REDWOOD NEEDLES

Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter,
The REDWOOD NEEDLES

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Redwood Chapter Chair Report

Project ACT:
Enhancing Grassroots Activism

What is Project Act? It is very possible the majority of our readers have not heard of this Grassroots Organizing Initiative proposal by Robbie Cox, President, and Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. Here is as short a summary as I can provide, mostly quotes from Robbie and Carl:

At the September 1995 Annual Meeting of the Sierra Club, the Board of Directors charged the President and Executive Director to develop recommendations to ENHANCE the ability of our grassroots leaders to organize and effectively carry out the Club's priority conservation campaigns (local, state and national) at the GRASSROOTS LEVEL and in communities nationwide. Directors reaffirmed our historic beliefs that:

• The effectiveness of the Sierra Club over the past 104 years derives from empowered citizens speaking on behalf of the natural and human environments;
• Empowerment of individual members of the Sierra Club requires access to timely information, cultivation of skills, and the resources and means to work together with other volunteers, staff, and the community; and that,
• Healthy Groups and Chapters are essential for successful grassroots campaigns in behalf of the Club's conservation mission.

The original idea for a return to an "organizing" culture in the Club grew out of conversations among Dave Foreman, Robbie Cox, Bob Bingaman, and Alita Paine in the Summer of 1995. After Directors authorized further efforts, a group of 24 volunteers and staff--the "Salt Lake City Working Group"--proposed an initial draft of recommendations (available by calling or by e-mailing Gene Coan at the Club's San Francisco office).

Immediately following release of this "SLC draft," a series of conference calls was initiated to the Board of Directors, its six Governance Committees, and virtually all Chapter chairs in the U.S. and Canada. Included on the latter calls were also many Group chairs, Chapter conservation chairs, RCC chairs, the Sierra Club-California chair, and Field staff. This summary reflects the results of the feedback and the many suggestions received.

Goals of Project ACT

The guiding spirit behind Project ACT is a desire to return to our social movement roots, to invest more than we now do in the EMPOWERMENT of grassroots leaders who can organize others--both in the Sierra Club and in wider communities--to fight and to win campaigns for the Earth and for healthy communities throughout the U.S. and Canada and offers two distinctive GOALS for consideration:

GOAL #1: Every member of the Sierra Club, regardless of the Group or Chapter in which they reside, should have access to at least a minimally COMPARABLE LEVEL of service and opportunity for involvement in carrying out our mission.

GOAL #2: The Sierra Club should ensure that volunteer activists are recruited, trained, and supported in carrying out our conservation mission by ORGANIZING other Club members and the larger community.

An "organizing culture" is one in which Club activists are empowered with knowledge and skills to carry out effective campaigns for Group, Chapter or national Club conservation goals. This includes the creation of opportunities for others--Club members and wider communities--to be involved ("mobilized"). ORGANIZERS assume the main responsibility to help plan, implement, and move the Sierra Club's campaigns forward.

During the feedback and ongoing discussion process we are now involved in, we have heard particular emphasis on the need for the Club and its Chapters to nurture and support healthy GROUPS. Our Groups are on the front lines.

In our conference calls, many Group and Chapter leaders in virtually all regions told us that:

• New members often drift away after their first Group meeting;
• Many Groups (and Chapters) often have only a few core activists who work on conservation;
• Small and medium-sized chapters cite a critical need for staff and office presence in their State.
• Few Groups actively involve larger segments of the community in their conservation campaigns, while some Groups feel "conservation" is not part of their mission;
• Even fewer Groups plan and carry out sustained "campaigns" for their own, or national priority issues.
• Many Groups express difficulty in getting answers to their questions or requests for information from the Chapter and/or the national organization.
• Many Club leaders are concerned about the changing demographics of the U.S. (ethnically diverse population) while others fear the average Club volunteer is aging and worries how we can involve younger members. Conversely, many grassroots leaders told us that healthy, successful Groups and Chapters usually:
• Agree on clear priorities and develop plans to achieve them;
• Find ways to involve members in these plans, like SC-California's "Home Lobbying Network" and San Diego Chapter's "Conservation Action Leaders" program, or the highly successful Sierra Student Coalition's organizing campaigns on campuses.
• Communicate clearly with each other;
• Nurture a climate of respect and appreciation;
• Have strong outings programs that build a conservation ethic and values, and
• Identify healthy, sustainable revenue sources.

Our subsequent conference calls reveal a consistently strong theme--the need for more appropriate training, training that helps our Groups and Chapters to absorb, use, and retain new activists and Group/Chapter volunteer leaders.

Grassroots leaders also expressed support for a central premise of the SLC report: In order to attract, involve, and retain new activists, we must offer training in the context of real issues, concrete issues that people care about. This also mirrors the findings of Peter Hart's 1993 survey of members and their reasons for dissatisfaction in the Sierra Club. Hart urged that the Club focus our messages and place strategic resources behind real efforts to achieve results in these areas. People join the Sierra Club, he found, because they believe we can make a difference in the challenges facing our environment.

Recommendation: We propose an integrated, multi-level conservation and organizational development training program. This recommendation envisions an integrated, multi-level approach to training: The Sierra Club would train members and activists in the larger context of the Club's mission and priorities, and would integrate specific skills training with the planning of complete campaigns designed to create stronger, healthier Groups and Chapters. And such training would distinguish the different levels of knowledge and experience by offering training for new members, intermediate skill levels, and more focused, advanced training.

Steps that can be implemented immediately in 1996 are summarized in four areas:

1. Pilot organizational development assistance project to 4-5 Chapters and/or Groups;
2. Integrating our training around organizing and organizational develop;
3. Using our involvement in the 1996 elections as a vehicle for organizational development; and
4. Laying the groundwork for being able to raise more money from major donors for Chapter and Group programs by putting in place a National level "Chapter Grant" program.

Anyone wishing to participate in the ongoing discussion regarding this important proposal and its implementation, please e-mail or call me and I will provide contact information.

Arlie Haig, Chapter Chair

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