areas and agricultural lands: 5. protection of watershed lands to preserve water quality and water supply: 6. conservation of land in order to reduce erosion, floods, landslides and runoff: 7. improving disabled and public access to and enjoyment of public land and open space: 8. acquiring disabled and public access to public land and open space: 9. preservation of traditional recreational activities, including hunting and fishing: 8. Would the community support capital prujects', for example, the acquisition of a parcel like Honl's that would result in perpetual preservation and public access? Yes _ No Maybe _ 9. Would the community have supported a capital drive for approximately $2.5 million for this purpose or one similar to if? Yes No Maybe 9a. If no, what amount do you feel could be raised for such a project? (Interviewer. Share Standards of Philanthropic Investments. Explain the scale.) ]0. For this capital goal example, is it possible to obtain the lead gift of this drive from an individual, corporation or foundation (Possible to pledge over period of years)? Yes No Dodtknow 10a. If yes, from whom could we expect this type of gift? A. B. C. D. E. © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 64 IOb. Which 10 individuals, corporations or foundations do you feel would provide the next 10 gifts? (Interviewer. Let subject know it is possible to pledge. Write suspected gift level down beside each name provided) A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. I I. Would you consider assisting with this organization in some capacity'? Yes No _ Maybe If yes: a. General Volunteer, non-fundraising b. Fundraising Volunteer c. Other 12. If asked by a person you trust, would you consider contributing a personal or corporate philanthropic gift toward the acquisition of a parcel such as Honl's or other property that was important [o you [o preserve? Yes _ No Maybe (Interviewer: If no, skip to #14 after recording comments) Whether yes, no or maybe, subject's comments: 13. Would you/your Lrm make a gift on an One time basis? _ Pledge: _ years? Other: 13a. If yes, approximately how much'? $ © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, INC. 65 14. Who do you suggest would be important leaders to involve in [his effort'? A. B. C. D. E. I5. If asked, would you consider supporting this organization with apersonal/corporate (circle which one) philanthropic gift toward the annual support (maintenance and enhancement) of Hawaii County parks? Yes No Maybe 16. Are there any points not covered in this interview that you would like to discuss, or any general comments, sugges- tions or questions? ©2005 SOLID CONCEPTS. INC. 66 B. LIST OF INTERVIEWEES COMMUNITY Lindsay, Dan STAFF Anderson, David Mallick, Monica Applegate, George Armin, Frank McMillan, Stephen Englehard, Patricia G. Aronson, Sue Melrose, Jeffrey Kim, Harry Barton, Lisa Melrose, Kenneth M. Komata, James Bennett, Ph.D., Richard H. Mooers, Greg Leithead-Todd, BJ Bergin, DVM, Billy Mortemore, Dick Takaba, William Carlson, Jr., Carl O'Neill, Susan Case, Ed Pacheco, Rob Colombo, Anthony Ray, John COUNCIL Correa, Jr., Henry Salisbury, Carol Arakaki, James Cross, John C. Shallenberger, Ph.D., Robert Higa, Stacy Dixon, Ted E. Simmons, Peter D. Hoffman, Pete Dorrance, Jr., Bennett Smith, P.F., Riley Holschuh, Fred Fujimoto, Robert M. Stanbro, Joshua W. Isbell, Virginia Hannahs, Neil, J.K. Sutton, Terra Pilago, Ange] Hemmer, Helen Taniguchi, Art Hendricks, Pete Taniguchi, Barry K. Inouye, Dan K. (Jennifer Sabas) Tyler, III, Curtis Kaneshiro, Kenneth Vitousek, Sharon Keliipio, .iosephine Whittemore, Thomas P. Kobayashi, Bert A. Yamashiro, Stephen © 2005 SOLID CONCEPTS, {NC. 67 C. HAWAII COUNTY DONOR LIST (FY 2000-2005) Charitable Donations to Parks and Recreation Department (Fiscal Years 2000-2005) FY 2000-O1 (JULY 1, 2000 -JUNE 30, 2001) Communication/ Date of Comm. Donor Description of Value of Gift Resolution No. or Resolution Name/Org. Gift (Est. Value) Comm. 831 7-6-00 Drs. Holly and William J. Catalina Macaw $2,500 Res. 274-00 Priestley 2. Comm. 832 7-6-00 Hercules J. Fontes (2) Eclectus Parrots $1,000 Res.27~-00 3. Comm. 833 7-6-00 Ted and Laurel Young Red-Masked Conure $240 Res. 276-00 4. Comm. 834 7-6-00 Robert K. Washburn Catalina Macaw $7,500 Res. 277-00 5. Comm. 835 7-6-00 Andrew Urasaki (2) Holland Lop Rabbits $134 Res. 278-00 (Stacey's Pets) (3) Guinea Pigs 6. Comm. 782 7-6-00 Henry B. Clark Jr. (8) Acres Real Property $182,300 Res. 259-00 7. Comm. 844 7-25-00 Hawaii Island Japanese "Ojizosama" Statue $1,500 Res. 281-00 Comm. Assoc. 8. Comm. 890 9-6-00 Japanese Chamber of Carpet $1,696 Res. 313-00 Commerce and Industry of Hawaii 9. Comm. 909 9-6-00 Mari-jo Allen Miniature Horse $2,500 Res. 3 ] 8-00 10. Comm. 952 10-17-00 Mrs. Sally Morikawa Park Bench $300 I I. Comm. 113 2-21-01 Friends of Pana'ewa Zoo Dart Frogs and $15,690 Res. 48-01 other materials 12. Comm. 117 2-21-01 Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd Aluminum Bleachers 54,000 Res. 50-01 13. Comm. 182 4-17-01 Ms. Jessica Osborn ExerciseTreudmill $7110 Res. 7 ] -01 14. Comm. 240 6-19-01 Hawaii Lifeguard Assoc. (I6)RescueTubes $3,084.05 Res. 89-01 (7) Rescue Boards I5. Comm. 242 6-I9-01 Lions Club of Kona (30) Picnic Tables S2,400 Res. 91-0] 16. Comm. 241 6-29-01 Kamehameha Schools $50 (cash) $50 Total estimated value of donations to Parks and Recreations Department FY 2000-O1 = $219,594.05 68 FY 2001-02 (JULY 1, 2001 -JUNE 30, 2002) Communication/ Date of Comm. Donor Description of Value of Gift Resolution No. or Resolution NamelOrg. Gift (Est. Value) 1. Comm. 273 A-1-O1 Pana'ewa Hawaiian $1,200 (cash) $1,200 Res. 100-01 Home Lands Community Assoc. 2. Comm. 322 9-11-01 Pio'pio Bears Athletic Portable Basketball $]40 Res. 119-01 Assoc. Backboard 3. Comm. 326 9-I I-01 Big Island Table Tennis (4) Ping Pong $1,600 Res. 121-01 Assoc. Tables 4. Comm. 350 9-26-O1 Korean American Girl $400 (cash) $400 Res. 129-01 Scouts Friendship Camp 5. Comm. 381 10-23-0] Big Island Interscholastic Handicap Accessible $456.30 Res. 135-01 Federation Water Cooler 6. Comm. 382 ]0-23-01 Estate oC Jack C. Puller Minivan $25,000 Res. 136-01 7. Comm. 383 ]0-23-O1 The Kuki'o Resorts $3,000 (cash) $3,000 Res. ]37-01 8. Comm. 384 10-23-01 Mr. Tyler Peterson (3) Pheasants $735 Res. 138-01 9. Comm. 454 1-$-02 Big Island Interscholastic Portable Volleyball $3,9{4.30 Res. 1 Sfr-0I Federation Stand l0. Comm. 455 I-8-02 Friends of the Zoo (1) Male Steer $3,000 Res. 157-O1 11. Comm. 456 I-8-02 Shudokan Judo Club Tatami Mats $20,000 Res. 158-0] ]2. Comm. 467 1-8-02 Mr. Wayne Yamada $78 (cash) $78 Res. 162-02 and Friends 13. Comm. 484 1-23-02 Mr. Ross Miyose Tortoise $]00 Res. 166-02 14. Comm. 512 2-20-02 LehuaJaycees $50 (cash) $50 Wainaku-Kaiwiki Electric Stove/ $1,017.68 Community Assoc. Kitchen Supplies 15. Comm. 561 4-2-02 Ed Fukuda $50 (cash) $50 (Kandi's Drive Inn) 16. Comm. 583 4-I6-02 Potlucker's Golf Club $232 (cash) 5232 17. Comm. 584 416-02 Mr. Jack Armstrong Various Tropical $14,100 Res. 195-02 Ms. Sherrie Moore Birds and Enclosures 18. Comm 640 6-402 Various Individuals, $10,000 (cash) $10,000 Res. 216-02 Businesses and Orgs. Total estimated value of donations to Parks and Recreations Department FY 2001-02 = $84,473.28 69 FY 2002.03 (JULY 1, 2002 -JUNE 30, 2003) Communication/ llate of Comm. Donor Description of Value of Gift Resolution No. or Resolution Name/Org. Gift (Est. Value) 1. Comm. 707 8-13-02 Friends of the Zoo Two-Toed Sloth $4,200 2. Comm. 716 9-10-02 Hilo Rotary Club/ Concrete Slab and $24,350 Res. 230-02 AYSO Portable Tent Shelter 3. Comm. 738 9-24-02 Honomu Village Assoc. (2) Picnic Tables $400 4. Comm. 739 9-24-02 Hawaii Electric Light Various Lighting $12,500 Res. 241-02 Company Materials 5. Comm. 779 l 1-7-02 Mr. HirQShi Tagami Amorphophallus $500 Titanum (Flower) 6. Comm. 809 11-19-02 Na'alehu Main Street (4) Computers $1,400 7. Comm. 222 5-b 03 Mc Alan Martins (10) Gallons Paint $180 The Kamehameha Schools $25 (cash) $25 Wal-Mart (Hilo) $30 (cash) $30 8. Comm. 253 6-3-03 Ms. Sadame Watanabe Karaoke System $1,135 Res. 77-03 9. Comm. 263 6-17-03 The Kamehameha Schools $500 (cash) $500 Total estimated value of donations to Parks and Recreations Department FY 2002-03 = $45,220 FY 2003-04 (JULY 1, 2003 -NNE 3Q 2004) Communication/ Date of Comm. Donor Description of Value of Gift Resolution No. or Resolution Name/Org. Gift (Est. Value) I. Comm. 269 7-1-03 K-Mart Corporation 19" TV/VCR Unknown 2. Comm. 276 7-22-03 Friends of the Zoo Primadome $53,045 Res. 85-03 (Primate Enclosure) 3. Comm. 31 I 8-19-03 K-Mutt Corporation 13" TVNCR $126 4. Comm. 308 I 1-18-03 Friends of the Zoo Washer and Dryer $600 5. Res. 130-03 12-2-03 Friends of Wai`ohinu Keiki Playground $17,868.64 Park Equipment 6. Comm. 445 1-6-04 The Nakahara Fatuity (2) Basketball $1,518 Res. 141-04 Backboards 7. Comm. 499 2-18-04 American Heart Assoc. (2) Zoil AED's 54,400 Res. 155-04 of Hawaii (Defibrillators) 8. Comm. 575 4-19-04 Patrick and Patricia Milligan $25 (cash) $25 Ms. Ruth Ching $30 (cash) $30 9. Comm. 604 5-4-04 Mr. Edward Fnknda $50 (cash) $SO Mr. Itsu Kitamura $20 (cash) $20 Total estimated value of donations [o Parks and Recreations Dept. FY 2003-04 = $77,652.34* * Does not include (I) item of unknown valve 70 FY 2004-OS (JULY 2004 -JUNE 30, 2005) Communication/ Date of Comm. Donor llescription of Value of Gift Resolution No. or Resolution Name/Org. Gift (Est. Value) Comm. 659 7-7-04 Patrick and Patricia $50 (cash) 550 2. Comm. 660 7-7-04 The Neighborhood Place (40) Red Cross Guardstart Kits 52,400 Res. 200-04 of Kona's Pulama Project (1) Red Cross Leader's Kit (9) Surflife Surfrider Boards (6) Water Rescue Tubes 3. Comm. 718 8-17-04 The Bay Clinic $1,000 Grant Award $1,000 Res. 220-04 (Honoka`a Youth Camp) 4. Comm. 721 8-]7-04 Mr. Lawrence M.O. Chun (I) Defibrillator $1,200 Res. 222-04 5. Comm. 745 9-14-04 Mike and Sandy Kroll Dressage Arena $4,000 Res. 235-04 (Pana'ewa Equestrian Center) 6. Comm. 812 11-9-04 The Potlucker's Golf Club $643 (cash) $643 7. Comm. 855 1 ]-23-04 Hawaii Ballroom Dance Assn. (100) Metal Folding Chairs Unknown Mr. Steve Hoag 550 (cash) $50 8. Comm. 3] 12-20-04 Fraternal order of Eagles (Hilo) $25 (cash) $25.00 Basically Books (21 bike racks $200.00 (Ms. Christine Reed) Hilo Bay Hostel (2) bike racks $200.00 (Mr. Scott Owens) KTA Downtown (2) bike racks 5200.00 (Mr. Ron Sakoda) Abundant Life Natural Foods (Ms. Malulani Miki) (1) bike rack $150.00 Da Kine Bike Shop (])bike rack $150.00 9. Comm. 43 1-4-OS The Machado Acres Association $3,030.44 (cash) $3,030.44 (Park Construction) 10. Comm. 89 2-15-OS The Territorial Builders, INC. (I) Two-Man $12-15,000 Res. 39-OS Lifeguard Tower 11. Comm. 110 2-18-OS The Blue Tropix Restaurant (31 Squirrel Monkeys $7,000 and Nightclub 12. Comm. 136 3-IS-OS The Kona Dolphin's Swim (31 Awards Pedestals $1,500 13. Comm. 234 5-3-OS Various Individual Contributors $2,218 (cash) $2,218 Kandi's Drive Inn $100 (cash) $100 Mr. Wayne Fukunaga $100 (cash) $100 (Fukunaga Electrical) West Hawaii Intergroup $50 (cash) $50 W.H. Shipman $60 (cash) $60 Total estimated value of donations to Parks and Recreations Dept. FY 2004-05= $39,326.44* * Docs not include (I) item of unknown value Total estimated value of donations [o Parks and Recreations Department FY's 2000-OS = $466,296.11 71