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Working With Other

Organizations

& Allies

Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/working-with-orgs

Welcome to Citizens’ Climate University, a weekly webinar program of Citizens’ Climate Lobby that provides CCL supporters with access to in-depth training opportunities on topics relating to climate change and effective climate advocacy.

I’m your host Brett Cease and tonight’s topic is: Working With Other Organizations & Allies. This training explores how to engage and partner with other organizations in a respectful, understanding and productive way - featuring examples from throughout the country of what CCL chapters are doing to build these essential connections as well as understanding how to best interface with local groups of national green organizations.

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We’ll get started at the top of the hour.
In the meantime, follow us online.

FB: http://facebook.com/citizensclimatelobby
Twitter: http://twitter.com/citizensclimate/

Share where you’re calling in from and what brought you here in the chat.
Tonight’s slides: http://cclusa.org/working-with-orgs
CCL Community Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/168

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Lesson being recorded, available after in Training Topics

Everyone is muted, use headphones to minimize feedback

Unmute using the mic icon or *6 on phone, how to use chat

If you need tech help call: 1-888-799-9666

Housekeeping

Format: Presentation and then time for Q&A

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Review:

This Training Page on CCL Community: [insert URL]. You can also find it by just typing the title into search and the recording is made available by the end of the next day.
We’ll review the presentation agenda shortly, but know there will be time for Q&A.
For the first part of our training, all lines have been muted and we recommend headphones to minimize feedback.
When we get to the Q&A portion, you can unmute two ways. If you’re joining on the computer hover your mouse over the Zoom application black toolbar and clicking the microphone icon (usually the far left side). If you’re joining via the phone simply press the asterisk or star symbol then six and it will unmute. That’s star six. In the meantime, feel free to type any questions you have in the chat window and we’ll start getting to them in the order we receive them during Q&A.
Lastly, if you are having any technical difficulties, we’re going to be too busy having fun to troubleshoot your challenges, so we recommend calling Zoom support at: 888.799.9666. We do recommend closing all applications if you have lower bandwidth and to download the Zoom application I’ll put a link in the chat to the website. [Put in chat: Need to download Zoom? Visit: https://zoom.us/download & look for “Zoom Client for Meetings”]

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About Our Speaker

Taylor Krause

CCL National Outreach �& Partnership Coordinator

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Our Agenda

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What Steps Should We Take?

How Should We Reach Out To?

What Should We Talk About?

Why Does Working Together Matter?

Where Does CCL Fit In?

How To Work With Other Groups

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Our Thoughts of Cov-19

Take care of yourself
Help flatten the curve
Volunteer from home
Training on-line
Virtual meetings with Congress, chapters and, local leaders

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What Steps Should We Take?

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Basic Outreach Guidelines

Always check the Grasstops Engagement Tracker
Start local
Respect CCL’s nonpartisan nature
Know your audience
Aim to create lasting & respectful relationships with other organizations

Firstly there might be an awesome CCLer that is already doing outreach to a group you had in mind. Therefore, we have an online tracking system for this! It’s called the Grasstops Engagement Tracker *share screen of this?* which is available on Community like all of our other resources
A link to the Grasstops Engagement Tracker will be provided in the read guide of this training or you can find it on Community and there is also a Tutorial available on how to use this.
So let’s say you check the GET and the group you are searching isn’t popping up which means you are probably the first to do outreach to this group! So once you start your outreach please log the outreach to ensure we are keeping track of all your amazing work and that other CCLers who might have the same great idea aren’t replicating it!

If you are super interested in the national group again we try to keep that to CCL staff but please feel free to reach out to me! taylor@citizensclimate.org

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Grassroots Engagement Tracker

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Who Should We Reach Out To?

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Getting To Know Local Groups

Relationships matter: think of conversations as opening doors rather than winning a debate
Focus on your shared vision
Don’t assume CCL’s solution is the best/only solution
Humility, authenticity, and demonstrating long-term commitments goes a long way.

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Respect CCL’s Nonpartisan Value

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Know Your Audience

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National non-profits w/ local chapters

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Start Local

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What should we talk about?

Genuinely listen
Strive for a long term relationship
Ultimately aiming to build trust
Maybe carbon pricing isn’t their thing and THAT’S OKAY

What Should We Talk About?

Now that we have talked about how to pick the group to do outreach to, let’s talk about meeting with them. Meeting with other organizations is a little different than meeting with your Member of Congress. CCL has a stellar reputation on the Hill of being a group that offices love to meet with because we base our meetings in appreciation, gratitude and respect. So let’s keep that up when working with other groups! As much as I am sure your MOC enjoys meeting with you, they still are your elected representative and are obligated to meet with you. Therefore it is worth mentioning that other groups are not obliged, in the same way, to work with us and manifesting good relationships with other groups can require a little more romancing and nuance.

So when going into a meeting with another group it’s always been useful for me and good practice to keep in mind a few main goals.

That Relationships matter and they can be delicate. Therefore I like to think of any conversation as opening a door rather than winning a debate. And it’s easy to do this by being humble, nonpartisan, and using your effective communication/listening skills that we train our volunteers to use in their meetings with their members of Congress.

Humility, authenticity, and demonstrating long-term commitments also go a long way and help achieve this goal of relationships.

Next goal is striving to develop a long-term, respectful, and mutually-beneficial relationship. We always hope that with every group we can continue to work together on key areas of overlap and those might not be possible right now but always leaving the door open for the future.
Lastly, but most importantly the ultimate goal is to build trust

With that said you joined CCL for a reason and they joined their organization for a reason. Our groups may differ in how to get there but both groups have a shared vision for an emissions-free future. So remember you're not alone, practice courage, keep learning, and you can always default to talking about your groups’ shared vision.

When working towards these goals it’s always good to not assume that Carbon Fee & Dividend is the best or only climate solution. CCL’s mission is to build the political will for a livable world. And Carbon Fee and Dividend is currently the most politically viable solution that is in line with the science based emission targets outlined in the IPCC.

So it is possible that your meeting can just be a friendly meeting to introduce yourself, but it is also possible that some actions can come from the meeting. Therefore it is a good measure to think about the possible asks you can make during this meeting. So depending on how the meeting is going here's a selection of "asks" to consider including in your conversation once you've developed a relationship. You can ask to:

Meet with their steering committee or leadership team to discuss possible collaborations
Give a presentation that would be of interest to their group and be something CCL does well

Example being climate change impacts or climate change solutions or grassroots organizing

Plan a joint outreach or educational event
Bring your chapter members together for a social event
Draw a member of Congress's attention to local climate impacts

This can be through a joint lobby meeting, joint Op-Ed, or some other joint letter to a congressional office.

You can ask a local chapter of a national organization for an endorsement of the Energy Innovation Act, but just a little note that many local chapters follow the lead of their national office and may not be able to endorse.

To dovetail off this last possible ask. Focusing on relationships is just as important as endorsements so do not get discouraged if they are not able to give an endorsement, get creative on ways to work together! You are all expert relationship builders and building relationships is a skill that CCL is betting the farm on and we fully trust you to do!

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Possible joint action ideas

Meet with their steering committee or leadership team
Give a presentation of interest (on climate change impacts, solutions, or grassroots organizing)
Plan a joint outreach or educational event
Bring your chapter members together for a social event
Draw your member of Congress's attention to local climate impacts via:

joint lobby meeting, joint Op-Ed, or some other joint letter to a congressional office.

You can ask a local chapter of a national organization for an endorsement of the Energy Innovation Act*�*many local chapters follow the lead of their national office and may not be able to endorse.

What Should We Talk About?

Now that we have talked about how to pick the group to do outreach to, let’s talk about meeting with them. Meeting with other organizations is a little different than meeting with your Member of Congress. CCL has a stellar reputation on the Hill of being a group that offices love to meet with because we base our meetings in appreciation, gratitude and respect. So let’s keep that up when working with other groups! As much as I am sure your MOC enjoys meeting with you, they still are your elected representative and are obligated to meet with you. Therefore it is worth mentioning that other groups are not obligated, in the same way, to work with us and manifesting good relationships with other groups can require a little more romancing and nuance.

So when going into a meeting with another group it’s always been useful for me and good practice to keep in mind a few main goals.

That Relationships matter and they can be delicate. Therefore I like to think of any conversation as opening a door rather than winning a debate. And it’s easy to do this by being humble, nonpartisan, and using your effective communication/listening skills that we train our volunteers to use in their meetings with their members of Congress.

Humility, authenticity, and demonstrating long-term commitments also go a long way and help achieve this goal of relationships.

Next goal is striving to develop a long-term, respectful, and mutually-beneficial relationship. We always hope that with every group we can continue to work together on key areas of overlap and those might not be possible right now but always leaving the door open for the future.
Lastly, but most importantly the ultimate goal is to build trust

With that said you joined CCL for a reason and they joined their organization for a reason. Our groups may differ in how to get there but both groups have a shared vision for an emissions-free future. So remember you're not alone, practice courage, keep learning, and you can always default to talking about your groups’ shared vision.

When working towards these goals it’s always good to not assume that Carbon Fee & Dividend is the best or only climate solution. CCL’s mission is to build the political will for a livable world. And Carbon Fee and Dividend is currently the most politically viable solution that is in line with the science based emission targets outlined in the IPCC.

So it is possible that your meeting can just be a friendly meeting to introduce yourself, but it is also possible that some actions can come from the meeting. Therefore it is a good measure to think about the possible asks you can make during this meeting. So depending on how the meeting is going here's a selection of "asks" to consider including in your conversation once you've developed a relationship. You can ask to:

Meet with their steering committee or leadership team to discuss possible collaborations
Give a presentation that would be of interest to their group and be something CCL does well

Example being climate change impacts or climate change solutions or grassroots organizing

Plan a joint outreach or educational event
Bring your chapter members together for a social event
Draw a member of Congress's attention to local climate impacts

This can be through a joint lobby meeting, joint Op-Ed, or some other joint letter to a congressional office.

You can ask a local chapter of a national organization for an endorsement of the Energy Innovation Act, but just a little note that many local chapters follow the lead of their national office and may not be able to endorse.

To dovetail off this last possible ask. Focusing on relationships is just as important as endorsements so do not get discouraged if they are not able to give an endorsement, get creative on ways to work together! You are all expert relationship builders and building relationships is a skill that CCL is betting the farm on and we fully trust you to do!

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Why Does This Matter?

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Why Does This Matter?

We can’t go it alone
The climate movement has strength in numbers
There is value in pressure from multiple sides and angles
Helping other groups helps us; by forming relationships we strengthen the climate coalition

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Create Healthy Relationships

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Where Does CCL Fit In?

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Who’s in the Climate “Ecosystem”

Traditional “Big Greens”

Ex. Sierra Club, EDF, etc.

Smaller Environmental Orgs (that work on climate)

Ex. Elders Climate Action, Moms Clean Air Force, etc.

Environmental Justice Groups

Ex. WeACT, Green For All, etc.

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Who’s in the Climate “Ecosystem”

Eco Right Groups

Ex. RepublicEn, Niskanen Center, ConservAmerica

Peripheral Climate Change Groups (groups working on climate and many topics)

Faith groups, National Security Groups, Renewable Energy Groups

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Where Does CCL Fit In?

Being a bipartisan organization is rare
We’re for solutions not in opposition to solutions or other people
We aim to bring everyone to the climate and carbon pricing conversation
We play the inside game with grassroots, very few other groups do this
Comprehensive grassroots organization
Our major strength is that we have a lot of people who are well organized, trained, and are everywhere!

So where Does CCL Fit In?

Well from these groups in this Ecosystem you can see there are groups that only work with one party within Congress. There are also groups that exert pressure on Congress to act on climate through protests or affirmative action. And while this is different from CCL’s objectives it is useful. These groups exert pressure on Congress to act and when that time comes CCL will be the trusted relationship and resource there with solutions that are in the middle of the road and also has built up the grassroots/grasstops support behind it.

So to summarize where we are in the ecosystem:

Being a bipartisan organization is something that is rare these days so CCL tries to occupy the middle! The far middle to be more exact, hope you all have seen our campaign launch for this!
We are an organization that is for solutions not one that opposes solutions or other people.
We aim to bring everyone to the climate movement or carbon pricing conversation
We play the inside game with grassroots, which is a novel concept that very few other groups are able to do! In DC I am consistently told by other big green groups how impressed they are with our volunteers. CCL is known as the most comprehensive grassroots organization for a climate group and you guys all around just rock. This means that our major strength is that we have a lot of people who are well organized, trained, and are everywhere!

So to wrap this up, I want to touch on the fact that there are going to be instances where you do not have overlapping work to do with other groups and that’s okay!

It is perfectly fine to coexist without having to work together. But it is easier to demonize someone you haven’t ever met which is the reason why CCL likes to introduce ourselves to others who even oppose carbon pricing.

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How To Work With Other Groups

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State Level Policy Work

Tons of CCL groups across the US are working with our new State Policy Coordinator to plug into existing carbon pricing efforts or start their own!

Policies don’t have to be CFD, there are plenty of local efforts that align with our work ! Think RPS, grid upgrades, solar policies, etc.

Contact: Jamie@citizensclimate.org

If you want help/advice/general encouragement and inspiration!

General Climate Education

Partner with another organization to educate the greater public about climate change, what it is, what the impacts are, what the local effects are. You can both present solutions!

This can be joint presentations, joint tabling, town halls, movie screenings, etc. GET CREATIVE!

Helping Other Groups

As climate change becomes more and more impacting there are going to be more people concerned and therefore groups are going to want to start outlining how their groups intend to address climate change. So you can help other groups who aren’t climate leaders become climate champion in their own way

CCL Groups Can Work with Others!

Helping other groups

As climate change becomes more and more impacting there are going to be more people concerned and therefore groups are going to want to start outlining how their groups intend to address climate change. So you can help other groups who aren’t climate leaders become climate champion in their own way

For example Trout Unlimited works on conserving cold water fisheries for trout and saw the effects of climate change on the fisheries they have tried to preserve and how they came to find CCl and then become a partner and since partnering with us have started a position within their chapters for a state level climate change coordinator.

So with that said just keep an open mind! There are many groups that I meet with who aren’t branded as environmental groups and are just starting to think through their organization’s first stance on climate change let alone thinking through what policy solutions they are going to get behind. It is really effective to consider timing, so just be aware of where the group is at with climate policy. It might be more fruitful to be helpful in providing them resources on climate science or building up their grassroots organizing efforts so you can work on building up on that trust I mentioned that is most important for a lasting relationship. And then down the road asking their thoughts on carbon pricing or the bill we support and working them up the ladder of support. Talking about bills and endorsements too soon could scare off a group, especially one that is just dipping their toe into the big big topic of climate change.

Regardless of where the group is, I always like to brag about how amazing you all are and CCL in general. CCL has about 200,000 supporters and is always climbing. Also our network of people is comprised of members around the world who are in all kinds of industries. So if there is always connection to made and you are a perfect person to help make that happen. You can mention Community which is our own internal Facebook, the over 50 Action teams we have, the laser talks we have, the list goes on and on.

State Level Policy Work

There are also tons of CCL groups across the country who are working with our State Carbon Pricing Policy Coordinator who plugs into existing carbon pricing efforts or starts their own!

State Policies don’t have to be CFD, there are plenty of local efforts that align with our work ! Think of RPS, grid upgrades, solar policies, etc.

If you want help/advice/general encouragement and inspiration!

Please contact Jamie DeMarco Jamie@citizensclimate.org who is our state-level carbon pricing coordinator.

Summary

So in summary feel free to reach out to your local chapters and check in with me about national groups. Make sure you are using your time wisely while doing outreach by focusing on groups that matter to your member of congress or are helpful to connect to in your community. Meet these groups where they are, the main objective again is to build trust and the rest will come!

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Time For Questions

Click the Microphone Icon Or *6 If On The Phone

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Bill Blancato - Trout Unlimited

Bill Barron - Outdoor Industry Action Team

Local Stories Of Working Together

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Getting Active With Trout Unlimited

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Action Teams and Targeted Resources

Action Teams Directory

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Time For Questions

Click the Microphone Icon Or *6 If On The Phone

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https://community.citizensclimate.org/topics

Share online, with social media, and with your chapter, family and friends!

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Thank You!

Taylor Krause email: taylor@citizensclimate.org

Questions? Ask on CCL Community’s Forums: https://community.citizensclimate.org/forums

www.citizensclimatelobby.org

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Three Learning Goals

Understand #2

Take Action #3

Highlight #1

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2t

3

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To solve

climate change:

We need a great brand

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To solve

climate change:

We need a great brand

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Chapter Teams

Lobby Team

Lobbies Members of Congress

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“Citizens' Climate Lobby is not just a volunteer organization; it's a community. Meeting up with fellow CCL'ers hundreds of miles from home is like gathering with a thousand friends. Last weekend, no matter where I went, CCL volunteers greeted me warmly and were genuinely interested in what I had to say. I can say wholeheartedly that CCL is the best organization I have ever volunteered with. I love the training it offers, the positive attitude it promotes, the relationships it fosters, and its open-tent policy. Thanks, CCL, for giving me the tools I need to be an advocate for the future of humanity and for helping me form new friendships along the way! If you're looking for a way to make a genuine impact on the world and feel good about doing it, get involved with your local CCL chapter.”

-Cheryl Clark, CCL TX-Denton Group Leader

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“Citizens' Climate Lobby is focused on the climate because we care about the future of humanity, but to me, CCL is not just a volunteer organization; it's a community. Meeting up with fellow CCL'ers hundreds of miles from home is like gathering with a thousand friends. That may sound ridiculous, but it's true. Last weekend, no matter where I went, CCL volunteers greeted me warmly and were genuinely interested in what I had to say. I can say wholeheartedly that CCL is the best organization I have ever volunteered with. I love the training it offers, the positive attitude it promotes, the relationships it fosters, and its open-tent policy. Thanks, CCL, for giving me the tools I need to be an advocate for the future of humanity and for helping me form new friendships along the way! If you're looking for a way to make a genuine impact on the world and feel good about doing it, get involved with your local CCL chapter.”

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Chapter Teams

Lobby Team

Lobbies Members of Congress

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This is a Chart

We are:	And we show it by being:
Focused on a big solution	Consistent. We regularly reinforce our main messages in order to build support and understanding for our Carbon Fee and Dividend policy.
Relationship-�driven	Thoughtful. We consider other viewpoints, listen, and work together.
Nonpartisan	Approachable. We are optimistic, friendly and easy to talk to.
Effective	Polished. We’re prepared, persistent, and polite.

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This is Another Chart

Top Issues	CSC	Dividend	Agriculture	Jobs	Endorsers	Local Impacts
R’s	104	80	41	42	30	25
D’s	156	58	31	29	31	36
Total	260	138	72	71	61	61

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ICONS

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Additional Photos

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Benefits of Local Outreach Events

Strategic Alliances
Name Recognition
Community Appreciation & Respect
Outreach to Business/Environmental Communities
Public Ed. & Awareness

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Citizens’ Climate Lobby Chapters

Tabling Opportunities
Constituent Letters
Outreach & Publicity in Local Media
College Campus Outreach
Outreach to Schools

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Prominent CCL National Allies

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

Close partner
Hill strategy work
Work on the CSC together
Coordinate on educational trainings

Audubon

In district work
Work on the CSC together
Hill strategy work
Coordinate on educational trainings

US Climate Action Network

Reports from many climate groups
Progressive angle
Meet new groups locally and federally
Creates space for bipartisanship