Press Releases

ALEXANDRIA, VA (May 6, 2020) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) today announced stakeholder satisfaction has increased to high levels amongst both state agency and industry stakeholders. The yearly study, carried out by McKinley Advisors, also identified the most valuable of RBFF’s programs and products, as well as top trends and challenges facing the community.

Earlier this year, McKinley Advisors reached out to those in RBFF’s email database to understand the overall sentiment toward RBFF and its offerings. After careful analysis of the responses, here’s what they found:

• Both state agency and industry stakeholder satisfaction are up
  • State agency satisfaction is up 6 points (81% overall satisfaction)
  • Industry satisfaction is up 1 point (78% overall satisfaction)
• 90% of state agency respondents and 72% of industry respondents trust RBFF as a source of news and information
• Research, resources, and our outreach campaigns are universally viewed as RBFF’s most important outputs

“Every year, we look to make the fishing and boating industry better than the last, and that includes delivering valuable content and resources to our stakeholders,” said RBFF President & CEO Frank Peterson. “We are pleased to see that our work is paying off and the individuals and organizations closest to us view us as a positive and effective force.”

Top trends and challenges for the boating and fishing community were also identified. Both state agency respondents and industry members cited recruitment, retention and reactivation, reaching out to emerging audiences, and increasing fishing and boating participation as top challenges for the community. Good news, RBFF is seen as an effective partner in helping to meet these challenges and more.

“These positive results couldn’t come at a better time. We are in the midst of a difficult period for our industry and the nation as a whole. RBFF is uniquely positioned to help bring the industry together and make for a brighter future, and we promise to devote as much effort to this as needed,” continued Peterson.

RBFF’s annual Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey was carried out by McKinley Advisors. Responses from 357 individuals were used to evaluate RBFF’s effectiveness and to recommend ways we can better meet our stakeholders’ needs.

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's recently announced 60 in 60 effort strives to attract 60 million anglers to the sport by the end of 2021. To help recruit, retain and reactivate participants, RBFF developed the award-winning Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ campaigns creating awareness about boating, fishing and conservation, and educating people about the benefits of participation. These campaigns 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 TakeMeFishing.org/es, 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.