NDPA Local Groups

Helping Your City & Local Dog Parks

DOG TOWN PROJECTS

Gather your first group of members.
Post on local social media and local animal groups about helping your local area improve dog parks and or develop safe dog friendly projects. Connect with local individuals and groups who share your mission and goals and are well-suited to help you get the chapter off the ground. Talk up the benefits of joining the National Dog Park Association.

Contact the National Dog Park Association office about you and your location. Get yourself listed as an official NDPA Director at Large and get custom links for your city area.

Hold Your First Meeting

Even if you’re still figuring out some of it, it’s time for that first meeting. Don’t wait till you think everything is perfect. Post your NDPA meetings on social media to find others who may be interested. Find a location for the meeting that will bring in the most members and member guests, invite current and potential members and set up an agenda that’s going to get them engaged and interested in getting involved. Include things like local safe dog friendly projects and goals, upcoming events and how people can get involved.

Recruit Volunteers

There’s no reason you should be doing everything on your own when starting the local NDPA group so get some help to get it done.

You’ll need help in areas like communications, membership, events, finance, technology, social media, etc.

Ask your supporters, members and those who are considering if they’d be interested in helping and where they think their skills could best be used. And then put those skills to use!

Recruit Board Members

Partnership Benefits

Look for board members who can help you run the chapter much better than you could do on your own. Partner with business owners who would benefit from joining the Nation Dog Park Association. Plus, you’ll probably need to have certain roles in your group when you start, like a vice president, secretary and treasurer. We all know how finding board members with the right skills and abilities can be hard, so you should proactively look for people here, too. You might be able to find people on social media who would be a good fit.

Community Outreach

Reach out to your community and promote activities. Invite public participation and be open to suggestions for projects.