The Green movement often occupies conflicting and difficult territory. For instance, throughout this year, the US Congress will be discussing a carbon trading system designed to cut carbon emissions in an effort to fight global warming.
Meanwhile, skeptics are increasingly seeing their arguments heard. Case in point: Czech Republic's President Vaclav Klaus, an economist, contends that the regulatory ambitions of today's global warming activists are caused by a communist impulse. He cites a number of influential scientists who critique the connection between carbon output and temperature increases. Or, more precisely, he cites research suggesting that the causality runs the opposite direction in that rising temperatures cause greater carbon capture in the atmosphere.
With this backdrop, it is no wonder that the green community encompasses such conflicting beliefs over tactics. Many of these differences relate to essentially opposed worldviews about the impact of technology. Ironically though, it is nothing other than technology that holds the promise of empowering the entire green community to achieve its aims.
Indeed, most if not all green groups can benefit from the use of new technologies that enable networking. From
free conference call solutions such as Rondee.com that enable scaleable teleconferencing to sophisticated email newsletter applications, there has never been a better time to leverage new technologies to advance the green cause.
Utilize online networking tools
The most successful green advocacy groups create networks of supporters who believe in their values and mission. While the word networking often gets an unfavorable connotation, the simple reality is that these networks can provide significant help. Today in the Bay Area, the expectation is that professional folks will have at least a minimal profile page on
Linked In.
At the same time, other networking applications such as Facebook are starting to experience usage by more professional users. These services also offer a relatively easy way of developing your network.
Leverage a free conference call system
In the last few years, there has been increasing levels of coordination between geographically diverse green advocacy groups. One underlying reason for this trend has been reduced air travel costs a trend that may now be reversing with leaping oil costs.
A separate driver is the advent of
free conference calling services. Most of these systems, including those offered by Rondee.com work on the same underlying principle. They offer you a PIN and a toll number to call. If all teleconference participants dial the same number and enter the same PIN code, they are put into the conference phone call.
Use an automated electronic newsletter platform
It wasn't too long ago that sending out an email newsletter was time consuming and difficult. That has now changed. On-line services such as Jangomail, Yesmail, and Enewsletterpro are making it possible to create templated and scalable newsletters. These services reduce the work load by at least 80% and in so doing allow green groups to focus on content creation rather than content delivery.
Investigate desktop sharing technologies
Some green advocacy groups have far flung leadership teams, and it is difficult to expect in person meetings. Technology is solving this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's sharing a PowerPoint presentation illustrating the group's development plan or a spreadsheet showing the tracking of volunteer participation desktop sharing can be very useful for not a few green groups.
Use data based decision-making
One of the key trends recently affecting nonprofit organizations in the green community has been the escalating reliance on evidence driven decision-making. Leaders can apply the same techniques with simple to use Excel or Lotus spread-sheeting applications to determine what works and what does not work. Increasingly, the hurdle for quality decision-making is rising and reliance on conjecture and theory is being replaced by empirical data to support decisions.
