TOOLKIT : Program Planning
Interested in starting your own Youth Outdoors Initiative? The following tips come from years of implementing the YMCA-NPS Youth Outdoors Initiative:
Identify the target population that you want to serve through your outdoors program. Ex. The target population for the Youth Outdoors Initiative is children and teens from urban areas who may not have the means or ability to easily access local parks and public lands.
Find a primary partner that wants to help in serving this population. Ex. For the Youth Outdoors Initiative, the Y’s primary partners are local NPS units.
Identify additional, local partners who serve your target population and who may want to get involved.
Invite members or parents of the target population, and partners, to join in the development of your program curriculum, activities, and measures of success..
Identify a funding mechanism with your group for how to sustainably implement your program.
Host a staff training with partners and program staff prior to the program so that everyone has first-hand experience with the activities and how to lead the program..
Implement your program and don’t be afraid to be creative. For instance, in your first year, you could incorporate outdoor programming into an existing summer camp or youth program as a pilot to test your program idea.
Measure your success through baseline and end-of-program metrics, established when you developed your program plan. This way you can learn from your success to adapt the program if needed, expand the program, and leverage more funding.
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