Despite the wave of recent publicity, the organic movement is by no means a new movement. In nineteen forty, Rodale, a Pennsylvania researcher coined the word to describe a healthier method of farming which was free of pesticides. And throughout, the organic community has occupied somewhat conflicting terrain. The field is certainly beset by sometimes conflicting regulatory authorities encompassing the USDA, states and private bodies.
There are at least tens of thousands of certified organic farmers in the US. Last year alone, North American consumer expended billions of dollars on organic fruit, vegetables and meat. And with this backdrop, is an entire industry of professional lobbyists, advocates, business trade associations and ranchers.
So what do all of these diverse groups have in common? Apart from their shared interest in advancing the organic movement, all can benefit from the use of new technologies.
Indeed, many organic groups could benefit from new technologies that facilitate teleconferencing and collaboration. Whether it be
free conference technology including Rondee that allow standardized conferencing to high touch email newsletter applications, there has not been a more ideal time to leverage new technologies to advance the organic mission. The following ideas are just a handful of tips.
Deploy an automated electronic newsletter system
It wasn't too long ago that sending out an email newsletter was time consuming and difficult. This has now changed. On-line services such as Yesmail, Jangomail, and Enewsletterpro are making it possible to use scalable newsletters. These solutions cut the work load by as much as 70% and in so doing enable organic groups to concentrate on content creation rather than content delivery.
Augment your online professional network
The most advanced organic advocacy groups create strong networks of supporters who believe in their values and mission. While the word networking sometimes gets a less than ideal reputation, the general reality is these networks can provide substantial help to organic advocacy organizations. Today in the Bay Area, the expectation is that professional people will have at least a basic profile page on LinkedIn.
Leverage a free conference calling application
In the last five years, there has been more collaboration between geographically diverse organic advocacy groups. One cause of this trend has been lower flight travel costs a trend that may now be reversing with skyrocketing oil prices.
A separate driver is the accessibility of free teleconference start-ups. A lot of these types of
free conference call services, including the service offered by Rondee work on a similar underlying method. They give you a PIN and a toll number to dial. If all teleconference participants dial the same number and enter the same PIN code, they are placed into the conference.
Use data based decision-making
One of the most important trends recently affecting nonprofit organizations in the organic community has been the increasing reliance on evidence driven decision-making. Managers can apply the same practices with simple to use Excel or Lotus spreadsheeting applications to determine what works and what does not work. Increasingly, the hurdle for quality decision-making is rising and thus reliance on conjecture is being replaced by empirical data to justify processes.
Desktop sharing
Some organic advocacy groups have far flung leadership groups, and it is impractical to expect face-to-face meetings. Technology is solving this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's displaying a PowerPoint presentation illustrating the group's fundraising initiatives or a spreadsheet showing the performance desktop sharing can be quite useful for not a few organic groups.
