Sustainability for Nonprofits: Greening Your Operations

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Sustainability for NonprofitsGreening Your
Operations

• Presented By
• Lyndee Lloyd
• Nonprofit Market Strategist
• ShoreBank

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Agenda

• Why sustainability?
• Opportunities for more sustainable operations
  buildings
• Incorporating sustainability in banking/ treasury
  operations and investments
• Green funding sources

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Why should nonprofits care about sustainability?

• Foundations requiring it on capital requests
• Cleveland Foundation, George Gund Foundation
• Energy Costs and reliability
• Energy efficient buildings reduce utility costs
• Smarter use of resources means more money in your
  pocketand more money for your mission
• Fundraising/PR opportunities growing interest
  in climate change issues
• strengthen your brand by demonstrating coherence
  between mission and management

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Why should nonprofits care about sustainability?

• Worker productivity and managing risk
• Natural lighting raises worker productivity
• Smart planning
• Sustainability investments today will avoid
  costly retrofits down the line
• Climate change The Sarbannes -Oxley effect
• New audit and reporting requirements

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Sustainability Realities

• Green space doesnt have to cost more, but will
  if you are not thoughtful
• Alternative energy can be cost-effective and can
  come without an upfront cost
• Greening your operations can save you money and
  reinforce your mission

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Sustainability Realities

• Producing one ton of virgin uncoated paper (90
  of the US printing and writing paper) required 3
  tons of wood, 19,075 gallons of water, and
  generates 2,278 pounds of solid waste
  (Environmental Defense)
• Typical business offices generate about 1.5
  pounds of waste paper per employee per day (File
  Bank, Inc.)
• In the US, over half of the average individuals
  carbon emissions comes from the goods that they
  purchase (1-World Globe)
• Cleaning products are responsible for nearly 10
  of all toxic exposures reported to US Poison
  Control

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Moving towards sustainability

• Top level buy-in necessary but not sufficient
  (middle mgt is where it happens)
• Partnerships are key to leverage resources
• Can present cultural challenges, especially for
  mission-driven institutions have to connect to
  core mission
• Will require continuous improvement and
  commitment takes time

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Greening your Operations

• Quick and Easy
• Print and copy using both sides of paper.
• Turn off equipment and lights when not in use
• Buy paper with a high share of post-consumer
  recycled content.
• Sign up to be removed from mass mailing lists of
  junk mail firms.
• Purchase returnable or refillable toner
  cartridges.

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Greening Your Operations

• The Next Step
• Paper measurement and reduction
• Environmental Defense Funds paper calculator
• Use of E-Copy scan instead of fax or mail
• Use email for donor appeals and event invitations
• 1 ream (500 sheets) of paper 6 of a tree
• 17 reams 1 tree
• 5,000 copies of a 16 page brochure 5 trees!

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Greening Your Operations

• Perform a waste audit
• Sort, categorize and weigh at the end of each day
  for one week
• Reduce Toxic Impact
• Use environmentally friendly paper (chlorine-free
  with post-consumer fiber), inks (VOC content of
  less than 5) and printing techniques
• Office Equipment environmental footprint based
  on how made, energy used and paper/supplies used
• ENERGY STAR and EPEAT

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Greening your Transportation

• Calculate commuting emissions
• Provide staff discounts for public transit
• Coordinate car-pooling and car sharing
• Offer pre-tax commuter incentive benefits
• Encourage cycling and walking
• Allow employees to telecommute
• Use web or video conferencing

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Greening Office Kitchens/Catering

• Quick and Easy
• Replace paper plates and plastic utensils with
  dishes and silverware
• Encourage employees to bring their own coffee mug
  or water bottle to work
• Eliminate use of individual condiment packages by
  buying in bulk
• Replace paper napkins with cloth napkins and hand
  towels
• Recycle all food and beverage containers

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Greening Office Kitchens/Catering

• The Next Step
• Buy organic and fair trade
• Global Exchange, TransFair USA
• Support local restaurants and caterers
• Compost food scraps

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Greening your Shipping/Receiving

• Choose green office supply companies
• www.thegreenoffice.com, www.thegreenofficestore.co
  m
• Reuse packaging materials received for outgoing
  shipments
• Look for FSC-certified products
• Consolidate shipments to reduce overall packaging
  and fuel use, lower costs

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Greening Your Facilities

• Call your local provider to request an energy
  audit along with recommendations for conservation
  (usually free)
• Consider green tags (carbon offsets)
  www.greentagsusa.org
• Use CFLs wherever possible reduce operating
  costs by 75 and last 10 times longer
• Install occupancy sensors can reduce costs by
  50-70

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Greening Your Facilities

• Learn how to read water meter, check for leaks
  and repair
• Install drought-tolerant landscaping
• Install reflective building roof coating
• Install adequate insulation
• Use green cleaning supplies and pesticides
• Method, PortionPac Sustainable Solutions

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Greening Your Facilities

• Use ceiling fans to reduce need for A/C
• Set thermostat to 68 in winter, 76 in summer
• Discourage space heaters (consume extra
  electrical energy and create fire risk)
• Improve indoor air quality
• Decorate with plants
• Use VOC-free paint (same cost, widely available)
• Clean/replace air filters every 2 months

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Greening Your Purchasing

• Select environmentally preferable products (EPP)
• Support local suppliers, minority-owned
  businesses and cooperatives
• Buy recycled before buying new
• Engage current suppliers and ask for green
  alternatives

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Marketing and Public Relations

• Switch to e-newsletter replace print based
  campaigns with online
• Create a blog and document sustainability
  initiatives
• Connect green strategies to your organizations
  mission to attract new funding
• Use the social web (ex Netsquared, MySpace)

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Greening Your Events

• Encourage participants to carpool
• Use PowerPoint instead of handouts
• Place recycling bins next to trash for easy
  access announce to participants
• 27 of special event waste is paper, 10
  cardboard and 11 is plastic all recyclable!
• If paper used, postcards instead of full brochure
  
• Dont use dates on signage so they can be re-used

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Greening Your Events

• Use online registration
• Use reusable plastic name badge holders
  adhesive backed paper cannot be recycled
• Use dry-erase or chalk boards instead of flip
  charts
• Provide handouts/transcripts via email or post on
  website

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Greening Your Human Resources

• Reduce paper usage by going electronic with as
  many forms, benefits and informational packets as
  possible.
• Provide commuter incentives for alternative forms
  of transportation.
• Encourageand modelcandid feedback and comments
  at staff meetings
• Assess the number of women and minorities in your
  firm, overall and by level within the
  organization.
• Join the Society for Human Resource Management,
  or another lobbying group that will address your
  employees needs on Capitol Hill.

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Greening Your Construction Building Buildings
account for 30 of raw materials and 36 of
energy use in the U.S.

• Focus on the envelope first (insulation, windows
  and air leaks)
• Cheaper in the long run because of lower
  operating costs
• LEED Certified and LEED Silver cost about the
  same as a conventional building, Gold or Platinum
  can cost more use as a guide, dont have to
  certify to benefit
• US Green Building Council - www.usgbc.org

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Green Building Benefits

• Environmental
• Protect ecosystems, improve air/water quality,
  reduce waste, conserve resources
• Economic
• Reduce operating costs, enhance asset value,
  improve employee productivity
• Health and Community
• Improve air/acoustic environment, enhance
  occupant comfort, minimize strain on local
  infrastructure, contribute to quality of life

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Greening Your Building Maintenance

• Use HEPA filters and change HVAC filters after
  construction
• Install task lighting to reduce overhead lights,
  increase productivity and comfort
• Clean windows allow sunlight in
• Discourage eating in the office to avoid
  attracting pests, encourage lunch breaks

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Greening Your Banking

• Reduction of paper usage, staff time, and
  transportation costs increase efficiency
• 9/11 and Check 21 Legislation increased and
  improved online banking and remote deposit
  options
• Select a green bank
• ShoreBank, New Resource Bank (San Francisco),
  Community Bank of the Bay (Oakland)

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Greening Your Banking

• Online banking and ACH
• Lockbox
• Merchant Services (credit card processing)
• Remote Deposit Capture (Image Scan)
• Direct deposit of payroll
• Hard copy check costs 1/check
• Employee time for deposit costs 2/check
• Company with 10 employees would pay 30 using
  hardcopy checks, but only 13 using direct
  deposit
• (Sourcewww.nfib.com)

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Green Banking Case 1

• National nonprofit typically raises funds by
  mailing out 2 annual appeals-- concerned with
  production and postage costs, paper usage
• Solution
• Merchant services with online capability
• ACH Origination for monthly or quarterly
  sustainer program

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Green Banking Case 2

• Organization with high volume of incoming checks
  credit cards several walks and races
  nationally, tens of thousands of pledges
• Want to simplify and increase efficiency of
  processes as much as possible

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Case 2 Solution

• Advanced lockbox processing
• Speed Unique zip code, 24x7 processing
• Online information collection
• Data transmission into accounting fundraising
  software
• Tiered security access staff of various offices
  across the country can view/record their own
  incoming funds, while CFO views all simultaneously

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Green Banking Case 3

• Board and Investment Policy mandates that as
  close to 100 of funds as possible must be FDIC
  insured. CFO has been juggling a portfolio of
  95,000 CDs at various banks, negotiating rates
  terms with each bank, collecting multiple
  statements

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Case 3 Solution

• CDARS (Certificate of Deposit Account Registry
  Service) www.cdars.com
• FDIC insurance up to 50MM for each depositor
• Correspond with ONE bank, fill out ONE
  application, receive ONE monthly statement

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Socially Responsible Investing

• Invest in a way consistent with your values
• Maximize returns through investments that
  contribute to prosperous, peaceful and healthy
  world (Positive screening)
• Avoid investments that contribute to destructive
  and irresponsible behavior (Negative screening)
• Shareholder Advocacy
• Research investment options www.socialinvest.org
  ,www.socialfunds.org

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Green Funding

• Federal and State
• Environmental Support Center www.envsc.org
• Good to Be Green www.goodtobegreen.com
• US Department of Energy Federal Energy
  Management Program and State Energy Program
• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  Environmental Finance Program and Green Buildings
• Reach out to your local utility company
  incentives vary by state but are good partners in
  energy reduction

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Green Funding

• Private Foundations
• Ben Jerrys Foundation
• Cottonwood Foundation
• Green Communities
• Home Depot Foundation Environment Initiative
• The Kresge Foundation Green Building Planning
  Grants
• The Rockefeller Family Fund The Environment
• Tellabs Foundation Environment
• Research sources www.greenraising.com,www.fundrai
  singgreen.com

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In Conclusion...

• Find the right champions internally
• Gather the data
• Develop necessary partnerships to bring it to
  fruition
• Manage internal organizational change
• Keep ahead of a rapidly changing curve
• There is potential for real savings gains by
  conserving resources

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Thank you!

• Lyndee Lloyd
• Nonprofit Market Strategist
• ShoreBank Nonprofit Service Center
• 333 S. State Street, Ground Floor
• Chicago, IL 60604
• Direct [phone]
• Email lyndee_lloyd_at_sbk.com
• www.sbk.com