Green Lake Small Craft Center

According to the Trust for Public Land, Green Lake Park is the most visited public park in the Pacific Northwest, welcoming over 3,650,000 people each year. One of the park’s most heavily-used facilities is Green Lake Small Craft Center. Nestled in the southwest corner of the park, it is one of the very few options for low-cost water sports in the city.

With its growing popularity and use, the Green Lake Small Craft Center realized a great need to increase its capacity to serve more visitors. To do this, the organization began a $6.2 million campaign to create a new Green Lake Community Boathouse. The new facility will create a community gathering place that connects people of all ages, abilities, neighborhoods, incomes, and backgrounds to the transformational experience of water sports.

In 2017, the Green Lake Small Craft Center approached Ostara to help lead the organization through a campaign planning study, grant-writing support, and campaign counsel. Together, we built a strong campaign strategy and a unique partnership between the campaign’s dedicated volunteers and Ostara. Even with limited staff capacity, this task force took on the campaign with ease, raising 95% of its $6.2 million dollar goal by the end of 2019.

Green Lake Small Craft Center is on track to begin construction in the summer of 2020. This campaign demonstrates what can be accomplished with a stellar volunteer project manager and a fearless volunteer team that has a common goal, strategy, and passion. We are thrilled with the progress they have made and look forward to seeing the impact of their new Green Lake Community Boathouse.