How to volunteer your time for wildlife - Part 5/5: Lobbying and Advocacy
By Jared Frasier, Executive Director
In the first four installments of this series, we looked at some of the wildlife volunteering activities that are most popular with our members: Habitat Cleanups, Wildlife Counts, Habitat Improvements, and Hosting Fundraisers.
All four of those volunteer programs are easy to set up, have an abundance of conservation groups to partner with, and are generally very popular with employees and your local community. That is not always the case with lobbying and advocacy…
Before we dive into the world of lobbying and advocacy, you deserve a word of caution. Getting involved with wildlife, land, and water management decisions can really catalyze your team and customer base - but it can also alienate them, depending on how you do it. Do not be dissuaded, we will address how to do the maximum good while also minimizing unnecessary community blowback.
Get into “the Arena”
Made famous by Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech during his Nobel Prize trip through Europe in 1910, “the Arena” is the place of public opinion. It is where decisions are made. Where policy, legislation, and community values spawn from. It is where those who are remembered, for good or ill, make their marks. It exists from capitol hills, to city halls, to wildlife agency offices, to your company blog, and down to your local watering hole.
The entire speech is a must-read, but here is the pertinent part:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride or slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are.
The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of the great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength. It is war-worn Hotspur, spent with hard fighting, he of the many errors and the valiant end, over whose memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who “but for the vile guns would have been a valiant soldier.”
A couple of key points to take from this speech, that we share with our members who seek to be effective in lobbying and advocacy:
Complaining and critiquing are not enough and do not count as being “in the Arena.”
We do not count complaining online towards our time requirement for annual certification. Complaining about wildlife management decisions does very little to help wildlife. Engage the actual process instead of using your hard-earned platforms to complain. Be a partner in solutions, not just part of the angsty noise.
There is no place for those who are always waiting for “the perfect time” to start.
We have seen, far too many times, businesses shy away from making a positive impact because “it’s just not a good time for us.” While there is merit to protecting your business to fight another day, the reality is that many brands market themselves as “conservationists” or “environmentalists” to try and grab a piece of market share, while not genuinely caring about those things enough to do anything of substance.
“whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary.” Those last two words have fallen out of common use, but what they mean are someone who is too concerned with their appearance and someone who is too scared of losing the finer things in their life.
More often than anything else, when the rubber meets the road, businesses ran by “fops” and “voluptuaries” are the ones who end up not getting certified with us. And, when we lose membership after a business is sold or comes under new management, those are the top two reasons why they quit giving to conservation.
Hack: The late great Jim Posewitz regularly wrote and spoke about Theodore Roosevelt’s struggles in lobbying and advocacy for conservation. You have likely heard that Roosevelt was shot during a speech and continued on through, despite having a bullet in his gut. But what you probably did not know is that he was shot because of his conservation ideals. Posewitz wrote a short book that we recommend to all of our business members who wish to get into public advocacy for conservation. Coming in at 72 pages, “Taking a Bullet for Conservation: The Bull Moose Party” is a must-read for anyone wanting to volunteer their time through lobbying or advocacy. You need to understand the realities of “the Arena” before you dive in. A $4 investment in a book you and your team can share is absolutely worth it!
The Arena is not for everyone. In fact, most people are not up for it.
It is what sets our certification and our membership apart.
Fact: What stops most brands from pursuing our certification is that they are run by “fops” and “voluptuaries.” They can financially afford our certification and standard but do not want to commit to the standard. They do not want accountability. They do not want to upset friends for when they will make lateral career moves. They do not want to upset people who could give them a hookup in the future. They do not want to upset investors. They do not want to upset shareholders. They do not want to create any conflict that could hinder their career advancement. They are too afraid of losing a battle to genuinely enter the war. They are too afraid of public ridicule. They want the title without the work or risk required. They want what our members have earned, but are not willing to earn it for themselves. It is the sad reality of the current trend of the consolidation of business ownership right now. The vast majority of businesses are ran by management who are “those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat” because they are risk-adverse.
It makes the true conservationists stick out all the more!
So, how do you make your commitment to conservation real but also protect your business?
Do not go into the Arena alone.
Lobbying is about making friends.
Lobbying is advocating a cause to a government entity that can make regulations that impact that cause. It is important to know what your local laws are around lobbying. In the United States, there are differences between states and even between counties and cities within one state.
Once again, after helping our membership with this for nearly a decade, we recommend that you partner with a conservation group equipped to effectively lobby. Respected conservation groups have experience and qualified staff, especially at the local level, lobbying for wildlife.
They know what government entities are supposed to be responsible for whatever wildlife issue you wish to address. They know when those entities meet. They know when public comment periods are and how to get on their public review boards. They know which committees and subcommittees make budgeting decisions and when they meet. They know which offices at various agencies actually handle the boots-on-the-ground work in an ecosystem.
Most importantly, they are well acquainted with the actual people holding those offices — usually on a first-name basis.
This is why, when we made our first board of directors expansion, we sought out an experienced wildlife lobbyist. Jess Johnson of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation joined our board in 2019 and our team and membership have all benefited from her expertise.
“Wildlife [in the United States] are owned and managed by the States. This makes your state legislature ground zero for all major wildlife decisions and where people can have the most impact on our statutes that govern the state wildlife agencies. Having a consistent presence to build relationships, track legislation, and build respect amongst the state houses is imperative. It can often make the difference between a legislature that thinks it should manage its wildlife for personal benefit and an agency that manages with the North American Model of conservation in mind.”
- Jess Johnson, 2% for Conservation Board Chair
Over the last eight years, our members have partnered with several conservation groups to effectively lobby for wildlife across North America and beyond. How they have done it is as varied as the causes they have lobbied for.
Brewers and coffee roasters have headed to local water management meetings to lobby for clean water and drought regulations. People want clean water in their beer and coffee more than they want clean water for their local aquatic ecosystems. The brewers and roasters leaned into that and accomplished both!
Gear companies have partnered with species-specific conservation groups to lobby for land use management that benefits wildlife over other economic interests. It helped the wildlife, which the customers of these gear companies enjoyed recreating around.
We have had members fly to Washington DC to lobby with conservation causes to the heads of land, water, and wildlife management agencies and the legislative committees that allocate their funding. Bringing business interests to the table gets more legislators and bureau chiefs paying attention than a conservation group showing up alone.
Our members have also hosted lobbying meetings between legislators, agencies, and conservation causes working to find solutions for wildlife. These meetings are just launching points, often more for the press opportunities than getting anything concrete passed, but they have gotten feet into otherwise closed doors.
There are a few important realities you need to be comfortable with to get the most out of your time lobbying for wildlife:
Do not confuse noise with respect. Just because a conservation group is loud online and in their marketing, doesn’t mean that they are actually respected by who you will be lobbying. In fact, the louder they are, the fewer rooms they are likely welcomed in. We have had members partner with conservation groups that were very loud online, only to not get into any meetings with actual decision-makers.
Avoid the politically polarized. While any aisle-crossing is becoming an ever-rare thing, limiting your lobbying to one side of an issue will all but guarantee your time is wasted. Conservation groups that are effective at lobbying work across party and political divides. Follow their lead. Do not limit yourself to just those that think like you.
You will make some odd bedfellows. The biggest and most effective lobbying for wildlife has come through the strangest of partnerships. Expect to meet with people that you have very little in common with. What is important is that you have the wildlife issue in common. You have to leave the other stuff at the door.
Do not “cable-bundle” issues together. Remember back when, even though you wanted only a few channels, you ended up getting a bunch of others as part of a bundled package? No one likes that. This is one of the hardest points for people to follow, but it is often the biggest decider of your success. Know your wildlife issue. Communicate and advocate for your wildlife issue. Get the government entity on your side of the wildlife issue. DO NOT add other issues! Too often, people try to get multiple issues tackled at the same time… only for none to be taken up.
This should go without saying, but it is rarely considered to be in good taste to try and push for things that will benefit your business and your business alone. It needs to be bigger. Only the huge industries really get away with that, but at the cost of both public opinion and their proverbial “souls.” Think about the brewers and coffee roasters who advocate for clean water not just because it is good for their businesses, but also the species that depend on the resource. Aim for that balance.
Lobbying a wildlife issue can take years. Do not expect a change after one meeting. Any more, getting changes made during one legislative session is a big ask. Do not even expect the cause to be taken up within one person’s tenure in a government role! Sometimes, especially if you are lobbying for something that requires major changes, you could be looking at a multi-administration-long journey. This is why your conservation group partnerships are so important. They keep feet in doors — especially the revolving kind. Patience usually wins in the end.
Lastly, be gracious. Very few people enter public service because they relish the opportunity to meet and get advice from the public. You can win an ear, however briefly, by being a gracious constituent. Will everyone you meet with be deserving of it? No. But does the wildlife deserve you giving it your best try with your best foot forward? Yes. Remember, you are doing this because the wildlife cannot.
If, after reading those success markers, you are still interested… lobbying might be a good use of your volunteered time! We would love to hop on a call to help connect you with the best conservation causes to partner with to get things rolling for whatever wildlife issue is important to you and your team.
If not, do not worry. That does not disqualify you from “the Arena.”
It just means you are probably better suited for advocacy…
Advocacy is more than making noise.
If lobbying is about making friends, advocacy is about raising an army. It is starting a movement. It is about helping the world understand why a wildlife issue holds you and your brand hostage to your passion for it.
Your passion is what separates you from the noise makers. It is what establishes your “why” in the marketplace of ideas and what will make you and your brand a contagion for the change you want in the world. The difference between the real thing and marketing fluff are so black and white, it boggles the mind that people try to fake it. Yet, attempt to fake it, they do.
Wildlife advocacy has been so utterly bastardized by money-chasing charlatans that we had to be founded.
Consumers deserve an easy way to tell fact from fiction. The number of touches between a brand and consumer before the moment of purchase decision is at an all-time low. Authenticity checks need to be able to be made in real time.
Being 2% Certified is the best way to instantly pass the advocacy authenticity check.
If a consumer demands that you authentically care about what you advocate for, no marketing budget can make up for third-party verifiable proof. Money can pay for just about any kind of marketing or branding scheme, but it cannot fake our seal of authenticity. You can do all the stuff we are about to share, but if you do not have us… why are you even doing it?
Before we get any further this is your “alter call.” Get yourself right with the conservation gods. Get your business certified.
Noise is ignorable, but passion is contagious.
No one “finds conservation” on their own. Someone put in the work. Someone laid the foundations. Someone passes the contagion on to you.
Roosevelt’s radicalization for wildlife is often solely attributed to his experiences of seeing first-hand the degradation of the American West. That fits into our “great hero” fallacy that we are all prone to falling for — that historical figures were peerless in their resolution and achievements. But if you read his journals and books, though his experiences opened his eyes, those eyes were pre-informed by the passion of others he met before making his pivot and stand. In his journaling as a young man he complains about people in the places he visited constantly bringing up the destruction of the land and expecting him to do something about it in far away New York and Washington. It annoyed him. But years later when he finally saw what they had seen, and experienced what they had experienced, he went from being just another Manhattan dandy to the most influential conservation advocate of his day. He was “infected” by passionate conservationists, early and often, so when he saw reality, the “fever” finally took hold.
That is how it works for all of us. Your getting to the point that you are reading this is a result of the contagious passion of countless conservationists who touched your life.
So, what does this mean for your business?
The most effective wildlife advocates in our membership are businesses whose employees share charitable work as a cornerstone value in their personal lives.
That’s right, just plain-jane charitable work. They could be passionate about many kinds of volunteering — but they all must have that trait. Some of our most prolific wildlife advocate member businesses have employees who are most passionate about helping the homeless, disaster victims, pet rescues, their local schools, and more.
Just like with conservationists, these people have experienced something that has made them see altruism as a necessity in their lives. They can see beyond their own short-term desires to the exponential value of working towards a greater good.
If that describes your team, you are in rare air. If you are a large business that has managed to at least have a leadership team that is passionate about volunteering, you are a force waiting for an army to lead. Authenticity attracts authentic leaders. Keep being yourself and sharing your passion!
NOTE: We need to make something very clear. When we say “wildlife advocacy” we are not talking about “hunter rights”, “angler rights”, “backpacker rights”, “overlander rights”, or even “access rights”. Passion for those things is great, but you are prioritizing one group over others. Your passion will only spread as far as those who can share an experience to catalyze it. If you look at the data, you are limiting yourself, the potency of your advocacy, and your potential consumer base to that group that enjoys your favorite outdoor activity. And while it is important that user groups get representation in the public domain, we do not certify volunteer time for advocating for one activity or another. Even if an activity could be used as a conservation tool, its advocacy will not help wildlife on its own without many other institutional pieces in place and working correctly.
So how can your team effectively advocate for wildlife as a brand?
Give your customers and your community a first-hand opportunity to engage with your passion. Then, keep doing it.
That’s it. That’s the secret sauce.
Our members have done this in hundreds of ways. No one tactic was more effective than the other. Again, this is not about tactics. This is about making your authentic passion accessible to others. How you do that is as personal as your experiences, community, and of course your team. Even if you take from one of the ideas we are about to share, you need to make it your own.
Some of the most replicable advocacy programs our members have used are:
Partnered media campaigns with conservation groups. Conservation-focused films, podcast partnerships, and social media campaigns have been wildly effective for our membership. It is why in 2018 we created our Conservation Media Award.
Films can be pretty challenging, especially if they are not part of your regular marketing work. But if you can partner with a cause to get a conservation story in front of film festivals and their social media followings, your work will be rewarded with untold numbers of people learning about the cause you care about.
Podcast Partnerships give you the opportunity to advocate for the conservation causes you are passionate about as often as you publish a new episode. Remember, podcasts retain their listening value for years after their recording. We still gain new members and followers from podcasts we were back at our formation! Use your platform to give conservation professionals working on wildlife issues a place people depend on for good information and inspiration.
Social media campaigns run in partnership with conservation causes allow your team to share their passion for wildlife directly with the world. It does not need to be polished. It needs to be authentic. Some of the most effective advocacy campaigns our members have run were filmed on janky old phones or were of team members who needed to breathe into a paper bag before and after they were filmed by the company intern on said phone. It is important that it is real and that your followers can depend on actionable information and inspiration. Simple “Partnered Posts” are also great ways to give conservation groups access to your platform and to show your followers what you are passionate about.
Host public meetings about a conservation issue. This is different than hosting a fundraiser. This is giving yourself and conservation groups an in-person opportunity to engage with the community.
You can build it like a pint-night (refer back to the fundraiser blog post for best-practices), but instead of raising funds, you are exclusively raising awareness for the conservation cause. Do not hold a raffle. Instead, do free door prizes. Keep the entertainment, food, and beverages. People are donating their time and attention by being there, so make it worth it.
Advertise the heck out of it as a party for the species or habitat area in question. Promote it online, and put posters up around town. Again, make sure it is actually a party or your efforts will gain the opposite of the desired effect.
Make sure the conservation cause is prepared to gain signatures for their initiative AND to sign up members. You would not believe the number of life memberships bought at advocacy events where no financial ask is made…
Host a coalition around a conservation issue. This is an incredible way to make your business a partner for a larger group of local organizations and their membership bases. Anywhere there is an acre of land or a stretch of water, there are at least two different groups with differing opinions on how they should be managed. Become a powerful advocate for those spaces by turning your place into a “United Nations.”
This works best when you have one conservation group leading the charge and ultimately responsible for the building of the coalition or group cooperative. You are just the host.
A good host provides a safe and useful place for the discussion of ideas, without dictating the flow of discussion or favoring any side. This will be hard for you, but understand that your partnership with the leading organization will already make you a silent partner in the eyes of the rest of the groups attending. In your role as host, you have done your part.
Expect stuff to get loud and heavy. These are people who are both very passionate and knowledgeable about the areas being discussed. Let them work things out, but do your part to ensure a place where people feel safe to share opinions as they hunt for common ground.
These cooperatives can have profound positive effects on the local ecosystem. If you are more of the “quiet advocate” type, this is an incredible way to make a long-term positive impact that will long outlast your involvement!
Leaders from over a dozen different outdoor recreation and conservation groups from the Bozeman, MT area met together for years in spaces provided by local businesses as part of the immensely successful Gallatin Forest Partnership. Because of the neutral ground, mountain bikers, horseback riders, Wilderness advocates, hunters, skiers, hikers, bird watchers, ranchers, and even a few land developers were able to find what they had in common. They provided the best local expert recommendation on their local forest plan revision, most of which was adopted by the USFS, and which will stand for the next 30 years.
Host an advocacy training or letter-writing event. Though similar to the pint-night model, this event type is a way to get folks hands-on in joining you in your advocacy.
Again, these work better when in partnership with a local conservation cause. In fact, these events work best when done in partnership with more than one conservation cause at a time. Your place could be ground zero for many conservation coalitions if you can bring people together around one starting issue.
Unlike the pint-nights, keep the adult beverages to a minimum for the majority of the event. Folks need to be of sound mind when they are learning and while writing in comments to their local agencies or lawmakers. But… a little “liquid courage” can help those with writer’s block.
Confirm with the conservation cause(s) what materials they will be bringing and what you would need to provide. Typically, they have their own cards or pre-addressed envelopes, but we have yet to see one where they bring enough pens for everyone! If they are having folks submit online, make sure to have WiFi available to those with stringent phone plans.
Hack: Livestream the training portions, record them, and put them up online for the conservation groups to link to. Host them on your business’s social channels (YouTube, Meta, TikTok, etc.) and embed the video in a blog post about the event, after you host it. You can also alert the local press about the event to bring more awareness to the conservation groups you are putting it on for.
Hosting a comment letter-writing event with conservation groups is a great way to advocate for a cause you are passionate about. This was from a comment letter-writing night hosted by a brewery in Bozeman, MT.
Tell your stories. This is something everyone should start, and never stop. Telling your story is the most natural way to advocate for the wildlife causes you are passionate about!
Use your website and social platforms as a starting point. Do not do a generic “conservation is important to our company because yada yada yada” post or page and call it good. Actually share your story. That is Marketing 101, but it is imperative if you also want to generate awareness for conservation issues you care about.
Give this opportunity to your team as well. Just know that they might not be as comfortable as you, so do not force it — especially if it is not part of their employment contract.
Tell your story, but be careful to avoid using your story to advocate for a specific recreation type over another or for bashing a competitor. That is when your story will go from inspiring to repelling.
Hack: We actually provide a platform for our members to share their conservation stories, right on this blog! Even if your website is built with a blog feature, we recommend sharing your story here as well. Not only is it a great way to get your business in front of our followers and PR networks, but it also will elevate the causes you care about and inspire more people to join you in supporting them! Reach out if you are a member and would like to get your story shared here.
If we could encourage you with one last thing about both advocacy and lobbying, it would be this: Keep your fight in the arena.
If someone divine created the natural world, a devil created internet comment sections. We have seen so much good work undone in a few keystrokes by owners of businesses getting into social media comment wars.
We will repeat it again: We do not count getting into arguments online about conservation issues as volunteering your time to conservation!
Not once, not one time, have we seen a net positive for wildlife or the conservation conversation come from online battles.
Get into the REAL Arena.
Make content that advocates and inspires positive action.
Show up to public comment meetings or host one yourself to give professional conservationists a real-world platform to educate and inform the public.
Put together resource packets for your customers to understand why you care about the conservation issues you care about.
Use your business’ social media platform to clearly and articulate advocate through professional-guided content and then manage the comments — don’t become part of their noise.
Partner with a reputable conservation lobbying group to get real-world policy work done for wildlife instead of trolling politicians’ social feeds.
Be a leader of a diverse cooperative of businesses and conservation causes looking to find common ground in your local ecosystem management. That is how lasting legacies are made.
Do not be afraid to sit out battles that you do not fully understand. Not understanding means being unequipped for the battle. Stick to what you know so that you do not alienate your customer base over something that hasn’t been well thought out.
Do not be afraid to leave behind consumers who do not care about conservation. Your customers who share your conservation values will thank you for it by sending their friends your way!
But if anything, get in the Arena.
If you would like help brainstorming ways for your business to build advocacy programs, we would love to talk with you! We have helped many of our business members of all sizes become more effective in the Arena and would be honored to help you too. Contact Us
Our next series is a few weeks out, but we will be sharing the Top 5 Ways our members give back to conservation financially. Make sure you are subscribed to our Newsletter so you do not miss it by filling out the form, below.