Getting the Word Out in the Fight to Save the Earth

In the ongoing fight to protect our air, land, water and wildlife resources, grassroots organizations play a vital role. But, according to veteran activist Richard Beamish, hard work and good intentions are not enough. To make a real difference, an environmental organization must do the best possible job of communicating its message, attracting and keeping members, and raising funds. In this book of how-to advice, with hundreds of practical and proven examples, Beamish explains how any nonprofit citizens group can expand and activate its membership, pressure government officials, mobilize the news media, and shape public policy in the fight to save communities, regional ecosystems, and even the Earth itself.

Beamish argues that the key to saving and restoring our environment is "getting the word out." As a former director of communications for the National Audubon Society and a consultant to an array of environmental, cultural, and educational groups, he draws on thirty years of experience to show what works and what doesn't for every type of organization―large and small, rich and poor, established and newly conceived. Much of the advice in the book is based on his recent efforts to save one of the largest natural areas in the eastern United States―the Adirondack Park of New York State. Beamish describes how in just three years his organization quintupled its support through an aggressive direct-mail campaign, kept its surging membership informed and active, flooded politicians with mail at every critical juncture, and used the power of the press to spread its message far and wide. He includes numerous examples from environmental organizations nationwide, covering a broad range of communications problems and solutions, and providing information about how a nonprofit group gets started and how it stays alive and healthy.

Richard Beamish is a communications consultant with many years of experience working with environmental groups. He has been director of communications and assistant to the president of the National Audubon Society and public information director for New York State's pioneering Adirondack Park Agency. He has done public relations and fundraising for institutions such as the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and Hampshire College.