IN THIS ISSUE:
1. JOB OPENING AT THE SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK.
2. FREE COPY OF ¡§MAKING THE NEWS¡¨ BY JASON SALZMAN FOR ONTARIO-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL
NONPROFITS.
3. FREE REPRINTED NONPROFIT WORLD ARTICLE: ¡§ARE YOU USING THE POWER OF ASSESSMENTS AND
AUDITS?¡¨
4. OUR ENVIRONICS PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH NOW AVAILABLE FREE TO ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS.
5. SPECIAL FREE SEMINAR WITH BOB WILLARD ON ¡§THE SUSTAINABILITY ADVANTAGE¡¨.
6. ANNOUNCEMENT: SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK - ONTARIO PROGRAM CHANGES.
7. UPDATE: IMPACS ADVOCACY PROJECT.
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1. JOB OPENING AT THE SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK
We are looking to staff a half-time Program Assistant position.
The successful candidate will be responsible for a wide variety of tasks including:
- program administration;
- event logistics (workshops and forums);
- web site (Dreamweaver) and list serv management;
- database management;
- minor research tasks on organizational capacity building issues;
- responding to general inquiries from environmental NGOs on organizational development;
- scheduling and arranging meetings and travel; and,
- other duties as assigned.
The position calls for an energetic and highly organized individual who is a good communicator. The Sustainability Network needs someone who is resourceful, independent, flexible and thorough. The ideal candidate would have first-hand experience and knowledge of the environmental nonprofit sector.
The position pays $31 000 per annum pro-rated to a half-time position. The successful candidate will work an average of 3.5 hours each day - preferably each weekday. The position starts on September 3, 2002, and is based at the Sustainability Network office at 615 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. The workplace environment is small, informal and friendly.
Those interested in applying should send a cover letter and resume to Paul Bubelis by fax (416-323-9301) or email bubelis@sympatico.ca by Wednesday, August 7th, 2002.
This job is also posted on the front page of the Sustainability Network web site - sustain.web.net
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2. FREE COPY OF ¡§MAKING THE NEWS¡¨ BY JASON SALZMAN FOR ONTARIO-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS
This month, the Environmental Communications Centre (a project of the Sustainability Network) is able to offer free copies of ¡§Making the News¡¨(retail value $30) to select Ontario-based environmental nonprofits.
This 240-page guide, published in 1998, is a practical, comprehensive media handbook for activists. It covers staging a media event, how to generate news coverage without staging an event, handling unsolicited media calls, media and campaign strategy and concludes with a rich resources section. Although written for an American audience, much of the material translates to a Canadian setting. This book comes recommended by Mary MacNutt (Senior Associate, IMPACS), Harvey Wasserman (Senior Advisor, Greenpeace) and Mike Roselle (Director, Ruckus Society and Cofounder, Earth First!).
We can provide one book per organization and reserve the right to limit distribution if demand is extraordinarily high. We ask that the lead communications staff for the applicant organization make the request.
To apply for your free copy, email your name and the organization¡¦s mailing address to Zuzanna at info@sustain.web.ca Please include one sentence that makes clear what environmental nonprofit organization will be retaining the book and the nature of your work on environmental issues. We will review the list and mail the book to qualifying organizations in by mid August.
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3. FREE REPRINTED NONPROFIT WORLD ARTICLE: ¡§ARE YOU USING THE POWER OF ASSESSMENTS AND AUDITS?¡¨
This month, we are able to offer another Nonprofit World reprint: a 4 ? page article from 1996 on using assessments (evaluating effectiveness) and audits (examining existing materials) as research tools to evaluate your communications efforts. Both assessments and audits can give you a clear picture of how your organization is doing and how it might improve. The article covers how to conduct an assessment (surveys, focus groups, interviews) and audit (collect materials, internal and expert evaluations) as well as what to do with the results.
To obtain a free copy of this article as a PDF attachment, please contact Zuzanna at info@sustain.web.ca
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4. OUR ENVIRONICS PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH NOW AVAILABLE FREE TO ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS
Earlier this year, we offered list serv subscribers free copies of public opinion research on nature issues, willingness to pay environmental price premiums, and food issues.
Our second national Environics survey is now ready for distribution. The survey, fielded nationally in late May and early June, consisted of 10 questions on environmental education, urban sprawl, and willingness to pay for ensuring the safety of drinking water sources. As before, this process was informed by several prominent environmental nonprofit leaders.
You are free to use this information but please check with Eric Whan at Environics eric.whan@environicsinternational.com before using them in a public forum (ie. media) to ensure attribution and accuracy of results. We would also appreciate, if appropriate, recognition of the role played by Sustainability Network, prior notice of intended use and most importantly, feedback on its impact.
If you would like to obtain the survey results, please email Zuzanna at info@sustain.web.ca and she will send you a two PDF files - a ¡§topline¡¨ summary (3 pages) and a final report (25 pages) which contains page long analyses of each question and an executive summary (2 pages). Data tables (31 pages) are also available on request. Please specify whether you would like the topline and final reports or the data tables as well.
Thanks to all who helped in developed the survey.
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5. SPECIAL FREE SEMINAR WITH BOB WILLARD ON ¡§THE SUSTAINABILITY ADVANTAGE¡¨
Come and learn about a compelling financial business case for corporate social and environmental responsibility. Bob Willard, author of The Sustainability Advantage, will present and discuss the real, quantifiable bottom-line benefits that can represent an important part of your ¡§environmental sales kit¡¨.
Bob¡¦s goal was to produce a tool that will help convince companies that corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the integration of sustainability into their business agenda is critical. He contends that it is now too easy for the business community to politely dismiss approaches by environmentalists because they think they can't afford to change their practices or they will fall behind their competitors. "The Sustainability Advantage," describes a generic, flexible, financial business case for sustainability -- a template of seven potential business savings and increased revenue opportunities for companies that pursue environmentally and socially beneficial strategies and initiatives.
Bob Willard recently retired from his senior management position at IBM to pursue his commitment to sustainable development full-time. Over his 35 years at IBM, Willard was recognized with numerous awards for outstanding leadership, HR development, marketing and sales.
This FREE seminar will take place at Metro Hall - Room 303 on August 14 from 10 AM - 11:30 AM. If you want to attend, please send your name and affiliation (if any) to Zuzanna at info@sustain.web.ca
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6. ANNOUNCEMENT: SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK - ONTARIO PROGRAM CHANGES
Due to funding changes, we need to adjust our training bursary and workshop programs as they apply to Ontario-based environmental nonprofits.
Although we have previously able to offer training bursaries to leaders of any Ontario-based environmental NGO, we now need to limit the distribution of these funds to environmental leaders whose organizations are based in Toronto. Eligible organizations must also focus at least 70% of their effort on Toronto.
In the past, we have also been able to provide travel funds to the out-of-town participants of our training workshops at the YMCA in Toronto. Unfortunately, we are no longer in a position to do that.
Efforts are underway to rectify this situation and, in fact, expand the geographic extent of our work. Subscribers to the list serv will be notified of any future changes to these and other Sustainability Network programs.
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7. UPDATE: IMPACS ADVOCACY PROJECT
The IMPACS Charities and Advocacy project and the "Let Charities Speak" report have brought the restrictive law governing charities into the spotlight. On June 6th, the Honourable Elinor Caplan, the minister responsible for the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency, committed to having a new draft of CCRA's circular on political activities ready for public discussion by September. IMPACS is inviting nonprofits to contact them to discuss how to host an event or help spread the word about this effort. IMPACS may be able to provide speakers, workshops, materials, and online resources, and a subsidy for organizing costs. Target time for events is September to December, 2002, but the campaign will continue into 2003.
For more information visit www.impacs.org or contact Linda Ehrichs, Assistant Co-ordinator, at outreach@impacs.org.
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ABOUT THE SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK
The Sustainability Network is a support centre for environmental nonprofit organizations. Our mission is to strengthen the capacity of the environmental community by improving organizational management and leadership skills. Find out more at http://sustain.web.net
YOUR PRIVACY
Sustainability Network will not sell or trade your email addresses to anyone.
QUESTIONS? FEEDBACK?
We love feedback. Please email Paul Bubelis (bubelis@sympatico.ca) with any suggestions or
comments.
PASS IT ALONG
Please pass this e-newsletter along to your colleagues. If you received this e-newsletter indirectly through a friend and would prefer to receive it directly, please sign up on the front page of our web site - http://sustain.web.net.
Zuzanna Szkudlarek
The Sustainability Network
Strengthening Management Skills and Building Capacity in the Environmental Community
615 Yonge St, Suite 501 Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1Z5
p. 416-324-2792
f. 416-323-9301
e-mail info@sustain.web.ca
visit our web-site at sustain.web.ca