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Sustainability addresses social, economic and
environmental issues, seeking creative solutions
that make all three better, or at least not trade
them off. Typical trade-offs include jobs or the
environment, growth or quality of life.
Most nonprofits focus on only one area:
economic development, the environment, or
social issues like hunger and homelessness.
Nonprofits do great work in their silos. But often
a structure to manage their interdependencies is
missing.There is, after all, a relationship between
waste and water, food and land use, energy and
economics.
In the Sedona, Arizona area, several local
nonprofits formed the Sustainability Alliance, a
coalition for us to explore our interdependencies,
share resources, and cross-promote one another’s
events. Some members were reluctant initially,
worrying about time commitments and being
pulled away from their core mission. And each
group had promised not to share its email list
with others.
But we had shared goals and interests. Two
groups were working with schools; two had a
speaker’s series. We were all concerned about
how development and tourist-driven traffic was
affecting our communities and straining our
water resources.
There are benefits to working together. We
can speak with a unified voice. We have found
creative, multi-disciplinary solutions to local
issues. And because we are seen as trying to
make everything better - our economy, livability
and environment - we are becoming a respected
go-to group for advice.
Here’s my advice for getting started.
Develop a shared understanding
We started by comparing where our passion
for sustainability came from. This helped us
understand one another and uncovered shared
assumptions and visions.
I gave a briefing on The Natural Step’s science-
based framework for sustainability so we would
share a mental model for sustainability. We
analyzed the region’s issues and opportunities
within that framework to gain a sense of
priorities.
Identify manageable joint projects
Start small and work incrementally. We identi-
fied three program areas to work on.
Nonprofits Collaborating for Sustainability
DARCY HITCHCOCK