Conservation Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation

The Challenge and the Opportunity:

Hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts serve as the backbone of the conservation movement. Their commitment and spending support a wide variety of environmental programs, leading to the protection of critical habitats and the restoration of damaged ecosystems. For more than 30 years, however, outdoor activities often have been siloed into singular categories such as hunter, angler, hiker, birdwatcher, or cyclist. These siloes can disconnect individuals and entire communities from forming holistic outdoor identities that foster more inclusive and durable outdoor experiences over a broad range of activities. Moreover, recent and projected demographic changes within the American population raise necessary questions about the relevance of these singular pursuits to underrepresented communities, whose members may struggle to see themselves and their values represented in the management and use of the nation’s public-trust resources. Finally, past efforts to recruit, retain and reactivate outdoor enthusiasts often have focused on youth recruitment, certainly a laudable outcome, but have failed to concentrate on adults (18 and older) who may provide a much higher return on investment in terms of generating an interest in and a love for the outdoors. 

If conservation and environmental programs are to thrive in the future, there needs to be a proportional representation of America’s ethnic, racial, and gender demographics in outdoor activities, pursuits, industries, and support networks. This requires the establishment of accessible and inclusive learning opportunities for new and existing outdoor enthusiasts to expand their suite of outdoor skills and interests. As part of its new Strategic Plan, the Foundation will support data-driven efforts to increase the number and diversity of outdoor enthusiasts, so that a broader group of people can enjoy nature and become the conservation leaders of tomorrow.

Critical Design Considerations for Programs:

• The effort has been designed to address known barriers restricting its target audience. These barriers should have been identified via standard social science or marketing audience-assessment techniques. These include, but are not limited to, structured focus groups, surveys, interviews (phone and/or in-person) or published research. 
• Participants are selected based on a pre-program assessment process that allows program administrators to identify participants with the greatest alignment with the target audiences. 
• The effort integrates next-steps options for participants to increase the likelihood that behavioral outcomes will persist in participants. 
• The effort uses a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) approach or modified BACI design to evaluate its output/implementation effectiveness as well as ultimate outcome achievement. 
• The effort has established partnerships with stakeholder groups and/or agencies that can increase the likelihood of long-term sustainability. 
• The effort has secured matching funds (financial or in-kind) and has established working partnerships with state fish and wildlife management agencies, outdoor industry and/or sports person or conservation organizations. 
• Where possible, the programs should indicate a connection to the Foundation’s past investments in habitat conservation.

Proposals should focus on at least one of the following categories, though priority will be given to those that include more than one category:

• Engaging underrepresented demographics in outdoor lifestyles. 
• Establishing pathways to outdoor activities for a diverse audience of people whose current activities and values are likely to lend themselves to increasing their outdoor pursuits. 
• Recruiting adult audiences. 
• Fulfill the Foundation’s basic eligibility criteria, described on the Apply page of our website.

Proposal Submission Requirements:

Proposals should be submitted directly through our online application by noon on September 1, 2022. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered at this time. The Foundation does not expect that more than $250,000 will be available per proposal. However, if a proposal is truly exceptional and reflects a broad partnership, the Foundation may consider providing more than $250,000.

After review by staff, proposals that are viewed as meeting the criteria listed above may be considered by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees in December 2022. If funded, projects must be implemented within 12 to 15 months. The Foundation reserves the right to request more information or to work with applicants to improve their proposals for future consideration.