2007 year

• Search and Social Media Emerge as Key Shopping Influencers

  For environmental nonprofits this is a genuine conundrum, which is actually Latin for “annoying problem involving paper.”

  They need to attract donors and members, and to keep those supporters informed and happy. That means that the groups need to market. And that means using paper, ink, and energy (for printing and transportation), which typically requires cutting down trees, using petroleum-based products, and expending non-renewable resources.

  You can see the issue: To raise money to save the environment, environmental groups employ marketing techniques that are often detrimental to the environment.

  “[Our] members are sensitive to the issue, but the mail tends to be the lifeblood of most nonprofits, particularly nonprofits that need to generate income through donors,” says Anthony W. Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers. “The mail has traditionally been the go-to medium for prospecting for new members and new supporters and generating income.”

  So you won’t see environmental groups forsaking their primary marketing method; after all, their goal is to minimize negative impacts on the environment, not to eliminate any impact on the environment at all.

  “Environmentalism is not about sending everyone back to live in caves with candles,” says Maryll Kleibrink, director of development for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ). “It’s about reducing our impact on the environment as much as possible by taking a precautionary approach and using only the safest alternatives.”

  The CHEJ, which educates people about the dangers posed by chemicals in some communities and empowers local clean-up groups, doesn’t accept any funding from government agencies or corporations, so the only way it sustains itself is by reaching out to the public to ask for support. “We do that in the most environmentally responsible way we can, and work hard to find the least harmful alternatives possible,” says Kleibrink.

  Fortunately, donors and members tend to understand that marketing requires resources consumption, but these groups still strive for sustainable campaigns. “There’s no question that we must reach out to members and potential members and keep them informed of our work, and at the same time balance the need to do that with our values and our mission,” says Bridget Lowell, the senior media relations manager at The Nature Conservancy, a conservation organization that works to protect ecologically important lands and waters.

  Paper pinchers

  Because of its mission, the CHEJ is keen on minimizing chemical pollution. The paper it uses is chlorine-free, since bleaching paper produces the toxic chemical dioxin.

  “You can get it totally chlorine free, but they use virgin pulp because with recycled paper, there may have been chlorine in the paper originally,” explains Kleibrink. “So we use processed chlorine free, meaning it’s recycled and no chlorine was used in the recycling.” While CHEJ doesn’t have hard data on how much more they pay for processed chlorine-free paper than they would for conventional paper, Kleibrink does have the impression that they pay more to choose this environmentally responsible option.

  To minimize the environmental impact of its paper materials, The Nature Conservancy uses products certifie d by the Forest Stewardship Council, an organization that guarantees the wood came from a certified well-managed forest. To become certified, a company must comply with 10 principles and 57 criteria that address such matters as legal issues, indigenous rights, labor rights and environmental impacts.

  New technology also helps. This year, the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), a national nonprofit working to build a renewable energy market, created a CD version of its annual report and stopped offering paper copies. To cut down even further on materials in the mailing, the group employed CD packaging that uses no glue. “This is our first year of stepping away from the traditional book,” says communications director Sarah Krasley. “We got great feedback — people thought it went with our mission to promote corporate responsibility in business.”