Despite the wave of recent publicity, the organic movement is by no means a new phenomenon. In 1940, Rodale, a Pennsylvania agriculturalist used the term to describe a healthier method of farming which was free of pesticides. And throughout, the organic community has occupied somewhat conflicting ground. The field is beset by sometimes conflicting regulatory authorities encompassing the Department of Agriculture, states and private bodies.
There are at least tens of thousands of organic growers in the United States. Last year alone, American consumer expended billions of dollars on organic produce, vegetables and meat. And against this backdrop, there exists an entire industry of professional lobbyists, advocates, trade associations and farmers.
What do all of these seemingly divergent groups have in common? Apart from their shared goal in furthering the organic movement, all would benefit from the use of new communication technologies.
Indeed, many organic organizations could benefit from new technologies that enable teleconferencing and networking. Ranging from free conference solutions including Rondee that allow standardized conferencing to high touch email newsletter applications, there has not been a more ideal time to use new technologies to further the organic movement. The following ideas are just a handful of recommendations.
Use an automated electronic newsletter platform
It wasn't that long ago that sending out an email newsletter was time consuming and difficult. That has now changed. On-line systems such as Mynewsletterbuilding, Jangomail, and Campaign Monitor are making it possible to use scalable newsletters. These services slash the work load by as much as seventy percent and in so doing allow organic organizations to concentrate on content creation as opposed to content delivery.
Develop your online professional network
The most advanced organic advocacy organizations create strong networks of supporters who believe in their values and mission. While the term networking sometimes gets an undesirable reputation, the general reality is that these networks can provide significant help to organic advocacy organizations. Today in the San Francisco Bay Area, the expectation is that professional folks will have at least a rudimentary profile on LinkedIn.
At the same time, other networking applications such as Facebook are starting to see adoption by more professional users. These services also offer a relatively easy way of developing your network.
Leverage a free conference call system
In the last few years, there has been growing coordination between geographically diverse organic advocacy groups. One cause of this trend has been reduced air travel costs - a trend that may now be going the opposite direction with jumping oil costs.
Another cause is the flourishing of free teleconference start-ups. A number of these types of free conference call services, including the service offered by Rondee work on the same core idea. They offer you a PIN and a toll number to call. If all conference call participants dial the same toll number and enter the same PIN code, they are placed into the conference.
Use data driven decision-making
One of the most significant trends recently affecting nonprofit organizations in the organic community has been the increasing reliance on evidence based decision-making. Leaders can apply the same practices with simple to use Excel or Lotus spreadsheeting applications to determine what works and what does not work. Increasingly, the hurdle for excellence in decision-making is rising and thus reliance on conjecture is being replaced by empirical data to justify processes.
Desktop sharing
Some organic advocacy groups have distributed leadership teams, and it is impractical to expect face-to-face meetings. Technology is addressing this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's showing a PowerPoint document displaying the group's development plan or a spreadsheet showing the tracking of volunteer participation desktop sharing can be quite useful for not a few organic groups.
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Linda Rogers is an authority when it comes to teleconferencing and similar topics of interest to organic advocates. Linda advises the free conference call service which was initially developed by Rondee.
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