The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) recently announced that its Boat Registration Reactivation Program enticed 50,462 boat owners with lapsed registrations to renew their registration and get back on the water. This year’s program saw letters sent to lapsed boat owners in 19 states.

“For years, our Boat Registration Reactivation Program has successfully brought lapsed boaters back to the sport,” said RBFF President & CEO Frank Peterson. “With fishing being the number one activity done from a boat, the return on investment and impact on conservation funding make this program a no-brainer.”

In all, more than 600,000 letters were sent to owners of lapsed boats in 19 states, resulting in 50,462 registrations. This drove program revenue to nearly $1.9 and an estimated $145,000 in additional revenue from the Sportfish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund.

The Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries (DGIF) has long been a participant in the Boat Registration Reactivation Program. “We were excited to partner again this year with RBFF to try and welcome lapsed boaters back to the water in Virginia,” said Virginia DGIF Executive Director Bob Duncan. DGIF values boaters as a key constituent in supporting Virginia outdoor recreation, and being able to keep them active is important. By leveraging RBFF’s marketing resources and expertise with our own, we have been able to realize real success every year.”

Over the entirety of RBFF’s Boat Registration Reactivation Program, $11,723,086 million in revenue has been brought in from 321,672 boats being re-registered. Response rate for the 2018 program was 8.76%, well above the direct mail benchmark of 3%, according to McCarthy & King. All of this comes from a program that is 100% funded by RBFF and only requires minimal staff time from state agencies to participate.