Environmental Nonprofits and NGOs

So this blog is really late however I thought better late then never:) The reason it took so long to write was because I was not jazzed up about environmental nonprofits and slightly over whelmed by the amount of reading that was posted for environmental nonprofits. Which was sizable according to my standards, which means a lot coming from an English major.

Once I talked to Sarah, my GTF and who is amazing, she encouraged me to at least watch "The Story of Stuff" videos. They are so amazing they break down environmental concepts and policies to a kindergartner lever, which I personally didn't mind considering my biggest challenge with following the environmental movement is all of the jargon they use. Plus the narrator is absolutely amazing she has just the right amount of spunk. I strongly suggest watching these videos before proceeding further because I will be referring to them often.So after I watching "The Story of Stuff" I was really pumped up about environmental nonprofits and the work they do. This led me to pour over the lecture slides to get the demographics of the sector.

There are 27,000 environmental nonprofits in the US. I was blown away by this number because the birth of the sector was in the 1960's. After watching the "Story of Stuff" this number seems to low. Why low? For starters the sector encompasses a wide range of topics from Wildlife to Smart Growth and everything in between. That every thing in between is interconnected. "Story of Stuff" just reinforced the need for more Environmental Nonprofits because at ever level of production there is pollution and environmental injustice being done against the planet and people.

In class we looked at this study by Hoffman that was done in 2009 that examined the interaction between environmental nonprofits and corporations. Hoffman categorized organization based on there ties with corporations. They were categorized as followed:

1. Isolates: Which maintain purity of mission by not interacting with corporations. I am all about purity of mission however they have little influence on corporate policy.
   
2. Mediators: They are central to the corporate network and talk to everybody. This allows them to influence more policy however it also can jeopardize there true mission.
   
3. Bridges: Are also central to corporations however they maintain few ties with other environmental nonprofits.
4. Independents: Don't like to mingle with corporations but are social butterflies in the environmental nonprofit world.
5. Captives: they don't mingle with corporations or other nonprofits.

These classifications were really interesting and also served as a pleasant distraction from Modernist Lit. trying to come up with examples of environmental nonprofits for each category. You should try it, its a brain tease!. Well at least it was for me. I would love to link to his research however I don't know the study name or Hoffman's first name. I will ask my professor or GTF soon and link to it or at least cite it.

The freedom in the US nonprofit sector has allowed environmental organizations to be slightly abrasive towards corporations and government. I didn't realize that this was such a good thing until Monday's class. Our guest lecture was by Renee Irvin from the 3PM Department. She was amazing she talked about her research in China on Nonprofits. First thing I learned from her lecture was that NGO's and Nonprofits are the same thing. I feel really stupid for not knowing this. My friend Evan, you should read his blog as well, was equally surprised. The second thing I learned was that China a really strict regulations like a the person has to have a large amount of start up money, they have to have an established member base, the government doesn't allow there to be multiple nonprofits with the same area even if there is demand for more. In addition to this the government can deny a nonprofit for no apparent reason. Nonprofits and the government works super close together. This is seems so wrong! What if you are an environmental NGO with a mission of improving air and water quality. This type of organization doesn't always see eye to eye and often times have a bad relationship.....


I know that I am leaving you hanging but more will come tomorrow! Have to go rock climbing at the gym.

Final Paper Topic

I will be examining the opposing advocacy groups that were involved in the California Proposition 8 election. In particular the role the Mormon Church played in the election. Is it right for advocacy groups and religious nonprofits from another state to participate so heavily in another state's election? I stumbled apon this research topic/question while talking to a friend from California so was so fired up about the election that I decide to examine the issue. I though that it would be interesting to examine the role nonprofits played in proposition 8.

Sources:

California Supreme Court Archive: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/archive/S168047.PDF

News Releases:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/presscenter/newsreleases/NR29-09.PDF

Mormons’ Prop 8 protested:

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/07/local/me-protest7

I AM NOT 21 AND I HATE POLAR BEARS

Advocacy is the smallest nonprofit sector. This sector employees 85,000 people and has countless number of volunteers and members. Advocacy nonprofits are unique in that they receive 31% of their revenue from donations which is larger then other nonprofit sectors: Social services 14%, health care Choice USA and National Right to Life. This is just one dichotomy of many in the advocacy sector.

So what does advocacy have to do with being 21 and hating polar bears? If you are a UO student walking past Lillis or the EMU you definitely know! This title is in response to the two main advocacy groups that annoy student on a daily basis,Greenpeace and some children's organization that I personally have been successfully avoided:) I love polar bears, children, the environment and I am 21 however advocacy can have really annoying fundraising techniques at times. I hate it when you are late to class and they try to stop you with heartstring lines like "Do you want to save a child today" or "Do you want to help save the environment" and you say "NO" or just ignore them. Afterwards you feel like such an asshole. I hate it even more when advocacy groups berate students while perusing the ASUO Street Fair. The Street Fair is a place for the student to escape from the world, eat amazing food, and barter with street vendors. On the off chance that you have time to talk or if you just can't say "NO" the fundraising asks and more importantly second/third asks are terrible. They have terrible fundraising skills if they worked at the AGP calling center they would not last a day! The only thing they have are heartstrings

Now that I have trash talked advocacy groups for a significant time I feel like I should redeem them. Advocacy groups are amazing they often single handily lead the charge on major issues world wide. They fight for ones or things that can't fight back. Think about it! What would the civil rights movement be without advocacy groups, or women's rights, or abortion or gay and lesbian rights, or environmentalism... the list goes on infinitely. I can't answer this question but maybe as a community we can.