A newsletter from Biodiversity ProjectWinter 2013

Cable news shows and morning talk shows frequentlyfeature segments about baby boomers. Stories like, “Babyboomers expected to benefit from health care law”; “Whatbaby boomers need to live to 100”; and “Make-up tips for

baby boomers” fill the airwaves for goodreason (even if not all the stories are good).The baby boomer generation is defined by

the U.S. Census as people born between 1946and 1964. This era of relative peace and pros-perity, between the end of World War II andthe start of American combat troops beingsent to Vietnam, birthed 77 million people.The oldest baby boomers turned 65 in 2011and AARP has estimated that by 2015, 45%of the population will be 50 years old or older.There’s no question: baby boomers

represent a significant segment of the generalpopulation and, as such, a major audiencefor many environmental and conservationorganizations. As their children leave thenest and their financial security (hopefully)strengthens, baby boomers can be a primeaudience from which to recruit bothvolunteers and donors.Biodiversity Project has compiled some

general baby boomer research from groupslike Pew Research Center, AARP and the USCensus to help paint a picture of this large demographic.Though these easy-to-find statistics don’t tell us how babyboomers feel about environmental issues, they do tell us abouttheir values, which is what Biodiversity Project uses to connectaudiences to behavior change campaigns. For example:• A larger majority of baby boomers are white compared withyounger generations. In 2011, 73% of boomers were white,10% were Latino and 11% were black. Compare that withthe Millennial generation (people who are approximately13-30 years old in 2013), which is 58% white, 20% Latinoand 14% black.

• It is very likely that a baby boomer is or has been married.Today, 67% are married, 19% are separated or divorced.Only 11% have never been married.

• Older baby boomers, who came of age during Richard

Nixon’s presidency, are more likely to vote for Democrats.Younger boomers are more likely to vote for Republicans.The younger half of the boomer generation came of ageduring a period of disillusionment with Democratic

President Jimmy Carter and during thebeginning of the popular presidency ofRepublican Ronald Reagan.• While the percentage of self-describedconservative boomers has increased since2000 (from 35% to 42%), they are becom-ing more comfortable with gay marriage.In 1996, boomers opposed gay marriageby more than two-to-one (66% to 26%).In 2011, boomers opposed gay marriageby a only a modest margin (48% to 42%).

• Since the 1990s, more boomers (54%)prefer limited government programs to amore engaged government (35%).

• 50% of boomers said the US was the great-est country in the world in a 2011 survey.Yet, 91% said they were very patriotic.

• While boomers are pessimistic about cur-rent events, they are hopeful for the future.In 2011, 46% of boomers said life in theUS has gotten worse since the 1960s, yet48% believe that our nation’s best days areahead of us.

These fun statistics only brush the surface of the boomergeneration. But from them, and other reports, research anddata, we can strategically target communications and messagesto the baby boomers by drawing on some values. For example,we know that 91% of baby boomers self-identify as patriotic.Thus, message that relate to pride in a local place or town orendangered species could be salient.We also know that a slight majority of boomers prefer

limited government, so messages about personal responsibility,liberty and fairness might ring true. For example, “We all mustdo our part to keep Wildwood Park clean because we all benefitfrom its walking trails.”By researching an audience and connecting messages to their

values, environmental organizations can reach out to babyboomer audiences and bring them into the fold.

Understanding theBaby Boomer Audience

P U B L I CO P I N I O N &

COMMUNICATIONSN E W S

As a significant segment ofthe general population, babyboomers are a major audiencefor many environmental andconservation organizations.

2 Biodiversity Project Connections

In these pages we often write about our big projects, likemanaging communications for coalitions with diversemembers and implementing national public communica-tions campaigns. But an equally important part of

Biodiversity Project’s mission is to build the communicationscapacity of other groups that are working to protect naturallands and resources.

Building capacity comes inmany shapes and sizes. Oneway we fulfill this part of ourmission is by holding work-shops and delivering presenta-tions at conferences across thecountry. These workshops,which range from 60 minutesto six hours, allow us toprovide basic information tohelp nonprofits look at theircommunications in a new way.We create a learning experiencetailored to audience membersand help them with the mostcommon communicationspitfalls that they encounter.

Biodiversity Project hosted two half-day workshops inNovember 2012. One workshop walked through severalcomponents of our communications strategy process, focusingon understanding your audience (see cover story for more

details). For the second workshop, we explored the often over-whelming field of social media through a joint presentationfeaturing Tegan Jones of Imagination Publishing. Otherworkshops have covered topics like message writing, advocacyoutreach and full communications campaign planning.

After our workshops, participants are often surprised bywhat they didn’t know they didn’t know.

Many participants come to our workshops with a vaguefeeling that they should be doing something more specific,more purposeful, with their communications, but don’t knowwhere to start. While one workshop or presentation won’t solveall of an organization’s worries, they can serve as the inspirationto start thinking about communications in a new way.

As we start planning our next round of communicationsworkshop for 2013, we’d like to know what communicationstopics are on your mind this year. Share your ideas withus by taking a survey in the Recent News section atbiodiversityproject.org.

Communications Workshops:What You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know

Biodiversity Project CommunicationsDirector Rebeca Bell gives workshopdirections at a November 2012Communications Workshop.

Biodiversity Project is pleased to begin work witha coalition of organizations in Wisconsin who areworking cooperatively on a multi-jurisdictionalapproach to managing the Lake Winnebago system.We will work with the partners, who include CalumetCounty, Winnebago County, Fond du Lac County,Washara County, Outagamie County, WisconsinDepartment of Natural Resources and the Universityof Wisconsin–Extension, to engage members of thepublic in these counties in the project. This project isa great opportunity for us to put into practice ourorganizational belief in collecting public opinion dataand engaging constituencies in environmental action.

Since the end of November 2012, BiodiversityProject has been working with the Forest PreserveDistrict of Cook County to research and visitapproximately 40 of their properties and writeaudience-centric articles about each. These accessible

articles will be featured on a new map tool the Districtis developing for their website. The interactive mapwill help potential visitors plan trips to the preserves.

In March, Biodiversity Project will present atthe 2013 Illinois Association of Floodplain andStormwater Managers Conference in Normal, IL.Because preventing stormwater pollution requirespeople to make specific changes in their behavior,we have developed communications strategies andmessages designed to connect target audiences withspecific values-based messages. In this presentation,Biodiversity Project Communications Director RebecaBell will lead participants through a case study ofunique audience-specific behavior change campaignsthat can efficiently and effectively help stormwatermanagers achieve non-point source pollutionreduction through public education and outreach.

What’sNew atBiodiversityProject?

Workshopparticipantstake notesand workthroughactivities inworkbooks.

Since 2007, Biodiversity Project has coordinated apublic education campaign called 1 Mississippi. Thecampaign is implemented by local organizations whoare members of the Mississippi River Network. These

organizations use the campaign to connect everyday peopleto the River, inform them about the trouble it faces andactions they can take to help protect it.

The goal of the 1Mississippi campaign is to recruit RiverCitizens: people who pledge to take actions to protect theMississippi River. Over the past five years, the campaign hasgrown to over 6,700 River Citizens by talking to people atfarmers markets, festivals and concerts. By December 2012,the 1 Mississippi campaign officially reached the milestoneof involving River Citizens in all 50 states, plus Canada!

In addition to the hard work of the 42 member organiza-tions in the Mississippi River Network, the campaign hasbeen successful because of the carefully-crafted campaignmessage and materials that appeal to audience members asRiver Citizens, regardless of where they live in the country.

Since legislation and policy can be changed by publicopinion, the campaign seeks out people, educates themon the issues and moves them along a path to advocacy.As with all good communications campaigns, 1 Mississippibegan with research to get to know who the ideal audiencemembers are and what they value. By understanding audi-ence needs and values, Biodiversity Project builds educationand outreach campaigns that meet people where they are.

Values speak to why people should care about an issue.Answering the why question is central to effective messaging.1 Mississippi developed a survey to understand what peoplevalued, what level of understanding they already had andwhy they loved the Mississippi River. This public opinionresearch revealed several common themes, like cultural andhistorical significance and looking out for future genera-tions, that form the foundation of the campaign’s message.

1 Mississippi is a great example of how BiodiversityProject’s process of incorporating public opinion researchinto messages and campaign strategies works in the realworld. Looking ahead, the 1 Mississippi campaign and theMississippi River Network will be working hard over thenext year to achieve the next big goal: 10,000 River Citizensin 2014. In addition, the campaign will work with thealready existing River Citizens to take community andpolicy actions.

Together, these River Citizens can change the course ofthe Mississippi River’s future. And a strong message can helpget them there.

For more information on BiodiversityProject’s message-writing process,visit the Our Services section atbiodiversityproject.org.

Biodiversity Project Connections 3

A River Citizen in Every State(Plus Canada!)Using Cohesive Messages in a National Campaign

1 Mississippi staff recruit River Citizens at events alongthe river.

C A S ES T U D Y

Biodiversity ProjectConnections is publishedby Biodiversity Project.Send inquiries toproject@biodiverse.org.

StaffJennifer BrowningExecutive Directorjbrowning@biodiverse.org

Rebeca BellCommunications Directorrbell@biodiverse.org

Laura BrownCommunications Coordinatorlbrown@biodiverse.org

Megan KellyProgram Managermkelly@biodiverse.org

Amy SauerMississippi River ProgramManagerasauer@biodiverse.org

Annette Gomberg1 Mississippi OutreachCoordinatoragomberg@biodiverse.org

4507 N. Ravenswood, Suite 106Chicago, IL 60640773-754-8900www.biodiversityproject.org

BiodiversityProjectCommunications to INSPIRE Environmental ACTION

BoardChair: Sara RaceCommonwealth EdisonEvanston, IL

Todd CywinskiImagination PublishingChicago, IL

Rey Phillips SantosCity of Chicago, Department of LawChicago, IL

John SentellLake Forest Open Lands AssociationLake County, IL

Gary WilsonGrimard Wilson Consulting, Inc.Oak Park, IL

B I O D I V E R S I T YP R O J E C T

S TA F F P R O F I L E

No single person ororganization can changethe world on their own.It takes an informed andengaged public to getthings done.That’s where we come in.

Biodiversity Project helps nonprofitorganizations, coalitions and governmentagencies understand and consider theneeds and values of their audiences inorder to create compelling and motiva-

tional messages and materials. We usevalues-based communications and socialmarketing tools to move people towardlasting behavior changes. We do thisthrough:

� researching, designing, implement-ing and evaluating communicationand education strategies thatconnect personal values toenvironmental causes

� helping other groups reach theirown communications goalsthrough workshops, trainings andconsulting hours.

Our unique mission makes us a nontradi-tional nonprofit organization. While werely heavily on grants from large founda-tions like the McKnight Foundation andthe Walton Family Foundation and forthe peer organizations that hire us to helpwith their communications needs, we stilldepend on individual supporters to helpcover the extra services we provide for free

or at discounted rates to othernonprofits.

Supporting a Nontraditional Nonprofit

Please support our efforts today at biodiversityproject.org.

1 Mississippi is apublic campaign ofthe MississippiRiver Network, acoalition workingtogether to protectthe land, water and

people of theMississippi Riverregion. BiodiversityProject managesthe coalition andcoordinates thecampaign.

Biodiversity Project Board of Directors and ExecutiveDirector Jennifer Browning are pleased to announcethat effective January 1, 2013, Rebeca Bell willnow serve as the organization’s communications

director. In the three and half years since Rebeca startedworking with Biodiversity Project, her work has evolvedto match her growing experience in developing tailoredcommunications tools for environmental issues.

Since joining Biodiversity Project, Rebeca hascompleted a Masters program at DePaul University inwriting, rhetoric and discourse, a degree that comple-ments her responsibilities here. Prior to returning to theMidwest for graduate school, Rebeca worked as a

community organizer in her home state of Ohio, fora member of Congress in Washington, DC and for anational environmental organization. Cumulatively,these experiences have honed her environmentalcommunications skills and her passion for convincingothers that words matter, a mantra that she frequentlyrepeats at trainings, in staff meetings and on conferencecalls.

Biodiversity Project’s mission is to help otherenvironmental groups and coalitions find the right wordsto inspire lasting behavior changes. Serving in this newcapacity, Rebeca will be better situated to fulfill thismission. Congratulations, Rebeca!Rebeca Bell