Managing Environmental Organizations - The Portland Experience

I remember my first day at the BTA being incredibly nerve-racking, as I was unsure how I would fit in at such a specifically focused organization.  However, eight weeks later, I cannot say enough good things about my experience working here at the BTA.  The atmosphere at this organization is exhilarating and contagious.  As I have said in the past, the BTA thrives on their passion and dedication to promoting bicycle transportation and a greater sense of community health.  Everyone in the office is light-hearted and friendly, however when it comes to work, the environment is hard working and productive.  More than most non-profits I have encountered in the past, the BTA is extremely successful at accomplishing their goals.

Case and point: my project that I have been working on for the past two months is the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) National Conference, a symposium, now expected to host over 500 attendees from all over the world, and almost completely organized and hosted by the BTA.  In my mind, it is incredible that this small non-profit of only about twenty full-time employees and a few local volunteers has been able to organize such a large-scale event.

Throughout the summer, helping to promote and organize this conference, I have had the opportunity to learn and experience first-hand how non-profit organizations function and what makes them successful.  And in the end, I truly believe it is nothing more than dedication, long hours, and extremely hard work (all things the BTA does really well).  I have nothing but the deepest respect for the BTA’s mission and the work that they do.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my summer here and all that the organization has taught me about non-profit work and cycling, and I am looking forward to possibly continuing the work that I have done here back at the National Center for Safe Routes to School in NC.

Having spent close to eight weeks now working at my organization, it is easy to fall into the tedium that can sometimes characterize non-profit work. Particularly as the legal world enters an August lull, the office focus shifts from specific cases to the more routine jobs of raising money, writing letters and updating information. But to generalize work at a non-profit this way would be unfair to the activities of the entire summer.

I have greatly enjoyed my summer experience, and have learned a great deal about environmental law, the legal world and environmental organizations. Crag holds a particularly unique position in many different organizational categories and I have benefited greatly from this distinct perspective. I have worked on fundraising, newsletters and the more routine necessities of a non-profit organization, like thank you notes. However, I have also done work on cases and briefing, attended hearings and drafted letters to Congressmen. This wide breath of tasks makes working at a non-profit exciting and challenging. Here lawyers must not only know their legal stuff, but also help plan fund raising events and hobnob with potential donors. While many would find this additional work annoying, I think it adds a particularly sense of satisfaction when achieved. Ultimately then, I think public interest work provides a benefit to society and oneself that I intend to seek out in the future. This has been a valuable lesson I have learned over my summer and makes my work at Crag something that will greatly influence my future decisions.

As I’ve posted before, this summer has been a lot about meetings. Fittingly enough, the one I sat in on yesterday really helped me gain perspective on the organization, non-profits, and my own experience this summer.

It was a discussion about the positives and negatives of strategic planning, and it brought out a lot of the character of each person and the organization as a whole. Everyone here has a passion for what they do. They set their workplans and they all do their best to achieve their goals. Most people in the office cannot handle a 90 minute meeting because they are thinking about the work they could be accomplishing with that time, and I really appreciate their enthusiasm for their jobs. Coming into this, we heard that non-profits are laid back, but at RN it is in dress code alone. These people work their butts off.

I also learned how excited this office is for the future. These planning sessions have brought up new ideas for programs that could really put River Network on the map and bring the warranted national attention to water issues in the United States. Up until these planning sessions, each person or team in this office sort of did their own thing, and now they are looking for ways to integrate programs to find ways to be a more effective organization overall (kind of reminds me of what Duke grad schools are doing).

I don’t know if that really sums up my summer, but it just was one of the best meetings I’ve been to this summer, to see the communication, the passion, and the hope that this organization has within one of the worst recessions in history.  While I don’t think I want to work for a non-profit (unless my husband is reallly rich!), I respect these people and the work they do.

My experience at the OLCV has been invaluable to me. I now feel that I have a much better understanding of the nonprofit world and of West Coast environmental politics. I have even greater respect than before I came to Portland for the level of commitment involved in assuming any role at a nonprofit. There are limited resources available and often the organizations are understaffed and faced with budget cuts especially due to the present economic conditions. At the OLCV, despite all of the obstacles in their way, the employees are all committed to the green causes the organization supports. First and foremost I have learned it is essential to be passionate about the issues the organization is defending to find working at a nonprofit rewarding. It is also necessary to have a clear vision about the goals you wish to accomplish and the time frame in which they need to be completed. One must also recognize that even seemingly menial tasks – like entering information in to a central databank – are critical for the organization to function efficiently. I have also learned that one needs to be able to be flexible and adaptable when faced with challenges that hinder you from completing a project in the way you originally planned. The project must be completed no matter the circumstances. I suppose that these strategies apply to any work environment, but I feel that they are particularly needed at nonprofits.

The task that I feel the most proud of after my time at the OLCV is the bowling fundraiser I coordinated and executed. I think the project helped me understand the intricacies of how the organization interacts with other members of the environmental community and how it depends on the support of organizations with a similar vision for a good part of its financial and networking needs. The fundraiser gave me a sense of personal fulfillment because I felt like the funds I was able to help raise were truly appreciated by everyone in the office. Although it was sad for me to sit in on staff meetings where the staff was discussing budget cuts, after the successful turnout at the fundraiser, I no longer felt helpless to improve the situation – even if only in a small way. I began to feel a sense of injustice on their behalf. The staff of the OLCV is comprised of good people, committed to protecting Oregon’s environment, and just trying to make enough money to live on and let the organization function smoothly. It therefore seems unfair that it should be plagued with financial issues. On these occasions I observed the reactions of the staff with admiration. There was not any complaining – everyone’s face just took on a hardened, more determined expression. I got the sense that they all felt that this was just a storm they were committed to weathering through together.

I have a few suggestions for how to improve the DukeEngage Portland program. I definitely think it would be beneficial to have a workshop and discussion about the structure and organization of nonprofits before students begin their placements. Also, I think that students would benefit from more contact with their partner organizations before the internships commence. This would not only get supervisors and students more comfortable with communicating with one another, it would also help the students to learn more about the organization’s mission and important projects and give them time to reflect and formulate ideas about specific skills they wish to improve or acquire through the experience. A couple of the seminars at the DukeEngage Academy did recommend that we do this, but in a less formal, journalistic manner. I think students would gain more from a tentative goal-exchange session with their supervisor with the caveat that these goals are subject to change if students discover a niche in other new projects that they could effectively fill.

~Katie

These 8 weeks at OEC have flown by, I could not imagine a better, more interesting and fun place to have interned this summer.  It has been exhilarating racing through these last two weeks trying to complete my various projects.  I think that without a doubt, selling lunchboxes has been my most successful project.  Not only was I able to learn able marketing and advertising, but I was given free reign to design my own campaigns.  I have never been so proud as I was the morning that Jason came and told me that we were almost out of lunchboxes.

The baby shower event was definitely a challenge, as is planning any event which your life expriences thus far haven’t prepared you for.  But I think that it is going to be great and I’m sad that I won’t be able to see it carried out.  Hopefully, I have left OEC with all the materials they need, but I am here for them whenever they might need me (I expect a 11pm call the night before the event wondering where I saved to-do list).

I’m exceedingly grateful to my boss, Jen, for allowing me the free-reign to pick my own last project.  I’m currently busy working on creating a report about toxins in makeup and I’m really excited to send it out to everyone in the group.

In the end OEC is an amazing organization and whoever gets to intern here next summer has a great opportunity.  What future interns do will probably be completely different from my tasks, especially given that OEC has a hand in almost every environmentally related issue you can imagine (from eco-healthy child cares, to sustainable farming, to global warming, even carbon neutral wineries!)

A great deal of my project is hanging out there, a lose end to be finished next week- months of research culminating in a final and climactic mailing. It will be nice to see that happen, to put a period on my largest project. I hope that responses will be positive, that my work will have helped the Nature Conservancy raise money to continue their projects and meet their goals. More importantly however, I hope that the work that I have done here will become a template for future development, a place for other volunteers and employees to pick up and add to in the future. That is one of the things that I have noticed here, that everyone is focused on what is going on now, with an eye to future development. It makes sense; this is after all, an environmental organization whose mission is to preserve natural habitats that are present now so that the environment will remain intact for future generations. TNC runs on science, a field that is ever changing, yet slowly developing. Environmental studies take years and years to complete, yet new information comes in daily from all directions. TNC is well poised to function with this ebb and flow, patient until all of the information is there, and then moving quickly to get things done when the time is right.

It is a combination of these factors that have taught me important lessons this summer. The tedium could build as I sat at my desk, staring at an excel spreadsheet, completely forgetting why I was still clicking around. Then, taking example from my co-workers, I looked to the future, to the goals I am trying to accomplish, reminding myself that getting this mailing list right would mean that the correct people would get the letter I had written and might be inspired to donate money to meet fundraising goals intended to allow for the purchase of that piece of land that is important habitat for an endangered bird species.

The major challenge that TNC faces is to make people share in this far sightedness. Giving to the environment can seem a luxury, a donation that can be cut from the budget right now, especially as the basics of living become more difficult in these tougher economic times. But the environment can’t wait. If we don’t do things now, there won’t be anything left to protect.

I think that I could see myself working in the non-profit field in the future. I have spent most of my life in the odd state of being goal driven and purpose oriented, yet unsure of my final destination and enjoying the slight uncertainty. That seems to be where lots of people in this office are coming from. They are passionate, interesting people that care about a cause, but didn’t set out on a professional path and have taking a meandering route to get where they are today. Quite a bit like myself.

A concern that was subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) expressed during the DukeEngage Academy was that we’d be disappointed by our service placements, once we got to our place of “engagement.” The potential tedium of nonprofit work was stressed — working at a computer, performing menial tasks, etc. I’ve volunteered with a few nonprofits during high school and college, and so I felt prepared for this possibility.

The fact that my work at The Nature Conservancy has been, for the most part, interesting, challenging and even intellectually stressful at times was unexpected—and I’m grateful for it. I’m still pretty floored by the fact that this organization is run as tightly as a successful business is…and is, in its own way, a small business, one that involves real estate, philanthropy and science-based analysis. It’s an organization that breeds loyalty; most people I work with have been here for several years; some, decades. There’s an overwhelming amount of work going on, and work that people care about.

In that vein…I’ve been especially impacted by just how much people care about their work. The majority of TNC employees I’ve spoken with about how they ended up working here have stories starkly contrasted to those of my fellow Duke students, who are competitive job- or professional-school bound. Of course, I guess it’s uncommon to go to college for the nonprofit fast track. Still, many of the positions here seemed to have been acquired by accident. One of my supervisors started as a receptionist; now she heads the philanthropy department. The finance administrator started working as a volunteer, then as a part-time receptionist, then as a receptionist…and now she handles the entire office’s finances. A woman I interviewed this morning—the coastal stewardship ecologist, in charge of almost all of the coastal preserves—started as a volunteer too, and applied for the job hesitantly, urged on by her husband.

People end up working here because they genuinely want to do this work, and they’re happy and they’re invested. And they accomplish a lot. The Nature Conservancy was named as one the top 100 nonprofits to work for last year—a year that saw one of the worst economic situations in recent memory.

I’m glad to feel like I’ve concretely contributed to TNC’s mission while I’ve been here. Not only have I worked on grants (that I hope will be approved!), I’ve gotten to know a lot about the landscapes I’m helping protect (thanks to great trips planned by our supervisors here). It’s been, at the risk of sounding banal, a deeply satisfying experience. I think our DukeEngage group will come back with some really positive things to say, and very few complaints to make.

–Sarah

8 weeks have passed, and we near the end of our time in Portland.  Time for final reflections and conclusions!  As you think back on this summer, try to put the work you’ve done, people you’ve met and meetings you’ve attended in context….how do you manage an environmental organization and make it effective?

Evaluate your perceptions and effectiveness of your organization’s work and non-profits in general.

What role do NGOs and these organizations play in society?  Do you think they are valuable and contribute something to society at large?

Could you see yourself working for a non-profit in the future?  What are your own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to non-profit work?

What skills did you acquire or experiences you had this summer that helped you better understand the non-profit world, how to confront environmental issues or how you would like to be involved?

What have you learned about and from the people who run these organizations?  What kind of characteristics and qualities do they possess?

What are major challenges for your organization (perhaps, fundraising?) and how does your organization overcome them?

Feel to write about a specific project or task that you think you did well and how it contributed to the work of the organization.

Things are definitely starting to pick up here as we just past the three-week point before the commencement of the second ever Safe Routes to School National Conference.  For the past five weeks, I have been intimately working to finalize many of the details and logistics that make up a national conference.  A typical day recently has included any one or a combination of the following: writing press releases, letters, bios, conference handouts; contacting speakers and attendees for information and logistical confirmation; creating directories; contacting event companies; party planning; attending strategic planning meetings/staff meetings; etc.  It is has been incredibly interesting getting to see all of the behind the scenes work that goes into planning such a large event, and more specifically, it has been exciting to play such a large role in the success of this conference.  In the past week or so, we have found out that our Conference attendance exceeded the expected number of registrants, and we are now looking to have about 500-600 people attend the Conference.

More exciting news…two weeks ago I switched my flight from the group departure date of the 15th of August to the last day of the Conference.  I have been torn with this decision, as this new departure date gets me back to school really late, however, now that all is said and done, I am excited to have the opportunity to stay and be able to see my work through until the end.  Moreover, I am excited just to be able to attend the conference.  As I begin narrowing my focus of what I want to do with my environmental degree after Duke, I am leaning more and more towards environmental urban planning and development.  I think this conference, with speakers discussing safe urban bike routes, urban planning, the effects of the built environment, city infrastructure, transportation, etc., will be a great opportunity to learn more about what I possibly might want to do later in life and hopefully as well will provide insight into how to improve the city infrastructure at Duke and in Durham to make it more environmentally friendly.

The nitty- gritty: I spend most of my days in the office doing something with excel. I organize lists, compare them to other lists, expand spreadsheets, research the information that goes into expanding said spread sheets, call people to find out more information and draft letters…. By the end of my time here, I will have researched corporations that are good prospects for corporate membership with TNC, tracked down information about their giving policies, compiled a mailing list of said companies, composed a letter to them and mailed it. If all goes as planned, lots of those companies will respond with something along the lines of “Wow Nature Conservancy, you are a great organization and we want to become a corporate member and give you lots of money to support your good works and preserve our natural spaces.”.. or something to that effect. Kim, my supervisor, has been great. Although she works in Corvallis, she has been really good about getting back to me when I have questions. She also loves tabs on documents as much as I do.

I have enjoyed my project, but it can sometimes be a bit tedious. What I have enjoyed most is the staff meetings, trustee meetings and individual meetings with people in TNC to learn about what they do. I have really expanded my knowledge of the organization as a whole, just by wandering around and talking to people. I have learned a lot about the different paths that people have taken to get where they are (something that I am very interested in), what their job entails and how it fits in with everyone else.

Sarah and I have also been on some great trips, which she mentioned in her blog. They were absolutely fantastic. There is nothing better than wandering through nature with adventurous people who can tell you about every bird and plant, how to use it and if you can eat it. I have also learned about why the places we have gone are, or are not, owned by TNC, how they are managed etc. It’s been a great natural history lesson.

 All in all, I am melancholy to think that it is time to start looking to rapping things up. I am settling in pretty comfortably here. I hope to stay in touch with the people in the office however. I have made some good friends.