Archive for October, 2009

I’ve been on the road for a bit, and here are a couple of interesting job openings that have been sitting in my inbox waiting to be shared:

Walton Family Foundation

There’s an opening at the Walton Family Foundation for an Environment Program Associate, to be based in the Washington DC office. The individual will be involved in grantmaking for freshwater and marine conservation programs.

The Program Associate will work with other foundation staff, under the supervision of the Environment Program Director, to assist with the management of grants made by the program and with the evaluation of grantee performance and progress under our grant.

As far as qualifications, the Foundations wants “an understanding of issues related to the conservation of marine and freshwater systems, and familiarity with the use of market-based tools for conservation.” I know the person they will report to — and she’s a great boss who has mentored many young staff who have moved on to great things.

The job description calls for three years of experience. That’s the “moving from first to second” job in the field kind of thing. If that’s you — good luck. If that description fits someone you know, please pass this link on to them.

Click here to download the full description.

Fun Fact: The Walton in Walton Family Foundation refers to Sam Walton of Wal-Mart fame. I often park my little RV at Wal-Marts while traveling to and fro on business.

Silicon Valley Leadership Group

If you’re a heavyweight cat-herder, you should check out this vacancy with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a trade association of the big tech companies that are driving innovation in environmental communications. The group is looking for a Climate Change Program Director who will be…

…responsible for the overall leadership of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative, the steering committee and it’s working groups covering areas such as electric vehicles, solar and green building standards, alternative energy.  The Program Director ensures all BACC initiatives are high-quality, are measureable and support the guidelines of the Bay Area Climate Compact.

It’s a heavyweight position — salary is more than six figures. They’re looking for ten years of experience, at least.

Click here to see the full job description.

Here’s an attention-grabbing picture that’s hard to beat! And although the rest of the brochure is text heavy and not quite as clever, I think it does the job (Click here to see the full thing). Here’s the rundown:

• Step One: Begin with Behavior. Check — dispose of your used motor oil and household chemicals properly
• Step Two: Find Foolproof Photos. 1/2 Check — the baby picture is awesome, but there’s no photos of anybody properly disposing of their motor oil
• Step Three: Swap the Shoptalk. No check. Is it really necessary to tell the people reading this brochure that “Chapter 455D.13 of the code of Iowa prohibits final disposal of oil in a landfill?” How about just saying “It’s against the law in Iowa for you to send used motor oil to a landfill.”
• Step Four: Use Words That Work. 1/2 Check. They use the word “safe” and have a picture of a child, but they could squeeze a few more in here, I think.

So I have no idea if Marcal‘s line of recycled and environmentally-friendly “small steps” paper products live up to their claims, but you might want to steal a sheet from their marketing playbook. They do a terrific job of making it seem easy to do something for nature – they’re completely candid that purchasing recycled paper products is a “small step.” So when they claim that these small steps add up to a big difference, you tend to believe it.

For good measure, they report on how many trees have not been cut down, thanks to their customers’ efforts. The fundamental technique at work here is something you can use for other kinds of communications: Fundraising, issue advocacy, behavior change. Emphasizing how easy that first step is, and how it adds up to something if a lot of people do it.

Getting people to take that first step is hard, so making it seem easy is just plain smart. But some of those first-steppers have now developed an appetite for more. Assuming Marcal keeps track of who their customers are, there is an opportunity out there to “upsell” them from that first small step to a bigger next step. Perhaps one you has an idea to pitch them on?

Perhaps they want to donate a small amount to protect old-growth forests? Perhaps their big institutional customers would like to send their staff out for day-of-service tree planting party along along some eroded stream bank somewhere?

It was a pleasure to attend the Chesapeake Watershed Forum this year and do a two-part training on making the most of the online Chesapeake Watershed Network – and how to avoid email overload on the way.

Click here to download the presentation.