In the parlance of ham radio, it's an "awards scheme"--certain activities will gain the participant awards, in the case of POTA that would be going to an accept

In the parlance of ham radio, it's an "awards scheme"--certain activities will gain the participant awards, in the case of POTA that would be going to an accepted park and making ten valid radio contacts ("activating" the park) or making one contact with someone inside a valid park ("hunting" the park). There are also awards for number of parks activated or hunted, activating parks on certain bands, etc. Worth noting that it's not just nationwide, it's global. :)