Donor Attitudes Toward Maintenance Fundraising in Urban Parks

MAINTENANCE IS NECESSARY The third theme was that maintenance was necessary. Although no questions addressed this specifically, a handful of conservancies supported this theme. Conservancies indicated that without basic maintenance, “nothing else matters,” and that “ongoing maintenance is critical,” and “very important.” Additionally, other conservancies said that in regards to a new project, “it is always a question of how it can be maintained,” and that projects are expected to, “have a certain amount of dedicated funds for maintenance.” Lastly, one conservancy mentioned that the parks are expected to be, “clean and taken care of.”

Although not seemingly so, the theme that maintenance is necessary is significant. This study, and all of the research questions investigated, would not have implications if maintenance was not necessary and important. The importance of maintenance was not connected with any specific view of maintenance, and across the board it was recognized as imminent.

MAINTENANCE FEES ARE BUILT INTO PROJECTS An additional way that maintenance funding was secured was by setting aside portions of money intended for projects, for the long-term sustainability of the asset. This was a subtheme that emerged from the interview responses. Comments about this can be found in Table 1.

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