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Issues Campaigns for Non-Advocacy Organizations

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Many conservation organizations shy away from advocating on issues because they work closely with local governments or state agencies and don’t want to antagonize them.

But advocacy can also lead to growth.  For example, over the last 20 years Organizations in the Waterkeepers Alliance – which advocate and also take legal action against polluters – have grown much faster than typical watershed associations which are usually focused on water quality monitoring and public education but avoid controversy.

Even neutral organizations that provide technical expertise should take advantage of hot Issues in order to highlight the importance of their work. 

For example, the Superior Rivers Association provides water quality data to local tribes and municipalities. It sees itself as a technical organization.  But when a huge taconite mine was proposed for their headwaters, the organization hosted informational public meetings and used those to recruit new water quality monitors to help establish a baseline and track the water quality in the case that such a mine were built.  They increased donations, and the number of trained water quality monitors rose by 50%.

They never took a stand on the taconite mine proposal itself.  But they did come out against loosening water quality regulations that stood in the mine’s way, because as a technical organization they valued sound science.

Critical issues like proposed mines are an opportunity highlight the importance of your conservation organization, whether it’s advocacy-oriented, technical or academic.

Online outreach on hot issues lets you reach even more individuals.  Originally used only by national groups, today it is ubiquitous among statewide organizations. Local conservation groups should be adopting it now too, because it’s local issues that people feel strongest about.

If you’re curious about online advocacy tools be sure to join us for Kathleen Tyner’s presentation about online advocacy at the West VirginianRivers Coalition.  She has tried out three tools so far, with great success.  And she has some clear recommendations even for small groups.  (Her presentation is Wednesday, the 23rd of March, at 1:00 PM Eastern.  You can sign up here.)

Volunteering at Scale

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Baird Straughan, 7 Feb 2022

We started WaterGrass to help organizations manage growing volunteer programs with limited staff, and the Milwaukee Riverkeeper has achieved that in spades.  Along the way, they illustrate some basic principles of large-scale volunteer programs, and illuminate a new challenge for us.

In our webinar How One Organizer Led 218 Events with 2780 Participants in a COVID Year*, Allie Mendez described the Milwaukee River’s Adopt-A-River program, how it has grown and how MRK automated it through the WaterGrass database.

Some features that made this program a success are:

  • The software automated every step.  As the programmer, I thought that some of MRK’s requests were over the top.  Surely any volunteer organizer with just a little database knowledge could handle some of the procedures manually.  But the results is that Allie doesn’t have to think about the database at the same time she’s managing people.  The bigger the program, the more important ease of use becomes.
  • The program intentionally filters for people who are likely to succeed.  It selects for volunteer leaders who are comfortable with automation.  As Allie said, “We primarily communicate with email, so we know that if people can’t keep up with [the emails in our signup process], then they probably aren’t a good fit for the program.”
  • Allie also introduced a change to the registration process to allow prospective site leaders to take time before they committed to the program.  “Before the pandemic we had in-person orientation,” Allie said, “and people would sign the Adopter Contract forms the day of and we would get them into our system right away.  But turning it virtual has actually helped us retain our volunteers better because we give them a chance to think about it [before they commit].  This is essentially round two of our weeding out.  With training being virtual now, people need to make sure that they fill out those forms and return them on their own time.  This cuts down on our work by making sure that people are really interested and committed.”
  • Because the process is uniform, Milwaukee Riverkeepeer can measure results, make adjustments and learn. Otherwise, for example, they wouldn’t be sure that their volunteer retention had really improved.

The challenge is that automated processes sacrifice personal contact with the participants.  This can have a real impact  on the program, because it’s harder for the organizer to get to know those up-and-coming leaders who will be the next generation of cleanup site captains.  Without food and camaraderie, it’s hard to create a bond.  And while this process is very efficient, there are a lot of people that it misses because they aren’t comfortable online.  Those are challenges for the next iteration.

How would YOU approach this challenge? (Please add your comments below.)

In theory, CRMS systems like Salesforce (upon which WaterGrass is built) help build relationships because you can automatically tailor your marketing to each person. Generally, that means sending a pre-written series of messages via different channels (email, text, Twitter, etc.) automatically, with certain logic branches depending upon the recipient’s response.

But that’s not quite building a relationship. Eventually the recipient realizes they’re getting automated responses that lead to a pre-defined conclusion, rather than a personal give-and-take.

Here are my ideas. I can envision using a couple automatic message “paths” to test whether volunteers want to become the kind of leaders you need. If they answer “Yes,” then they’re probably expecting a response from a human. I’d suggest a phone call within a day or two to discuss whether they’re a good fit for the program.

That takes time, which means you need to employ Allie’s principle of filtering potential leaders down to a manageable number. Your pre-written messages need to appeal narrowly (or broadly) enough to attract the right number of candidates. And it means focussing only on volunteer programs you’ve decided to invest in, because otherwise you won’t have time to develop the potential leaders who respond.

What are your ideas about blending automation and personal outreach to volunteers?

* Allie updated the numbers for the title.

Know Your Database Culture

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Installment #1 of the Nine Database Best Practices.

Carl Paulsen, WaterGrass

 

Databases provide us with the tools to make our jobs with nonprofits easier.  Or at least that’s what they SHOULD do.  The trouble is, a database is like any other tool; it works best when in the hands of a skilled craftsman.  In the hands of someone who doesn’t know what they are doing it can make a mess.

There are a lot of things to learn in order to become a database craftsman, or what we like to call a database maven.  Nothing will replace strong support services for learning how to use a database, and that’s probably the single most important benefit of the WaterGrass database - our unlimited support model.  But there are some basic principles that can help keep you out of trouble and on the way to success.  We at WaterGrass have put together a list of 9 best practices we encourage all our clients to follow.

Let’s start with the human element.

Your first step on the way to database bliss is to assess and recognize the database culture in your organization.  What do we mean by “database culture?”  For example,

  • Do staff love the database or run in fear every time your director asks for a report?  
  • Do you have rules for how to enter data into your database?  Are they followed?
  • Do data get entered regularly or whenever staff happen to have the time? 
  • Who is responsible for making sure the data is accurate?  Everyone?  No one?
  • When a new program begins, do the staff incorporate it into the database, or do they just open a new spreadsheet?

We see groups go through a transition that we like to group into 5 levels of database sophistication.  These range from the reluctant staff with no expertise to those groups that know how to fully embrace databases and put them to use to grow their organization.

Data Culture Spectrum

Where do you think your organization lies?  Is yours an organization with one lone advocate who understands the importance of databases or are you an organization where a number of people use the database, but only some use it well?  Even if your Executive Director would like everyone to use the database regularly, will your program staffers comply?  Or will they continue to run their projects from spreadsheets?

If you can move your organization along this spectrum, your database WILL make your lives easier.  But you first have to understand where your organization lies and then make a commitment to improve.

Discuss your database culture with your colleagues.  This exercise will help you avoid choosing overly ambitious projects which lead to frustration, and to identify next steps which build success. (In the corporate world, more than half of new database initiatives fail - usually because they didn’t fit the corporation.  In the nonprofit world, we have fewer resources and less ability to enforce new rules, so it’s even more important to choose wisely.)

Consider where you stand in your database journey and think about where you’d like to be and how to get there.  Think about it like a long-term campaign.  Who are your allies?  Do you need a database advocate?  Have one but need broader adoption among staff?  What would help that transition along?  Perhaps you need some regular meetings to ensure you stay on track, and to celebrate your meaningful progress.  Perhaps you want to design reports that would demonstrate the value of the database to the larger staff?  Or do you need a web based donation and signup systems or dashboards showing fundraising or volunteer progress.

Then consider which of the following practices in our upcoming blogs that you can actually implement.  You don’t have to adopt them all immediately (though you should strive for that over time).  For now, pick one practice that: 

  • suits your organization;
  • will generate benefits quickly;
  • and is within your capacity.

Implement it fully.  Hold off on others until it becomes second nature.  As you make progress on this one practice, be sure to talk about it in your organization.  Show your progress and how it has helped with your job.  This one step will help you move along the spectrum.

But make no mistake, evaluating your database culture is one of the 9 best database practices!

 

Carl Paulsen is the training and support director for the WaterGrass database, a client-relationship management system (CRMS) built for growing conservation nonprofits.  The former Director of the New Hampshire Rivers Council, he has helped dozens of organizations move up the database spectrum to improve their database practices, raise more money and involve more volunteers.

Finding Your Database Maven

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Finding Your Database Maven

Baird and Carl with thanks to the many mavens we have learned from. 

At WaterGrass, we’ve watched a lot of organizations grow.  The successful ones maintain consistency in their database and get really good at using the data to generate donations and engagement from their supporters. They can do that because their data is entered uniformly and accurately.  And the person to thank for that is their data expert … their connoisseur of data … their data maven.

We work closely with data mavens.  Over time, we’ve realized how hard the job is and what a unique set of skills and predispositions are needed.  

The job of maintaining the database can be thankless and stressful.  Many organizations have at least some staff members who don’t enter information promptly, or accurately, or at all. Sometimes those staff members are the organization’s executives or program staff, and some of them may even think that maintaining the database is not the organization’s “real work.”

Data mavens often have to “manage up” to change the culture of the organization so that colleagues share the responsibility for accuracy and the vision of how the database will streamline their work.  This is a cultural transformation that can take years.  Large corporations fail at their database initiatives more than half the time, usually because staff won’t adopt the changes.  In nonprofits, it’s harder.  It involves planning, cajoling, rewarding, setting rules, holding people accountable, listening and rethinking.

Here’s how we would interview for a staff position that’s in charge of the organizational database:

Caveat: All of the exercises suggested here require the applicant to question or correct you.  So when you set up the exercise, you should make it clear that you’re nearby and available to take questions.  Differences in age, race and culture will also play into an applicant’s willingness to speak up.  The challenge for you is to create a situation where they feel empowered enough to do so - or at least, as empowered as they would be if they worked with you.  You are not just testing whether they enter records accurately - you’re learning how they work with you to make the data better.  

These exercises are not suited for an initial interview - they’re best suited to a follow-up, when you’re investing more time to get to know the candidate better, and when the candidate feels more comfortable with you and your organization.

Do they dislike ambiguity in data?  

How to test: Give the job applicant a data entry task.  Mixed in the data include variability - like using both the state abbreviation and the state name in addresses, or “Department of Environmental Protection” on one record and “Dept Env Protection” on another. (Experienced mavens usually opt for writing names out fully.)  Insert misspellings. Include some contributions with a category of “membership” and some with a category of “mmbr.”  Tell them there may be some variations in the data, and to handle it as they best see fit.

Good applicants will tend strongly toward making data entries uniform.  They will want to know whether “Dept Env Protection” is really the same as “Department of Environmental Protection” and if it is whether they shouldn’t be the same.  They may opt to make the data uniform themselves and then confirm with you that they did it correctly.  They will get into the details.  You are looking for someone who takes initiative to make data accurate, and who does so quickly, but also wants feedback so they don’t make mistakes.

Are they patient while they communicate the need for clarity and accuracy?

Mavens have to manage their own feelings - because the inaccuracies that drive them crazy may seem unimportant to other people.  They may hear themselves referred to as “picky” or “perfectionist.”  It’s stressful to have a role that requires enforcing rules on the unwilling, and they have to manage their own frustrations as they deal with others.

How to test: Give them a data task with confusing or contradictory instructions  - that is, they cannot complete the task well without corrections to the instructions.  Let them know that it may need some modifications.  Your ideal candidate will look over the instructions carefully and reread them to make sure they haven’t simply misunderstood.  Then they will come to you for clarification, probably referring specifically to the part of the instruction that they didn’t understand and potentially explaining to you why the clarifications are needed.  Agree with them on a solution so they can complete the task to your satisfaction.

Are they interested in the data’s meaning?

When faced with a report or a chart generated from a data, mavens understand that it tells a story and will ask questions like:

  • Does this fit your expectations?
  • Is the data it’s based on accurate?
  • Are you measuring the right thing?
  • If this is accurate, what does it mean?

How to test:  Share a trend chart generated from your own database that shows an unexpected rise or drip.  Perhaps it’s a chart of your membership numbers over the years, and there’s a sudden jump last year you can’t explain.  Ask the maven how they would help you figure out what’s happening.  Good candidates will diplomatically note that you already have issues with inconsistency.  They will usually want to see the data itself, or indicate that if they were to take the job they would want to see it.  They will ask what might have changed to cause the increase.  Above all, they will be intrigued.

Are they committed to your mission?

This is the secret sauce.  The best data mavens care deeply about the organization’s mission; they are often firmly rooted in the community or place that they live.  If they worked in the private sector, they would probably earn more and have an easier time imposing rules for data entry on their colleagues.  But they stay in their jobs because of what the organization does.

How to test: Invite them to one of your organization’s in-person activities.  See whether they come, whether the activity energizes them, and how they fit into the culture.  If they’re from a culture or race that’s not well-represented in your organization, take specific steps to make sure the event is welcoming.

Do the problems with your data make them wonder about your organization?

The glitches in the exercises outlined above will disturb someone who cares about accuracy. 

How to test for it: At the end of the interview, ask their impression.  After they’ve answered, explain that the inaccuracies, misspellings, and bad instructions were actually intentional.  Say you’re testing not just for ability to use the database but about how the applicant would work with others to improve data and turn the database into a tool that everyone uses.  You know the data will always have inaccuracies, and the job requires patience and tenacity in working with colleagues.  The right candidate will be relieved to hear your explanation, and possibly excited that you understand the human dimensions of the job.

In sum, data mavens have a special set of personal qualities as well as the skills to work within the organization and the commitment to stay with you over years.  Finding the right person can greatly smooth your operations and set your organization up for long-term growth.

Are Online Volunteer Waivers Legally Valid?

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Are Online Volunteer Waivers Legally Valid?

Baird Straughan, April 2021

Online waivers speed up event registration, reduce paperwork, and liberate organizers so they can concentrate on the event itself and the people attending.  Nevertheless, some of our client organizations worry that if an accident occurred, courts wouldn’t respect a waiver that’s not on paper.  What’s the truth?

Short answer: At present, an electronic waiver is legally as good as a written waiver in U.S. courts, so long as it’s properly constructed.

The federal “E-SIGN” statute from 2000 legalizes the use of electronic and online waivers, and courts have respected this principle.  It states that a 

. . . signature, contract, or other record relating to such transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form; and a contract relating to such transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because an electronic signature or electronic record was used in its formation. 

Doyice Cotten of Sportwaiver has “found no cases in which a waiver has failed simply because it was not a paper waiver.  They do fail on occasion, but for the same reason that paper waivers fail – poorly written or against public policy.”

Courts have rejected arguments that waivers are insufficient because they are signed online.  For example, in a Colorado case (Berenson v. USA Hockey, Inc. (2013)) a person sued arguing the online waiver did not provide sufficient proof of the agreement (plaintiff argued the online waiver didn’t prove she had signed it).  The courts ruled in favor of the defendant, USA Hockey, upholding the online waiver.

Different states handle liability differently, so your nonprofit should get advice from an attorney versed in your state’s laws to make sure your waiver has the right components.  Many of our clients find law firms who advise them pro-bono.

From our experience constructing online waivers in WaterGrass, we’ve built a list of the some basic rules electronic waivers should follow:

  1. The waiver should be “click-wrapped,” meaning that the participant can’t complete the electronic signup without completing the waiver first.  In some court cases plaintiffs have alleged that they signed up for the activity but never saw the waiver.  The defendant organizations were able to show that the waiver’s programing made it impossible to sign up without clicking on the “I agree to the terms and conditions” button.  (WaterGrass waivers are constructed this way – if the event requires a waiver, then a registrant has to agree to it before they can register.  WaterGrass also stores which waiver the participant agreed to.)
  2. The waiver establishes that the registrant is a volunteer – meaning that they expect no payment or benefits, and they know they are not eligible for compensation in the case of an accident.  (If participants are remunerated, they qualify as employees, and generally have a right to coverage.)
  3. It contains a listing of potential hazards they may be exposed to if they choose to participate, and explicitly mentions negligence as a waived condition.
  4. It establishes that they sign the waiver of their own free will.
  5. … that they assume all risks and agree to “hold harmless” the organization in the case of an accident.
  6. … and that they agree to “indemnify” the organization for expenses incurred as a result of their participation.  (Ie. Hospital costs if there’s an accident.)

Those are some of the conditions that protect your organization from unexpected financial claims.

There are optional best practices as well:

  1. The waiver may include a release of rights to photos or videos made by the organization that include the volunteer.  Volunteer events are some of the most “photogenic” opportunities you’ll get to showcase your people and your mission, so get permission to use the photos you take.
  2. The registration page should display the waiver’s title prominently within the registration form,  identifying it as a “Release” or “Waiver of Liability.”  In some judgments, courts have cited the prominence of the title as an additional reason to find the waiver valid.
  3. The form should display the full waiver text on the screen, rather than within an abbreviated window with a scroll bar.  In this way, you require the participant to at least page through the whole length of the waiver before they can sign.  They may not read it, but they won’t be able to say they didn’t see it.
  4. The waiver form should give the volunteer both the chance to accept and to reject it. If they reject it, a pop-up informs them that they can’t participate with signing the waiver, and invites them to join a different activity.  (Thanks to Milwaukee Riverkeeper for the last two suggestions.)

As a starting point for your waivers, there are plenty of templates online.  But states have different terms of art and different requirements, so you should always check out your final version with an attorney who knows local laws.

Happy organizing!

Baird