ALEXANDRIA, VA (January 27, 2016) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) today announced the results of its new State Innovative R3 Program Grants. In June 2015, RBFF awarded a total of nearly $75,000 to three state agencies to help them develop and implement new angler and boater recruitment, retention and reactivation programs. All programs focused on increasing fishing license purchases and/or boat registrations in innovative ways and concluded at the end of 2015, with program successes being shared through the following case studies:
“This new interactive voice response system serves as a great reminder to our customers for renewing boat registrations. This has the potential to save money on how we remind Georgia boat owners by not having to incur the cost of mailing a letter,” said Dan Forster, Division Director.
“We believe customer-focused digital communications will keep anglers engaged with Nebraska Game and Parks, remind them of their role in conservation, and that time outdoors is time well spent,” said Commission Director Jim Douglas.
Additionally, emails were personalized and customized based on past license purchase and provided an opportunity for an upsell of licenses. The agency will continue to expand use of this system to send targeted messages and plans to send messages to upsell short-term license holders.
“The Reel Fun Vermont program brings together Vermont’s strong history of recreational angling and the fun of staying at our amazing state parks,” said Louis Porter, Vermont Fish & Wildlife Commissioner. “We appreciate RBFF’s role in making this new collaboration a success and expect Reel Fun will be a tradition for years to come.”
“It’s encouraging to see such pioneering programs being developed by our state agency partners,” said RBFF President & CEO, Frank Peterson. “Now, with the help of these case studies as a base, we hope that agencies across the country can adopt similar strategies in order to increase fishing and boating participation, providing critical funds for conservation along the way.”
RBFF is currently soliciting proposals for the 2016 State Innovative R3 Program Grants and encourages all state agencies to submit their innovative and sustainable marketing initiatives focused on increasing fishing and boating participation for consideration.
About the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF)
RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating, thereby protecting and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. RBFF developed the award-winning Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ campaigns to create awareness around boating, fishing and conservation, and educate people about the benefits of participation. Take Me Fishing and Vamos A Pescar help boaters and anglers of all ages and experience levels learn, plan and equip for a day on the water. The campaign websites, TakeMeFishing.org, and VamosAPescar.org, feature how-to videos, information on how to get a fishing license and boat registration, and an interactive state-by-state map that allows visitors to find local boating and fishing spots.