How a Nonprofit Can Earn Revenue From Art Program
SPECIAL FOCUS
Making a Profit in Nonprofit
Recreation Centers
A survey by Burnidge Cassell and Assembly finds "bigger is not
always better" for financially successful community centers
BY DANIEL R. ATILANO, AIA
N on-profit recreation centers are facing many challenges today to remain successful and profitable beyond the initial menstruum that the facility opens or after the "newness" wears off. These challenges include growing and maintaining membership along with fulfilling their patrons' needs for quality programming and facilities.
| We all know that everyone wants to receive the best value and service and that includes membership and programs at a recreation middle. Then what are the factors that contribute to delivering what the client wants while operating a assisting recreation center? What are the spaces and programs that have sustained revenue exceeding expenditures to produce a revenue surplus? Almost people involved in park and recreation accept varying thoughts and data on what contributes to making their facility successful and profitable, and then nosotros asked them. Burnidge Cassell and Associates, Inc.'s recent survey on "Profitable Community/Wellness Centers" gathered information from Illinois park and recreation directors and administrators to reveal factors that affect their success. |
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 | Think 30 to 85 Nearly ii-thirds of the survey participants (63%) take facilities that are between 30,000 to 85,000 square feet. One-quarter (25%) have facilities less than xxx,000 foursquare feet, while the remaining 12% reported facilities above 85,000 square feet. Almost two-thirds (62%) of these facilities were synthetic since 1990. One-half (50%) report having between half dozen to 10 full-time staff, while (38%) operate their facilities with one to v full-time staff. More than than 43% of the facilities have received an addition and or remodeling since originally synthetic. Tin you exist profitable with a 100,000-square-foot recreation center? Yes, co-ordinate to Marker McKinnon club director of the 110,000-square-foot Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet and Fitness Club. This facility is an enterprise fund or a profit center for the Homewood-Flossmoor Park Commune, which means it doesn't use any tax money and is acquirement-generating to the extent the surplus pays for the debt retirement and facility operating costs. One of the key ingredients is the park commune's partnership with a local hospital. Says McKinnon: "The health intendance provider not simply pays rent, they as well paid for the related construction of the addition to provide this infinite including a fitness center expansion." |
January/February 2001 / 33
SPECIAL FOCUS
Therapeutic programs�which was identified by the park district as the number iii reason patrons employ the facility�include a wellness center, home wellness care, offices, a dietitian, acupuncture, cardiac rehab and aquatic therapy.
Conduct Surveys
Of the survey participants, a large bulk (63%) take conducted a program interest membership survey within the terminal v years. An overwhelming majority (75%) have conducted at least one program involvement survey. Approximately 1-tertiary (31%) of the participants conduct a membership survey every two to iii years, while 13% noted that surveys were distributed one time every 4 to five years. The average response charge per unit to these surveys range from 15% to 49%. Improvements are needed on the frequency of conducting surveys to enquire the customs and members what their interests and needs are to aid recreation professional. Staying ahead of the bend is one cardinal to success.
Membership
Approximately one-3rd of the survey participants (39%) noted that their membership was less than 1,000, with 23% reporting membership between ane,001 and 2,000. A smaller percentage (16%) report having memberships between ii,000 to 4,000, while ane-quarter (22%) written report membership to a higher place 4,000.
Men comprise the largest membership group, closely followed past female person memberships at second. Family memberships were identified equally the number 3 membership category. Corporate, junior, and youth memberships reported the lowest of all the membership categories. Although men correspond the highest membership group today, our aging population may change this tendency and bear upon the programs we know today. According to the U.South. Census Agency, by 2025 the elderly population volition grow to l% more than today.
Exercise, instruction and recreation / leisure
More than half of the survey participants (56%) reported the number one reason patrons employ their recreation center is for exercise. Slightly nether two-thirds (63%) noted that instructional classes are the number two reason patrons use their recreation middle, with recreation / leisure programs (25%) rounding out the number iii spot.
Fitness, dance and gym
One-half of the participants (50%) hold that fitness centers are the number 1 revenue-producing plan space in their facility. More than than one-tertiary (38%) noted that aerobics/dance programs are the 2d most profitable, with gymnasiums (25%) noted as the third well-nigh revenue-producing infinite. Tom Mammoser, director of the Dundee Township Park Commune, says that gymnasiums can be very profitable, specially when used by pre-school children during the school day for active classes. And, every bit we know, if the children are happy and so are the parents which equals a satisfied patron.
What about daycare?
The Dundee Township Park District recreation centre was originally designed to include a daycare program to kickoff the operating costs of the facility. As information technology turned out, information technology took several years earlier realizing what was initially though to be an automatic revenue program.
"The amount of labor makes it very challenging and information technology needs to be fully investigated before an bureau enters into providing daycare," says Mammoser.
Speaking with feel, the park district'due south recreation center has a chapters of lxx children with four dedicated classrooms. The children's age group ranges from two to six and the daycare facility is operated Monday through Friday from half dozen:30 a.g. to 6:00 p.1000. Approximately 14 staff�of which eight are total-time�operate the daycare facility alone with equally many every bit 12 staff on-site during midday with two staff per room as mandated by the state along with a full-time manager.
When asked for an opinion if a daycare facility should be included at a new facility, the answer was no. The reason: non enough render on the investment for the people and required facility space along with factoring in the demands of new programs faced past all recreation professionals.
What to increment?
An overwhelmingly bulk (69%) agree that fitness centers are the number one space they would increase at their facility. Since fitness centers are the number 1 revenue program, this comes as no surprise. The 2d infinite survey participants noted that they would increase are gymnasiums/field houses (31%), with multipurpose rooms and pre-schoolhouse programme space (nineteen%) coming in equal at number iii.
Indoor vs. outdoor
Of the survey participants, one-half (fifty%) have indoor pool/aquatic facilities. Of those that reported having indoor pools, merely one-quarter (25%) accept revenues that exceed expenditures to produce a acquirement surplus. A majority (63%) reported facilities that support a bather load of 200 people with the largest bather load accommodating 400 people. Almost pool/aquatic facilities are relatively new with 3-quarters (75%) beingness built since 1990. Less than 1-third (29%) reported operating an indoor pool at a profit.
More than one-3rd (38%) reported having an outdoor pool/aquatic facility. In contrast to the indoor facilities, outdoor facilities reported that the majority
34 / Illinois Parks and Recreation
MAKING A PROFIT IN NONPROFIT RECREATION CENTERS
(80%) report revenues that exceed expenditures to produce a revenue surplus. Dissimilar the indoor facilities, the bather loads are significantly higher. No one reported a bather load less than 200, while 17% reported 201 to 400 bathers, one-half (50%) can accommodate 400 to ane,000 bathers, and the remaining 33% reported bather loads above 1000. The majority (86%) of these pool/aquatic facilities were built since 1980. The survey participants with bather loads larger than 1,000 reported their facilities were built since 1989. Over three-quarters (eighty%) reported operating an outdoor puddle/aquatic facility at a profit.
Final analysis
At present that y'all have read all of the statistics from our survey, we want to footstep back from the numbers to run into the large picture show. Our survey findings and assay of the survey participants reveal the following trends:
� The total square footage of the facilities ranged from 900 to 120,000 with an average of 53,725.
� The average total-time staff working at a recreation facility is ix to x people.
� Recreation eye memberships ranged from 76 to 4,100 with the average existence 1,577.
� Half (fifty%) of recreation centers have an indoor puddle/aquatic facility with only 29% reporting revenues exceeding expenditures to produce a revenue surplus or turn a profit.
� The boilerplate indoor bather load ranges from 200 to 400.
� More than one-third (38%) of the recreation centers accept an outdoor pool/aquatic facility and more three-quarters (lxxx%) reporting revenues exceeding expenditures to produce a revenue surplus or profit.
� The majority (83%) of outdoor pool/aquatic facilities have bather ranging from 401 to more than 1,000.
Lessons learned from this survey show that you don't accept to be a mega facility in size to be successful, although today's tendency is to recollect that bigger is improve. Remember to tailor your facility size to see the needs of your service population, comport plan involvement surveys every one to ii years, investigate partnerships to maximize programs and criterion your facility against others to help put yous on the road to being more than successful and profitable. �
Daniel R. Alilano, AIA
is master and recreation team leader at Burnidge Cassell and Associates, Inc. Founded in 1968, Burnidge Cassell and Associates, Inc is a full-service architectural firm specializing in park and recreation design services from planning through construction. Located in Elgin, Illinois, the business firm'due south services include planning studies, architectural design, interior design, landscape compages and land planning services. For further information, contact Atilano 847.695.5840 or d.atilano@bca-arch.com.
January/February 2001 / 35
Source: https://www.lib.niu.edu/2001/ip010133.html
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