Environmental Defense Fund Review

Environmental Defense Fund: www.edf.org

• Founded in 1967
• Headquarters are located in New York, NY
• Tackles serious environmental problems with sound science, economic incentives, corporate partnerships, and improving legislation

Everyone probably experiences moments in their lives where that Disney song “It’s a Small World After All” suddenly seems less annoying and more truthful. I’ll tell you about my most recent one: I was perusing through the Environmental Defense Fund website, jotting down notes, and clicking on every box and banner possible, when I found a link to their YouTube site. Click. In a moment of fabulous randomness, smiling before me was my best friend’s college roommate. (Isn’t that always how these stories end? With someone’s college roommate?) Anyway, there was Amy, talking to the camera, holding a little hand-made sign, living somewhere out in cyberspace where I had happened upon her that day.

It, most certainly is, a very small world. Read on to learn more...

The header used by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is “We partner with business, government and community to find practical solutions.” Not exactly the most eloquent or comprehensive header I’ve ever read, but it does the trick—when I searched “environment” the EDF showed up at the top of the queue. Not a small feat, considering how many environmental websites are out there.

EDF lists their partnerships in an interesting way—by year and accomplishment. For example, in 1990 a partnership with McDonald’s led to 150,000 tons of waste being cut, in 1995 a partnership with Pinehurst Resort led to the preservation of 4 million acres of wildlife habitat, and in 2000 a partnership with FedEx led to the development of a car with 96% less soot. Each partnership highlighted is impressive and exemplifies the type of real change that EDF enacts through their programs. I would be interested in learning about their current partnerships, or if they hold strictly financial partnerships with any organizations of note (typical of most partnerships I come across in my research).

At the “Connect with Us” section of the homepage, you can link to EDF’s external social networking pages. The EDF Facebook page has a rather large following, with over 17,000 fans, a wall that is updated daily, and lots of great feedback from the community (“likes” and comments on posts”). There are also some notable Facebook tabs and boxes used by the group, including an “Invite Your Friends!” tab (a great idea for a Facebook page), a “Polar Bear Odyssey” tab, a “What You Can Do” tab, as well more typical “Discussions”, “Photos”, “Causes” and “Notes” tabs.

EDF’s Twitter account has an audience of 5,682 followers for its many re-tweets and direct tweets. Their MySpace page is a bit smaller with 2,139 friends, and the page itself is very clean, informative and still rather active for a MySpace page. YouTube is a bit smaller, with 348 subscribers, 134 friends, and a relatively active wall of comments connecting to the organization to supporters and offering opinions on their posted videos.

When I searched the formidable EDF site for individual joiner options, I was only able to uncover a few available avenues for web surfers to become more involved with the organization. From the homepage, there is a link to sign up for environmental updates and alerts (seems like an e-newsletter/email alerts sign up), which you can register for by simply submitting your email address. The other option I found was to join the “Action Network” (although I think these may actually be the same signup). Otherwise, an interested individual can make themselves known to the organization by joining EDF’s social networking communities, but there is no centralized, organizationally-hosted community platform available for those who want to lend their support and energy to EDF’s mission.

There is a vibrant, comprehensive blogroll to scroll through at the “What You Can Do” tab at the top bar. Here, twelve different blogs are featured with titles ranging from “California Dream 2.0”, to “EDFish”, to “Chemicals and Nano materials.” I clicked on the author’s names to try and figure out who exactly was writing them, but the links were faulty at the time (04/15/10) so I couldn’t say for sure (although they seem to be written by staff). On the left-hand side of the blog pages, there is a link to “The Green Room”, a forum described as a “place for open discussions and respectful debate.” The forum seems to be set up in a blog format, with supporters commenting in a long queue on a specific topic, but not necessarily facilitating conversation or debate back and forth.

When I searched for information regarding other action areas typically highlighted by non-profits (volunteerism, events, member recruitment) I found very little specific information. Certain blogs included “events and activities” tags, but other than that, I came up empty handed in my search.

The “Donate” button links to the number of ways you can give financially to EDF, which includes online, phone and mail donations, as well as stock, planned and donor advised giving. There is also a highlighted link titled “more ways to support,” which includes purchasing items from the EDF bookstore, downloading their toolbar or buying EDF postage stamps. There is also an option to give in honor of someone special.

From the “Take Action” link at the “What You Can Do” page, there is a link to a number of action alerts (online activism is encouraged here) with template emails and petitions to send to elected officials.

Just as there are very few specific individual joiner pathways at EDF’s site, I was also unable to identify many specific booster-level options for those who want to galvanize their own networks and community in support of EDF. For those who wish to become more involved by joining the EDF staff, you can check out job openings by surfing to the “About Us” tab, and clicking on “Jobs.” Currently, there are job openings listed by city (San Francisco, New York, and DC), as well as internships that seem to be specifically offered to Stanford students (EDF has a partnership through a Stanford program probably?). There are also links to EDF’s 2010 Career Fair, as well as the Climate Corps Fellowship and the option to subscribe to the jobs RSS feed.

Individuals can share knowledge with EDF by participating in The Green Room forum, by commenting and discussing with other “online community” members on global warming and other “pressing environmental issues”. Otherwise, it does not seem like there is an option to add to the blogs that EDF keeps by either starting your own blog and connecting it to the site (similar to Greenpeace) or by adding blog entries to existing blogs.

Supporters who wish to donate at a booster-level (or a higher level in general) have the option to become a “Catalyst Circle” member. These individuals give $5,000 or more annually and receive special privileges. There are also tons of advocacy tools from the “Action Network” links, currently, “urge EPA to support stronger toxic chemical standards” and “Polar bear odyssey” but I could not find any tools that would support an individual taking action to “boost” other supporters (i.e. by writing and circulating a petition themselves).

Similarly, I was unable to find any booster-level options for volunteerism, event planning or member recruitment.

To learn about the leadership of the organization, navigate your way from the “About Us” tab to “Our Staff and Board”. Here, you’ll find the Board of Trustees listed by name and title, as well as the Nation Council, and Advisory Trustees. The Executive Staff is listed with short biographies (notably, the President Fred Krupp has a nice bio, with interviews and links to his published works), while the “Staff Experts” are also listed in a table with name, title, office and short biography linked to their names.