Program areas at Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation
Consumer engagementthe objective of rbff's consumer engagement program is to increase participation in Recreational Boating and Fishing by recruiting new audiences to the sport through a national marketing and communications campaign designed to increase awareness of Fishing, Boating and natural resource conservation; dispel negative stereotypes; and encourage consideration, trial and, ultimately, participation. See schedule oconsumer engagement (cont'd) take me Fishing is the brand that carries rbff's messages and the appeal of Boating and Fishing to general market consumers. Across the take me Fishing website and also in ads, psas, tv, video, social media and events, the take me Fishing brand reaches and motivates millions of people to enjoy Boating and Fishing. With the help of the take me Fishing brand, and the 2022 "get on board" campaign, originally designed for the covid-19 social distancing environment, participation in Fishing increased to 54.5 million individuals in 2022, up 4% from 52.4 million in 2021.the backbone of the brand is the takemefishing.org website. Takemefishing.org features greater optimization for all screen sizes and formats through responsive design, more prominent state information, how-to videos, and an updated resource center for stakeholders including retention/reactivation toolkits. The places to fish and boat map includes public Fishing and Boating spots as well as nearby marinas, license vendors and bait shops.take me Fishing alliances help rbff and select third parties leverage each other's brand appeal and reach a greater number of consumers than they could on their own. The take me Fishing relationship with walt disney world resort, which includes take me fishing-branded Fishing and Boating activities, and disney media group, which includes exclusive take me Fishing placements on select disney media platforms, reaches a shared target market of multicultural families and drives consumers to takemefishing.org. Other take me Fishing partners include the u.s. Fish and wildlife service (usfws), u.s. forest service, national park service, bureau of land management, noaa and Fishing league worldwide (flw). These alliances annually produce more than 1,500 consumer-event uploads to takemefishing.org.in fy23, Fishing participation remained strong among key target audiences: female participants reached 19.8 million and 5.1 million hispanics participated in Fishing, increases of 2% and 7%, respectively, over the prior year.
Industry engagementthe objective of the industry engagement program is to partner with industry manufacturers and retailers to develop and implement marketing projects designed to increase category growth through research and to develop consumer insights, knowledge and tools that the Fishing and Boating industries can use to grow their individual brands.see schedule oindustry engagement (cont'd) increased participation in Boating and Fishing is a bulwark against a changing consumer environment. The more boaters and anglers out there, the greater the demand for industry products. In fy23, rbff's take me fishing-branded r3 activities increased participation. Rbff also continued initiatives to help industry partners themselves reach and engage new customers. Rbff updated its free, online toolkit for reaching new anglers and boaters, especially those who are younger and more diverse. Customizable digital banners, social media posts, press releases, infographic, and a psa video show these newcomers that our partners truly get them and make them feel part of our Fishing and Boating community.for many of the nation's newcomers to Fishing and Boating, their first question was where to head to go Fishing and Boating and where to get supplies. With the take me Fishing places to fish & boat map embedded in a record 139 stakeholders' own websites, answers were at newcomers' fingertips and linked with each stakeholder's brand. Rbff continues to partner with industry to facilitate nationwide events and engagement. The continuing partnership with discover Boating remains strong. This year, it resulted in over 236,000 consumer referrals from takemefishing.org properties to discoverboating.com.industry support for the george h.w. Bush vamos a pescar education fund continued in fy23 with continued donations from bass pro shops. The program funded 16 grant proposals across 8 states, generating $221,000 in support including state matching funds.
State engagementthe objective of the state engagement program is to grow the number of anglers and boaters by working in collaboration with state agencies to develop, implement and evaluate innovative recruitment, retention and reactivation (r3) activities. Rbff shares results and details of r3 efforts with all state agencies so that each individual agency can successfully implement these programs.see schedule ostate engagement (cont'd) many state partners are following recommendations and strategic tools for effective angler recruitment, retention and reactivation, a playbook for assessing and improving current r3 tactics and developing effective new ones. Built upon previous wildlife management institute efforts, the resource was developed in partnership with the aquatic resources education association with support from the angler r3 state agency working group.the 2023 annual state marketing workshop, returning as a live, in-person event, attracted 162 participants from 47 states. The workshop featured presentations on diversity, r3 planning and partnerships, marketing trends and the latest Boating and Fishing participation figures. In addition, smaller breakout groups discussed innovative ways to apply r3 lessons learned in their states. This year's webinar series also helped grow state partners' marketing capacity. Webinars focused on women's participation, urban Fishing programs, working with social media influencers, and how to use ga4 (the next-gen google analytics) to improve marketing and make better use of website data.fy23 boat registration reactivation program alone resulted in over 57,000 boat registrations and generated $2.2 million in gross registration fees for 14 the participating state agencies.
In fy23, rbff continued its federal agency engagement initiative seeks to promote Recreational Boating and Fishing on bodies of water managed by our federal agency partners, including the us fish and wildlife service (usfws), forest service, bureau of land management, national park service and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa). To promote national Fishing & Boating week (nfbw), rbff continues to maintain its social media toolkit for federal agencies to: promote nfbw and "free Fishing days" highlight the "places to fish and boat" map tie-in with the national get on board campaign #thewaterisopenthrough all of its programs and efforts, rbff helps the usfws fulfill its mission to support participation in Fishing, sport fish restoration, Boating opportunities, and conservation. Noaa continues to feature rbff's Fishing license plugin into its "get into your sanctuary" website, as well as a link to rbff's boat registration plugin. Rbff senior vice president stephanie vatalaro continues to serve on noaa's national marine sanctuaries business advisory council.rbff continues to support "scan, license & go" in fy23, so that when anglers take to u.s. forest service lands, they can get a Fishing license on the fly. All they have to do is center their mobile phone camera on a state-specific qr-code posted in visitors centers, then click the pop-up notification. Anglers are instantly connected to their state's Fishing license webpage, ready to finish the license purchase right onsite.