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Tag: sierra club

Making Your Donations Count: 5 simple guidelines for selecting conservation organizations to support

Posted on May 21, 2013June 17, 2013 By Andrew Thaler 5 Comments on Making Your Donations Count: 5 simple guidelines for selecting conservation organizations to support
Conservation

headshot-thalerSMALLEvery year, the number of non-governmental organizations (NGO’s for short) committed to reducing climate change, saving the ocean, developing alternative energy sources, cutting down plastic use, not cutting down forests, or myriad other worthy causes, grows. Many of these organizations are staffed by committed, hard-working environmentally minded advocates struggling to make a difference. But, with so many NGO’s out there, and more being founded, how are concerned citizens expected to know which NGO’s are effective, which best match their ideals, and, most important, which NGO’s are worthy of their donations (either of money of of volunteer time). To alleviate this problem, I’ve assembled a set of 5 relatively simple guidelines to help you evaluate and select a conservation NGO that fits your values and gets the job done.

1. Determine how well the NGO incorporates local and indigenous stakeholder groups into their programs.

I’ve started here because this is the most difficult to assess but, by far, the most important. The most successful NGO’s seek out local stakeholders for consultation. The very best include local stakeholders among their employees, at high management positions. The reasons for this should be obvious: local stakeholders are familiar with the political and social climate of the region in which they’re working. They have personal connections to key decision makers in the community. Stakeholders are more sympathetic to a conservation message when that message is being delivered by respected members of their community, rather than purely by outsiders. Without local support, many conservation initiatives are doomed to failure.

Read More “Making Your Donations Count: 5 simple guidelines for selecting conservation organizations to support” »

The Sierra Club Presents: WhySharksMatter!

Posted on August 24, 2010 By David Shiffman 2 Comments on The Sierra Club Presents: WhySharksMatter!
Science

On Thursday, September 2nd at 7:00 P.M., I will be the South Carolina Sierra Club’s Speaker of the Month! The event will be held at MUSC’s Baruch Auditorium, which is 284 Calhoun Street. I have prepared a 45 minute multimedia presentation on shark conservation, followed by a question and answer session. If any of our … Read More “The Sierra Club Presents: WhySharksMatter!” »

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