How to Engage Your Community with Parks and Recreation through 311 CRM Software

When you think of 311 Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) software and whom it was designed for on the administrative side, you might first think of your public works colleagues and having the ability to address resident reports of potholes, graffiti, or trash and recycling issues. The CivicPlus® 311 CRM Solution, SeeClickFix, does all that and more, including unique opportunities for park and recreation departments to receive and respond to resident requests for park and facility repairs and clean-ups but also plan and orchestrate resident-engaging recreational programs unique to the municipality.

Scavenger Hunt

One of the more unique and fun ways communities use our SeeClickFix app is to utilize its reporting and communication features to create a community-specific scavenger hunt. If formalized, the activity can be added to a recreation management platform as an activity and used as a source of revenue. There may be no better way to engage your community than to challenge them to learn more about the place they call home while roaming the parks and streets and visiting iconic sites with their friends and family. Privately-owned escape rooms and scavenger hunt companies have seen a great deal of success in recent years as people look to find new and interesting ways to spend quality time, taking advantage of this paradigm can help create programs that excite your residents and provide much-needed funds back into the parks and recreation department.

An Interactive Holiday Lights Map in Gilbert, Arizona

What could be more fun during the holiday season than fixing some hot cocoa and jumping in the car with the family to drive around neighborhoods in your community to view the beautiful light displays on houses and businesses? The Town of Gilbert, AZ, saw a unique opportunity to use our CRM and app (which it has branded Gilbert 311) to drive engagement. The town empowered residents to report and submit a photo of their home or business’ light display to a Holiday Lights Map through their mobile app. This interactive feature allows families to plan their holiday lights tour and encourages residents to participate.

Uses like this help to improve the quality of life in communities. So while adding your holiday lights to a map might not seem like an essential civic interaction, consider how a unique and inclusive activity like this can set your town apart and create joy and satisfaction amongst residents.

Love Where You Live – Spreading Positivity

311 CRM software can help build and promote positivity while empowering residents to share their impactful civic experiences with their local parks, trails, green spaces, and facilities. The CivicPlus 311 CRM allows residents to do just that and more; it makes it possible for community members to:

Share their favorite park features with an image and a tagged location

Example: “The recently installed dog watering stations around the walking path in City Park have made our family walks even better, especially on hot days. Our furry, four-legged family member thanks you.”

Give commendations to hardworking staff that plan and implement programming or maintain and improve local parks and facilities.

Example: “The landscaping in Circle Park always looks impeccable. Please share with your field workers that their hard work is noticed and appreciated.”

Provide fun and unique ideas for new programming.

Example: “We recently visited a town where a single tennis court could be easily converted into multiple pickleball courts. Would this be possible here?”

Share a positive park and recreation civic experience.

Example: “I take daily runs on the nature trail, and last week I came across a  large branch that had fallen in the storm, blocking the path. I snapped a picture and used my SeeClickFix mobile app to report it to the city. The next day it was gone, and I got notifications updating me on progress. Very impressed.”

Impacting the Civic Experience 

Engaging your residents with impactful civic experiences keeps residents coming back to interact with their local government.

For more information on our 311 Citizen Relationship Management solution and how it can work to enhance your department’s specific needs, take an online video tour of the software. You can also set up a one-on-one meeting with a CivicPlus solution expert to discuss how you can create staff and resident satisfaction, drive revenue, and spread positivity throughout your community with the most comprehensive yet easy-to-use 311 CRM system.