2021
Menu

A Nation’s Lifeline

Stakeholder
Annual Report 2021

Throughout a year of closings and cancellations, RBFF made the lifeline of boating and fishing top-of-mind escapes for our entire nation, and gave newcomers the tools needed to give them a try.

The outcome: every category of participation was up.

  • Fishing

  • Boating

  • Diversity

  • Conservation

FY21’s wave of increased participation continues, buoying expectations we’ll achieve 60 in 60 — our shared goal of 60 million anglers in 60 months — by the end of 2021, just a few months away.

Jeff Marble
Message from RBFF Board Chairman
Jeff Pontius
Retired CEO, Zebco Brands

There’s an old saying, success happens when opportunity meets preparation. That was the story of RBFF’s FY21. RBFF had spent years building the capabilities and infrastructure that let us respond to the pandemic so successfully. We had spent years researching how people feel about fishing and boating, building our own internal staff, building relationships, and furthering the capabilities of our partners.

So when COVID hit, we were prepared. Early traffic to our website and social media, as well as license sales, told us we should not hold off on our marketing. Instead, we should dive back in, modifying our message and broadening our targets. We should see COVID for what it was: a historic chance to be one of the preferred and available recreational options for people, even for those who hadn’t considered fishing and boating in the past. Working together with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and its Discover Boating brand, we developed the new Get on Board campaign in record time, and as the sole agency tasked with participation building, we were able to integrate its message across all our vehicles and stakeholders. Participation in fishing and boating quickly grew.

This growth in participation has meant great returns for everyone. The millions of dollars these newcomers will spend on supplies and equipment, on licenses and registrations, far exceed our investment in attracting them. Our industry partners are now reinvesting in inventory to keep up with demand and to make sure participants have such a good experience they’ll want to continue. Our state agency partners have recognized the value of marketing expertise, taking on dedicated R3 coordinators, and they are learning from each other’s R3 experiences through our State Marketing Workshop and grants. State agencies are serious about R3, and it’s working.

The challenge for all of us this coming year is to retain these new participants. Through our research, we know who these new boaters and anglers are, and which messages and vehicles they most strongly respond to. Now we’ll focus on making fishing and boating a permanent part of their lives.

A large measure of our success in bringing fishing and boating to these high levels of participation goes to Frank Peterson, RBFF’s President and CEO, who is retiring at the end of 2021. From the time Frank first arrived at RBFF, he clarified our purpose: participation. He brought a fact-focused, results-driven, professional marketing background, and built a strong organization. Frank gave us the courage and confidence to follow the numbers — to seek new anglers in the cities, in Hispanic and minority communities, among women — and reach out to these new prospects using the latest media tactics. RBFF’s results speak for themselves. When Frank puts those results up, you’ve got to stand up and applaud. - Jeff Pontius

Jeff Marble
Message from
Frank Peterson
RBFF President and CEO

About four and a half years ago, RBFF set out to achieve the ambitious goal of 60 million anglers in 60 months. Those 60 months end December 31, 2021. I'm pleased to say that from here, it appears we have an excellent opportunity to accomplish this objective.

Some of our recent progress towards achieving 60 in 60 stems from our nation’s otherwise devastating COVID experience. Harris poll data show that 69% of Americans have a better appreciation of the outdoors since the pandemic began. But the real question is why people turned to fishing and boating, when not all outdoor activities enjoyed the same increase in participation.

RBFF’s sustained marketing efforts over the years are a big part of the answer. When the pandemic hit and barriers to everyday life arose, we were ready. When people had more free time because they didn’t commute to work or school, or go to theme parks and sporting events, or even get together with friends, RBFF’s marketing and digital assets were ready.

Our Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ websites, our videos on our YouTube channel, all of our social media channels, embeddable digital tools, public relations strategies — all of our assets — were in place, drawing people to the water. Equally important, RBFF was prepared to quickly adjust our message to the moment, letting people know that fishing and boating are safe activities they can conveniently enjoy with their family, here’s where, and here’s how. At the same time, our strategy of attracting more diverse populations to fishing and boating proved critical, as women, Hispanics, and urban communities who make up a growing part of the U.S population began to fish and boat as never before.

As we move forward, more components of everyday life will resume. But because of the foundation for participation growth we’ve been building for years, I’m confident 2020 gains will endure.

Which brings me to my view of the near and long-term future — for fishing and boating, but also for RBFF. After 14 years, I will be retiring as President of RBFF as of December 31, 2021, the last day of our 60 in 60 initiative. Until then, my intent is to make sure we do everything we can to reach 60 in 60, and that our team has the expertise needed for RBFF to meet its annual goals on after.

Personally, I want to thank RBFF’s Board of Directors for bringing me on board, and I thank our community for supporting what we do. I thank, too, the RBFF team itself, who have made it possible to consistently deliver results and build for future growth. RBFF’s job isn’t to focus on the next quarter — but the next quarter century. With others at the helm, I have no doubt fishing and boating’s gains will continue across the coming decades.

FY21 Participation
LEADING TO A LIFELINE

Working closely with stakeholders, RBFF both inspired and prepared a nation eager for outdoor recreation to head to the water for a day of boating and fishing.

FISHING PARTICIPATION 54 . 7 M

Up from 50.1M

NEW FISHING PARTICIPANTS 4 . 4 M

13% increase over previous year

FISHING OUTINGS 969 M

10.2% increase from last year

BOAT REGISTRATION PLUGIN REFERRALS 211 %

increase over FY20

NEW BOATS SOLD 261 K

Up 9% from FY20

Highest sales volume
in 13 years (NMMA)

FY21 Consumer Marketing
LEADING TO A LIFELINE

Years of RBFF consumer marketing moved millions of Americans to turn to boating and fishing when the pandemic set in.

HIGHEST FISHING PARTICIPATION IN OVER A DECADE 18 %

of the U.S. population

4.45 B

total impressions

Get on Board

Because of successful relationships already in place, RBFF was able to pivot quickly from its previous FY21 marketing plan to new messaging crafted for the pandemic era.

The new, integrated Get on Board campaign, conducted in partnership with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (Discover Boating) and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), launched in June after just five weeks of development.

On-target both in its strategy and execution, Get on Board turned what might have been a year’s modest upturn in fishing and boating into a huge haul of enthusiastic participants.

The fresh, upbeat campaign sent a message of safe, healthy fun on the water across all media. Social media, influencer engagement, press outreach, paid digital advertising, plus support throughout TakeMeFishing.org invited consumers to have fun and make family memories fishing and boating together.

Watch Video

Social Media

Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ postings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest reeled in a huge, engaged audience — especially when the campaign’s sub-theme #TheWaterIsOpen was used. The hashtag underscored that while many recreational and entertainment venues were closed because of COVID, the water is always open for fun.

123 . 2 MTOTAL IMPRESSIONS

153.4% increase over FY20

153 . 4 % TOTAL IMPRESSIONS

increase over FY20

1 . 1 MENGAGEMENTS

163.1% increase over FY20

1,6 0 0 + Uses of #TheWaterIsOpen

Embedded in Influencer Posts

Influencers

Get on Board tapped established influencers @AmeliaKFarrar, @Chris Garafola, @ReadySetJetSet, @Hey_Ciara, @Girl of 10000Lakes, and Allison Anderson to share their passion for fishing and boating. And an Us the Duo video of their version of the Get on Board theme song, plus a boating/fishing safety video, generated one million views.

2M
CONSUMER INTERACTIONS

WITH SOCIAL INFLUENCERS
Meet Dr. Sue Varma

Dr. Varma, a nationally recognized psychiatrist and expert on wellness, reminded the nation that fishing and boating are just what we need for our mental health and overall wellness.

In broadcast media appearances, an audio news release, and social media postings of her own first fishing trip, Dr. Varma positioned a day on the water as an effective way to deal with stress and anxiety.

Public Relations & PSAs

Get on Board stories picked up by media outlets such as CNN, People Magazine, Associated Press, the Washington Post, and the New York Post racked up almost 3 billion impressions, while media carried millions of dollars worth of Get on Board public service announcements.

2 . 9 6 B IMPRESSIONS

274% increase over FY20

4 , 530 PLACEMENTS

95% increase over FY20

$6. 84 M WORTH OF PSAS

Donated value from almost 41,000 airings of TV and radio spots

6 9 7 UNIQUE STORIES

Paid Digital Advertising

A powerful supporting message used in banner ads and other paid digital advertising was “Leave Stress in Your Wake,” a reminder that fishing and boating are more than fun — they’re important stress relievers.

4 6 6.5 M IMPRESSIONS

Targeting new waves of anglers and boaters
WOMEN ANGLERS
At An All Time High 19 . 7 M

Up from 17.9M

Hispanic Anglers
Record Participation 4 . 8 M

Up from 4.4M

AFRICAN AMERICAN ANGLERS 3 . 7 M

10-year increase of nearly 1M

ANGLERS AGE 6-12 8 M

15% increase over FY20

ANGLERS AGE 13-17 5 . 5 M

28% increase over FY20

Get on Board and other RBFF marketing targeted key demographic groups most likely to go boating and fishing in the months and years ahead — Active Social Families, women, young urban markets, Hispanics, and others.
Active Social Families

In ads, social media, and PR, Get on Board messaging and images targeted Active Social Families — young families searching for ways to recreate safely together.

The alliance with Walt Disney World®Resort and Disney Media Networks served as a bridge to this all-important audience.

  • Take Me Fishing™ commercials and sponsorships received prime placement.

  • Take Me Fishing™ videos and public service announcements appeared on Disney media channels.

  • Take Me Fishing™ appeared on an ESPN segment of The Jump, a daily discussion of NBA news and stories.

  • Disney online platforms promoted Take Me Fishing™ messages.

16 .8 M VIDEO VIEWS
1 1 4 M IMPRESSIONS

from Disney alliance

Inside the NBA bubble, NBA players quarantined on a Disney property were challenged to a new kind of competition – fishing. Instagrams of “tall men catching small fish” put more points on the board for this year’s social media stats.

Angler Academy

Also targeting Active Social Families, Angler Academy helped the youngest would-be anglers learn how to fish online with fun fishing-related activities.

Women
Making Waves

We continued the popular social media campaign featuring women anglers — or Wave Makers — showing off their catch of the day and personifying the fun and mental health benefits of fishing. This year, a new Women Making Waves spin-off, Stories of Mentors, got its own page and crew of loyal followers.

1 . 8 M
MORE FEMALE ANGLERS

than FY20

More Female
First Time Boat Buyers
& REPEAT BUYERS THAN EVER
The Water is Open For All

Across the breadth of FY21 consumer marketing, images and messages welcomed younger, Hispanic, and urban consumers to Get on Board.

3 4 0 K
NEW HISPANIC PARTICIPANTS

Started Fishing in 2020

Because of RBFF digital tools, when the
nation thought about boating and fishing,
newcomers knew what to do and where to head.
Take Me Fishing™ Digital Assets

As Get on Board attracted millions of newcomers to boating and fishing, Take Me Fishing™ digital assets (available in English and Spanish) answered all their basic online search questions: How do I fish? How do I boat? What do I need? Where can I go?

One visit to the flagship TakeMeFishing.org site or Spanish-language version VamosAPescar.org connected visitors with everything they needed to get going:


  • Basic skills for boating and fishing
  • Safety tips
  • Fishing tips
  • How to fish and boat content
  • Supplies needed for general and specific types of fishing
  • Links for immediate, online state fishing license buying
  • Links for state boat registration
ALL DIGITAL ASSETS
5 4 M VISITS

Up 277% over FY20

"WHERE TO" PAGES
4 . 1 3M VISITS

Up 313% over FY20

"HOW TO" PAGES
5 . 83M VISITS

Up 78% over FY20

719 . 5 K MAP VISITS

From TakeMeFishing.org

Interactive Places to Fish & Boat Map

RBFF’s Places to Fish & Boat Map delivered more information and appeared in more places than ever — on RBFF’s consumer websites and on the websites of state partners and industry stakeholders. The map directs consumers to a huge haul of fishing spots, boat ramps, and supply shop locations.

YouTube “How To” Videos

Newcomers headed in record numbers for Take Me Fishing™ video instruction so they could see for themselves how fishing is done right.

2 9 .1 M YOUTUBE CHANNEL VIEWS

345% increase over FY20

Research supported and tracked RBFF’s consumer engagement success — and that success got noticed.

Casting a Wide Net: Identifying New Anglers & Boaters and Determining Tactics for Retention

  • Market research conducted with global market-research firm IPSOS.
  • Confirmed the previous year’s audience segmentation research, which showed that our top growth segment — Active Social Families — have a high desire to try fishing and boating.
  • Projected that millions would be trying or returning to fishing and boating amid COVID-19.
  • Provided insights into hooking and retaining these consumers.

Special Report on Fishing

  • Study conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation annually.
  • Surveyed fishing participation and trends by consumer group, category of fishing, and overall.
  • Covered participation during the extraordinary year of 2020 and traced unprecedented participation numbers across all groups and all categories of fishing.

Harris Poll

  • Weekly polls beginning at the start of the pandemic, commissioned and authored by the RBFF marketing arm.

  • 2,000 Americans polled.

  • Revealed 1 in 5 Americans more interested in fishing than before.

  • Initial data guided development of Get on Board.

  • Ongoing findings tracked impact of RBFF consumer marketing.

  • Were used as the foundation for creating weekly and monthly blogs throughout the pandemic.

OnePoll

  • Conducted by RBFF and OnePoll to track attitudes towards the outdoors and fishing during the pandemic.

  • 63% surveyed said mental health benefits are an appealing reason to try fishing.

  • More than 50% tried fishing during COVID shutdowns.

  • 63% of those who went fishing look forward to teaching fishing skills to their children.

FY21 Awards for Get on Board

The Get on Board campaign was named a finalist in the prestigious PR Week Awards, “Best in Arts, Entertainment, Sports & Media” category. The nomination put us in good company, with fellow finalists including some of the biggest brands in marketing, such as Coors Lite and Microsoft.

The campaign also received an Award Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and was one of only three campaigns to receive a Merit Award from the American Society of Association Executives’ Gold Circle Awards.

FY21 State
Partners
LEADING TO A LIFELINE

State agencies’ recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) marketing expertise helped turn the year’s renewed interest in the outdoors into a full-on groundswell of participation in boating and fishing.

3 .2 M MORE FISHING LICENSES PURCHASED

nationwide 2020 over 2019

9 . 0M REACTIVATED ANGLERS

Up from 6.8M in FY20

8 3 % STATE AGENCY SATISFACTION WITH RBFF

Up 2% vs. FY20

9 0 % OF STATE AGENCY RESPONDENTS

agree that RBFF is a trusted source
for information on fishing and boating
participation trends.

State Agency Boat Registration Reactivation Program

RBFF quickly aligned state partners' Boat Registration Reactivation Program with the messaging and timing of the year’s Get on Board campaign. Even though fewer direct mail letters were sent to lapsed registrants in FY21 and fewer states participated due to COVID concerns, this year’s program saw exceptional returns. The public’s re-charged enthusiasm for boating led to an oversize response rate and more than a million dollars in registration fees.

2 9 K

BOATS
RE-REGISTERED

$ 1 . 2 M

GENERATED

in gross program fees

10 .76 %

RESPONSE RATE

(industry benchmark 2%)

Online Fishing Licenses and Boat Registrations

RBFF continued to steer consumers to state fishing license and boat registration sites from its TakeMeFishing.org and VamosAPescar.org websites, from its Places to Fish and Boat Map, and also directly from its embeddable Fishing License and Boat Registration widget.

The effectiveness of these online sales streams was confirmed by the year’s record-high catches of licenses and registrations, and by the Online Fishing License Assessment Study, a refresh of the 2012 online fishing license study, which reported a 10-times growth in the use of mobile license purchases to state license pages.

2.09M

Referrals to state license pages

Up 106%
302K

Referrals to state boat registration pages

Up 122%

RBFF Continued to Help State
Partners Develop R3 Marketing Skills

Virtual State
Marketing Workshop

Themed Shaping the Future with Customer Engagement, this year’s three day Workshop, presented by Fishbrain made history by not only going virtual, but also by attracting a record number of attendees from across the country. Participants shared their program-based experiences, tactics, and fresh ideas in multiple group Zoom sessions and a social breakout session.

Nearly

500 Registrants
RECORD PARTICIPATION
From Agencies in All 50 States and DC

  • Focused on digital marketing and advertising.

  • 11 state agencies presented R3 updates and marketing successes.

  • Dr. Sue Varma spoke on the mental health benefit of getting out on the water.

  • Emphasis throughout on retaining the millions of Americans who tried fishing and boating for the first time.

  • Jay Baer, founder of Convince & Convert, emceed the Workshop and closed the event with the presentation, “Coveted Customer Experience: Grow Fishing by Focusing on the 3 Things Anglers Truly Care About”.

Webinars

A more practical route to learning in FY21 than ever, RBFF’s state agency webinar series covered:

  • States’ digital marketing experiences

  • The year’s Get on Board campaign

  • Insights into R3 planning

  • Using search engine marketing (SEM)

  • Identifying new anglers and boaters for retention

5 WEBINARS IN FY21
8 .2 OUT OF 10
SATISFACTION

(average per webinar)

Get On Board Retention Toolkit

RBFF shared the strength of its Get on Board consumer campaign, making campaign materials available free to state partners to download and customize. The toolkit includes digital banners, social media posts, press releases, infographics, and a PSA video. RBFF followed up with states that had downloaded the toolkit to provide any help needed. RBFF also made its full photo library easier for states to access.

302

PARTNER TOOLKITS DOWNLOADED
10 ,803

PARTNER TOOLKIT PAGEVIEWS
SEE THE TOOLKIT

2021 State R3 Program Grants Partnerships

2020 State R3 Program Grants Partnerships

State R3
Program Grants

2021 State R3 Program Grants Partnerships

2020 State R3 Program Grants Partnership

Now in its 7th year, RBFF’s State R3 Program Grants awarded funds to 15 programs in 14 states. FY21 grants focused on retaining the wave of newcomers who discovered fishing and boating during the pandemic.


$ 30 8 K

in retention program grants
matching funds & in-kind support
of $380K from states

TOTAL FUNDING SUPPORT OF $688K

George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar™ Education Fund

The George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar™ Education Fund announced its sixth round of grants, awarded to 16 programs in 8 states. The programs will provide fishing and boating experiences and conservation education for Hispanic families. Funding of FY20’s 16 grantees will continue, so that programs delayed by the pandemic can be implemented.



2020 GRANTEES
$205K funding

with matching state funds

2021 GRANTEES
$212K funding

with matching state funds

RBFF Supported Key R3 Partners

RBFF sponsored the 2021 North American Wildlife and Natural Resource Conference hosted by the Wildlife Management Institute, an early partner in RBFF’s R3 work with state agencies.

RBFF was a gold-level sponsor of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA)'s 2020 Annual Meeting. Developed in partnership with AFWA, RBFF’s 2020 State Angler R3 Scorecard results indicate 24 states have full-time angler R3 coordinators, 12 states are implementing angler R3 plans, and 23 states are developing angler R3 plans — almost twice as many as in 2019.

FY21 Industry
Partners
LEADING TO A LIFELINE

As fishing and boating faced a year of uncertainty, RBFF stakeholder initiatives turned what could have been a hard year into a banner year, attracting new waves of anglers and boaters.

FROM TAKEMEFISHING.ORG
2 20 .6 K REFERRALS TO DISCOVER BOATING

Up 21.5% over FY20

NMMA
2 6 1K NEW BOATS SOLD FY21

Up 9% Over FY20

HIGHEST SINGLE-YEAR
Sales  Volume OF NEW BOATS IN 13 YEARS

44K New Boat Buyers

RBFF INDUSTRY SATISFACTION
6 9 % INDUSTRY SATISFACTION RATE

Up 1% over FY20

Coordinated Get on Board Consumer Marketing

RBFF collaborated with the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), and its Discover Boating arm to jointly implement Get on Board, RBFF’s FY21 on-target consumer campaign. Nearly 400 marine industry businesses supported the campaign, which succeeded in luring a pandemic-stressed nation to boating and fishing.

Fishbrain’s “Where To” Direction

App developer Fishbrain partnered with RBFF in bringing new content and value to Take Me Fishing’s embeddable, interactive Places to Fish & Boat Map. Fishbrain also served as presenting sponsor of RBFF’s February 2021 virtual State Marketing Workshop.

West Marine’s “How To" Webinars

RBFF and West Marine partnered to produce webinars for beginners. The webinars feature blogger and avid angler Debbie Hanson, and are packed with information on how to get started, the best times and places to fish, new skills to improve your fishing, and saltwater fishing basics.

530.3K

IMPRESSIONS

Learn More
George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar™ Education Fund Donors

Begun in 2014 with a generous donation from Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris, this engine of growing Hispanic community participation continued to attract industry donors. Combined with the matching funds of grant recipients' state fish and wildlife agencies, donors’ contributions will deliver more than $212,000 to the year’s programs.

$106K

INDUSTRY PARTNER

DONATIONS FY21

RBFF tools, increasingly adopted by stakeholders, turned new catches into keepers.

Embeddable Places to Fish & Boat Map

For many of the nation’s FY21 newcomers to fishing and boating, a first question was where to head to go fishing and boating, where to get supplies, and what COVID rules applied. With the Take Me Fishing™ Places to Fish & Boat Map embedded in stakeholders’ own websites, answers were at newcomers’ fingertips … and linked with each stakeholder’s brand.

Now on

1 0 6 PARTNER WEBSITES

  • Easy to embed — paste HTML tag into the brand’s web page HTML.

  • Totaled more than 700,000 sessions, even as anglers and boaters stayed close to home through the year.

  • Also available for industry partners to embed in their website: an interactive map plugin that updates consumers on any COVID-related restrictions in force at their angling or boating destination.

10 Facts About America’s
Newest Anglers and Boaters

A fast-reading fact sheet and an at-a-glance infographic keep partners’ sales and marketing strategies on course to attract new participants and turn them into avid enthusiasts.

SEE THE INFOGRAPHIC

RBFF Supported
Partners’ Virtual Events

RBFF served as —

  • Presenting sponsor of the American Sportfishing Association’s virtual ICAST 2020 Online, as ASA transitioned the event from its traditional Orlando-based in-person show.

  • Contributing sponsor of Association of Marina Industries' Conference & Expo and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas' Dealer Week.

FY21 Federal
Partners
LEADING TO A LIFELINE

RBFF and federal agencies expanded their collaborative projects, strengthening the public’s interest and involvement in boating and fishing — not just for this difficult year, but for years to come.

U.S. Forest Service
Barcode Technology

RBFF helped the U.S. Forest Service expand use of boat ramp barcodes (QRs) on its signage for on-site, real-time purchases of fishing licenses.

USFWS Sport Fish Restoration Program and U.S. Coast Guard Videos

Through all of its programs and efforts, RBFF helps the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fulfill its mission to support participation in fishing, sport fish restoration, boating opportunities, and conservation. This year, in conjunction with the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA), RBFF partnered with the USFWS to create a short video that explains to anglers and boaters how excise taxes on their purchases make USFWS activities possible. RBFF also worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to produce a boating safety video, posted on its Facebook page.

Federal 60 in 60 Committee

Begun in early 2017, the RBFF-led 60 in 60 initiative is now heading towards shore, with its goal of 60 million anglers in 60 months — by December 31, 2021— clearly in view. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that set 60 in 60 in motion had 6 U.S. government agencies as signatories — the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service). In addition, AFWA, ASA, and NMMA joined RBFF as non-governmental MOU signatories.

NOAA “Get Into Your Sanctuary” Campaign

NOAA inserted RBFF’s Fishing License widget into its Get Into Your Sanctuary website,
as well as a link to RBFF’s Boat Registration widget.

FY21 Conservation
LEADING TO A LIFELINE

The surge in FY21 participation in fishing and boating will help fund upcoming conservation and waterway management projects, as well as consumer education on how to enjoy a day on the water responsibly. Together, all of these efforts will provide a continued, essential lifeline for our nation’s outdoors.

TakeMeFishing.org

4 . 8 M
CONSERVATION
PAGEVIEWS

up 89% over FY20

Multistate Conservation
Grant Program

Through the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies' (AFWA) Multistate Conservation Grant Program (MSCGP), RBFF partnered with state agencies to implement digital marketing campaigns to help increase participation in boating and fishing, which ultimately fund conservation efforts. RBFF distributed the program’s grant funds, this year to help state fish and wildlife agencies implement digital marketing campaigns amid the pandemic. The state agencies working with RBFF through the grant program are:

  • Arizona Game & Fish Department

  • Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

  • Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism

  • Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife

  • Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission

  • Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

  • Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

#RecreateResponsibly

RBFF partnered in #RecreateResponsibly, a hashtag that created an informal social network of people who care about enjoying the nation’s outdoors safely, especially during the pandemic. #RecreateResponsibly connected enthusiasts with each other and with how-to guidance on social distancing, planning ahead, and safeguarding outdoor spaces.

VISIT SITE

Adopt a Lake

Even during a pandemic, families and organizations such as RBFF itself were able to join in on the Adopt a Lake program. RBFF staff got together in a socially distanced way to clean up and care for Lake Cook in Alexandria, Virginia.

Supporting Partners’ Programs

RBFF’s Senior State Marketing Manager served as a judge for the Association for Conservation Information awards competition, which recognizes and promotes excellence in the conservation information field.

FY21 The Course
Ahead
LEADING THE WAY

from nation’s lifeline to lifetime participation.

9 4 %

OF NEW BOATERS

say they’ll continue

9 0 %

OF NEW ANGLERS

say they’ll continue

Already Charting The Way Ahead

RBFF’s primary goals for FY22 are to stay on course for achieving 60 in 60 (60 million anglers in 60 months) by finish date December 31, 2021, and to retain for a lifetime the waves of newcomers who discovered the lifeline of boating and fishing this past year. December 31, 2021, will also mark the end of President Frank Peterson’s transformative 14-year leadership of RBFF. Peterson will assist with the transition to this next stage of RBFF’s onward success.

FY22 and beyond: Going forward, much of RBFF’s consumer marketing will build on the recruitment and retention momentum of FY21’s Get on Board campaign. Following its FY22 plan, RBFF will swell participation by introducing boating and fishing to new audiences, particularly active social families, while emphasizing diversity and youngsters. RBFF will incorporate Ipsos research insights into execution of the FY22 campaign, while creating and executing a new diversity plan.

Innovative media partnerships will increasingly leverage multiple channels across all platforms — TV, video, social media, digital, public relations, and in-person experiences. Integrated partnerships with key mass media brands will include a new partnership with the ABC primetime TV series Holey Moley, an extreme miniature golf competition. The show’s third and fourth season will feature a new Take Me Fishing™ hole, a non-skippable commercial, and Take Me Fishing™ brand messages delivered by the show’s hosts.

State agency partners can expect a resumption of in-person programs that were interrupted by the pandemic, such as the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) R3 training for personnel and First Catch Centers for urban youngsters. In preparation, there are already nine First Catch Center trailers. Also ahead, RBFF will explore continuing virtual components of its successful State Marketing Workshop, and continue to build out its retention toolkit. State partners’ Boat Registration Program will see a new dimension, a new Facebook digital option. And all partners can expect a fresh RBFF logo and brand identity strategy. The new look is just one way RBFF is strengthening communications and collaboration, as together we move towards the fair skies and open waters ahead.

The activities and accomplishments RBFF has reported for this year and the future are consistent with our Mission, Vision and Goals.

The FY21 Financial Report details the operational investments required to make these activities and accomplishments possible.

Board of Directors

RBFF’s Board of Directors is made up of individuals who have been appointed by RBFF and industry and state agency organizations. This group enables RBFF to keep the best interests of every facet of the fishing and boating community in mind as it carries out its mission.

Board List

Mission

To implement an informed, consensus-based national outreach strategy that will increase participation in recreational angling and boating, and thereby increase public awareness and appreciation of the need to protect, conserve and restore the nation’s aquatic natural resources.

Vision

RBFF is committed to spreading the joy of fishing and boating to all ages, genders and cultures. We envision one nation united in our passion for fishing and boating, a nation committed to the pursuit of leisure activity on the water, a nation that embraces our fishing and boating heritage, and conserves, restores and protects the resources that sustain it.

Sport Fishing Restoration Program

Through the Sport Fish Restoration Program, tax dollars from the purchase of rods, reels, lures, flies, motorboat fuel and accessories go toward conducting research, reintroducing sport fish species, restoring habitats, offering aquatic education, and constructing boat ramps and fishing piers.

By incorporating the Sport Fish Restoration logo — a shared symbol of cooperative conservation — in communication materials, RBFF partners and stakeholders can help educate the public about how boaters and anglers contribute to funding conservation in this country.

FISCAL YEAR 2021
FINANCIAL REVIEW

Download

Thank you for your interest and participation in FY21's achievements throughout an unprecedented year … and towards 60 in 60!