to acquire easements, which may be beneficial to the Croton Waterworks when considering issues such as encroachment on the historic viewshed. private, non-profit organization geared toward the preservation of historic places, offers multiple grants awarded to non-profit organizations and public agencies that could be used toward the stewardship of the system. First, the National Trust Preservation Fund is a matching grant of $500 to $5000, dedicated to preservation planning and education. The second possible fund is the Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation, which is geared toward National Historic Landmarks and provides grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to contribute to the preservation or the recapture of an authentic sense of place. The last fund for which the Waterworks might be eligible is the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors, which provides between $2,500 to $10,000 toward the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of historic interiors. This fund in particular could be used to restore and reinterpret a structure’s interior such as the High Bridge Water Tower or the Dobbs Ferry Keeper’s House. Each of these grants is specifically tailored for supporting educational initiatives and programming that will raise awareness about the Waterworks, while also maintaining and rehabilitating various landmarked properties. Other organizations that could be strong sources of support and that are already working toward the preservation of different segments of the Croton Waterworks are Groundwork Hudson Valley, Historic Hudson Valley, and the High Bridge Coalition. More information on the work of these organizations is included in the Partners section of this book. Lastly, the High Bridge Coalition has been leading a New York City-wide campaign to restore and reopen the High Bridge and its adjacent parks for public use. Due to the hard work and dedication of the Coalition and its Section 4: Conclusion Possible Funding Sources New York City Organizations Aside from the Department of Transportation as a potential funder on the federal level, the New York City Department of Transportation could help subsidize the cost of adding signage on the sidewalks of New York City. They would be able to provide good deals on signage if we worked in conjunction with them on some of our projects. Our medium-sized signage project and the blue Croton trail line are two examples of projects that we could do with the City Department of Transportation. Similarly, the Department of Parks would be a very useful partner in subsidizing initiatives 105 The online forums that our group initiated were very effective: the number of visitors to our main Croton Waterworks website grew from 329 people in March 2011 to 622 in April 2011, translating to an increase from 11 to 21 daily visitors on average. Our e-mail campaign method of audience targeting generated a significant increase in both blog and website traffic, surging from an average of 88 visits cper week to 238 visits per week after the initial launch was sent. Following the second e-mail campaign, the visitation activity on the Croton Conversations page skyrocketed to 98 visits in one day, versus 10 visits on the day prior and 3 visits on the day before that. Likewise, activity on the Croton Waterworks page increased by a remarkable 170 percent for the week after the second e-mail campaign was distributed. Posting activity also correlated and increased with our subsequent second and third e-mail campaigns. The most effective portal to both the Croton Waterworks page and the Croton Conversations page was Facebook. The Croton Conversations page was the second-most-effective portal to the main Croton Waterworks page. These results not only reinforce the efficacy of our efforts, but they also demonstrate the potential for raising awareness and advocacy beyond the local community. Furthermore, e-mail campaigning provides a means for work to continue with Croton following the conclusion of the Columbia studio project. We have created a template for future mailings, so that if and when someone inherits this project, they can simply input a question in the allocated space and distribute it to the mailing list. There is also flexibility for more e-mail addresses to be added to the distribution list. The quantifiable results of these digital approaches are evident in the numbers we’ve reported. There is also much to be said for the intangible benefits that these sites have fostered: they have and are still raising awareness of the Croton Waterworks. Awareness is at the heart of our mission because it is a key step to advocating for the protection of the system. Online Forum Analysis and Conclusions 106 Online Forum Analysis and Conclusions Section 4: Conclusion on parkland, which is often adjacent to Croton structures. The rehabilitation of the Croton Waterworks and, more importantly, the reinstatement of many of its elements of beautification would fit into Mayor Bloomberg’s New York City PlaNYC initiative. The PlaNYC program’s vision is to provide