IHE News & Announcements February 2012

• Featured Book: Creating More Change for Animals with Animal Impact
• Making the Most of Our Activism: An Interview with Caryn Ginsberg
  
• The Power of Humane Education
• Teacher Activist Groups Launch "No History is Illegal" Campaign
  
• One Small Step for a Better World: Believe That You Matter
• Humane Educator's Toolbox: Students, Communities Work to Stop Hate, Spread Peace
• Humane Issues in the News: Factory Farming
  

FEATURED BOOK: CREATING MORE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS WITH ANIMAL IMPACT

There are millions of people who are passionate about helping animals. But passion isn't enough. Animals need us to use our time and resources in ways that provide the best possible results. So:

How can we create more change for animals?

That's the core focus of the new book by marketing expert and animal advocate, Caryn Ginsberg. Her book Animal Impact: Secrets Proven to Achieve Results and Move the World (2011) is designed to help activists get the most effective results for their limited time, energy, and resources and to transform what effective advocacy means.

Ginsberg highlights the importance of helping people change their behavior through social marketing, which she defines as "using commercial marketing approaches to influence people to voluntarily adopt a behavior that helps animals." Ginsberg is a long-time consultant for animal protection organizations, helping them bring successful business practices (like social marketing) to advocacy, and in Animal Impact she uses her expertise to guide beginning and experienced activists in reexamining their strategies and strengthening their impact.

Relevant for both personal activism and for grassroots and global organizations, Animal Impact brings essential lessons from the business world to animal advocacy, such as the need to understand people's motivations, and their focus on WIIFM (what's in it for me); the importance of gathering data and doing market research; the value of targeting different groups of people in different ways; and the benefit of experimenting, testing, and evaluating.

Ginsberg uses her seven-step ACHIEVEchange system as a framework for illustrating effective techniques and strategies. Chapters outline each element of the system and provide clear and helpful insights and examples. Ginsberg also offers tips for "putting it all together" and for "getting started," as well as resources for more information.

In addition to Ginsberg's ACHIEVEchange framework, what makes Animal Impact so valuable are the success stories (and lessons learned) from more than 80 leading advocates. Examples span from companion animal concerns, to farmed animal advocacy, to wildlife issues, and more. Which animal photo did the public best respond to in an anti-fur ad? How do we talk with restaurant owners or campus food service staff most effectively about cage-free eggs or more veg choices? What helps people to be more likely to maintain a veg diet? There are dozens of helpful stories that demonstrate the successful practical application of these strategies.

Although Animal Impact focuses on animal protection issues, the strategies and insights are relevant for every activist. With so many global challenges affecting people, animals, and the earth, and limited time to make a difference, Animal Impact is a must-read for anyone wanting to create a better world.

Find out more about Animal Impact in our interview with Caryn Ginsberg below.

BONUS! WIN A COPY OF ANIMAL IMPACT!

Caryn has generously provided us with a copy of Animal Impact to give away. If you'd like to be entered in a random drawing for a chance to win a copy, email Marsha@HumaneEducation.org with your full name and email address, by Friday, February 17, 2012. The winner will be contacted via email.

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MAKING THE MOST OF OUR ACTIVISM: AN INTERVIEW WITH CARYN GINSBERG

Think of the big-name organizations in the animal protection movement -- HSUS, ASPCA, Farm Sanctuary, RedRover -- and you'll find Caryn Ginsberg's fingerprints all over their strategies and campaigns. Caryn has spent more than a decade helping animal protection advocates utilize strategy and marketing approaches to get better results, and her new book, Animal Impact: Secrets Proven to Achieve Results and Move the World, is designed to help both beginning and experienced activists create more effective change for animals. Caryn's book has been endorsed by many well-known advocates, including Wayne Pacelle, Gene Baur, and Bruce Friedrich, and Peter Singer called it, "the practical handbook every activist should read."

In addition to her expertise merging business skills with activism, Caryn has also served on boards of directors and advisory boards, including for the Institute for Humane Education and the Humane Research Council, and has taught social marketing, marketing, and strategic management courses for Johns Hopkins University and Humane Society University. We talked with Caryn about her book and how it can help transform activism.

IHE: Your new book, Animal Impact, offers insights and strategies for animal activists. What's unique about your book amongst the other books about animal protection advocacy?

CG: There are many excellent books about animal advocacy. I quote from several in the book and recommend some of the best in the Resources section.

I reviewed a number of books before writing Animal Impact precisely to define what would make it different:

• Animal Impact introduces, explains, and illustrates a seven-step process to create change, so that readers take away an approach they can remember and apply to get better results.
• It includes thought exercises and questions, so you experience the material rather than just see it and can begin to put the information to work before they even finish reading.
• There's a free companion journal pdf that repeats the key points and provides space to answer questions and take notes, letting you create a personalized executive summary.
• The success stories and lessons learned from leading advocates around the world make the book enjoyable as well as instructive.

IHE: Is the book only for animal protection advocates?

CG: Although the stories come from the animal protection field, the lessons learned apply across almost all social change issues. There's already been interest from people working on environmental, social justice, and human rights issues.


IHE: Your book looks to business practices, including marketing strategies, as a core part of effective advocacy. Why is that important?


CG: Businesses have a proven track record of getting people to take action. Advocates can use the same approaches – ethically and without big budgets – to get people to take different actions. The field of social marketing, applying business marketing principles to motivate people to act in ways that benefit society, began in 1971. The public health, environmental, and animal protection fields, as well as others, have used social marketing successfully to advance change.

IHE: In your book, you talk about the ACHIEVEchange system as a guide for effective activism. Tell us a little about it.


CG: I like to joke that I've read a lot of self-improvement books but haven't improved very much. While the responsibility for that failure rests with me, I believe part of the problem is that many books share great ideas, but don't leave you with a framework you can use to take action.

With the ACHIEVEchange system, each letter in the word "ACHIEVE" stands for a phrase that represents a key step in the process of effective advocacy. For example, ""I" is for "I am not my target audience." This step addresses that advocates are often very different from the people we're trying to influence. What motivates us may not be the best way to inspire others. The ACHIEVEchange system makes it easier to remember and implement the seven steps.

IHE: Give us an example of "top-notch" advocacy.

CG: Top-notch advocacy comes down to "tipping the scales," so that people perceive more benefits than barriers to doing what we want them to do. When Bob Leonard first joined Delaware Action for Animals (DAA), he took on the fight against a proposal advanced by trappers to greatly expand the beaver-trapping season. Many advocates would have denounced the cruelty and maybe set up a protest at the wildlife agency. But to sway decision-makers, Bob knew he needed to show that it was not in the public interest to expand the trapping season.

He engaged them professionally and courteously, ultimately gaining access to data that proved that the extent of beaver complaints was overstated. He approached other local groups within and beyond animal protection, finding allies who cared about quality of life and public safety issues in addition to animal cruelty. That meant more organizations opposing the expansion of the trapping season and providing more reasons. Finally, Bob contacted national organizations and trained in peaceful methods for resolving conflicts with beavers. That enabled DAA to provide nonlethal assistance when there were situations that might lead to complaints.

I like this example because it shows how a small group of people acted strategically to overcome opposition and persuade government to make the animal-friendly decision not to pursue the change. Bob discusses this story in the form of a great how-to for advocates here.

IHE: What are some of the most common mistakes activists make?

CG: I mentioned that "I" in the ACHIEVEchange system stands for "I am not my target audience." Advocates often use materials or approaches that they like without seeing how they work with the intended audience. You see this a lot through social media where advocates talk about how wonderful a video, poster, or other promotional piece is without any measure of what impact it has. Testing our methods to see how, even if, they get results with people we're asking to change is critical to using our scarce resources wisely.

Another common mistake is the one-size-fits-all approach where we try to speak to everyone with the same message. What motivates one person to take action isn't necessarily the same as what will move another. For example, one person might choose to shop at thrift shops because it helps the environment, another person might be driven primarily to save money, while a third might enjoy rejecting the big business / mass market stores in the mall. When we can tailor our engagement to what's meaningful to individuals or groups of people, they're more likely to respond.

IHE: What's the biggest challenge in motivating people to change their behavior?

CG: What came up repeatedly in the book was how challenged we as advocates often are in getting past our anger and engaging respectfully with the people we seek to influence. People change when they choose to do so and when they see the benefits as being greater than the barriers to taking on a new behavior. We need to work much harder to see things from their perspective and try to help them, rather than push, or worse yet, guilt or yell at them.

IHE: What do you think it's most important for beginning activists to know? Where should they start? What should they consider when deciding how best to spend their time and resources?

CG: My hope for beginning activists would be that they would find a role where they enjoy what they're doing, and they're getting meaningful results from their investment of time and energy. While the path to that point may vary, I'd encourage new activists to learn about a variety of groups. See what kind of campaigns or programs they run and what outcomes they're achieving. Volunteer in a variety of capacities or apply for an internship. As you go, keep evaluating, "Is this the way I want to contribute? Is my work creating change?"

That's what I did. I started in animal protection working in mailrooms, staffing outreach tables, marching in parades, leafleting, and more, with a variety of different groups. I went to conferences to meet people. I discovered the match between my business background and the field when I attended a weeklong humane education training from IHE more than ten years ago. I decided that becoming a humane educator wasn't a fit. But I was so impressed with IHE's approach and Zoe saw that I brought something different when I did my final project on grant funding opportunities. She invited me to join the board of directors. That was the start of my applying my professional skills, and it led to other opportunities.

IHE: What keeps you motivated and positive in working toward a compassionate, just world for all?

CG: There are so many wonderful people working to create positive change in the world. Imagine how much we can accomplish if every one of them has the very best ideas, methods, and tools to get results. IHE Enews readers have experienced how exciting it is to experience humane education as a force for change. I know that the approaches I share in Animal Impact, and in workshops and projects, are equally powerful to help advocates create the world we want to see.

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THE POWER OF HUMANE EDUCATION

by IHE President, Zoe Weil

During the second week of January, I taught a humane education course to 8th graders at a local school. My goal for the course was to inspire the students to identify and embrace the best qualities of human beings and put these qualities into practice in concrete ways that create a healthy, just and compassionate world for all people, animals and the environment. The week focused on changemakers – individuals who’ve worked to change unjust and inhumane systems – and in the process of learning about these people, the students also learned about some of the atrocities and problems in the world that need transformation.

A few days ago, I received a packet of thank you letters. Here are excerpts from a couple:

"Our week with you has been an eye-opener for everyone, and I am excited to carry your message into the world, as you have done, and fully embody the three I’s [inquiry, introspection, and integrity]. The things we watched were always amazing, and sometimes horrific, but were necessary for the class and myself to realize the wrongdoing in the world, and what we can do about it. I truly admire your bravery, intelligence, kindness and contagious hope that the atrocities in the world can be changed. Thank you for taking your time to teach and talk with us.”
-8th grade girl

“... I’m glad that now I know what is happening in the world and what we need to do to fix it.”
- 8th grade boy

“I cannot thank you enough for coming to our class. I have learned so much. I will carry what you have taught for as long as I can, and I will try to make a difference to the best of my ability. I have this desire to help now, and I owe that to you.”
-8th grade girl

On the first day of the class, after listening to an episode of This American Life in which Mike Daisey described his experience interviewing hundreds of workers laboring in sweatshop conditions in factories in Shenzhen, China, I asked students to write letters to Apple's CEO. Here's just one amazing example.

It really doesn’t take much to ignite a passion for good among youth and adults alike. What is harder than sparking concern, care, and commitment is sustaining and nurturing this energy; providing the breadth and depth of accurate information about entrenched and pervasive challenges; and teaching them critical and creative thinking skills so that they remain the bedrock of each individual’s approach to healthy, positive, wise changemaking for all.

A week-long humane education course may seem life-changing, but for many that change may fade unless it is fostered and nourished. That's why it's so imperative that humane education should be the centerpiece of our schooling goals, so that our graduates will have the knowledge, tools and motivation to meet the challenges they will face and create a peaceful and humane world no matter what professions they pursue.

Image courtesy of soot+chalk via Creative Commons.

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TEACHER ACTIVIST GROUPS LAUNCH "NO HISTORY IS ILLEGAL" CAMPAIGN

In response to the recent ban on the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in Tucson, Arizona, teacher groups across the U.S. are launching a "No History is Illegal" campaign and encouraging a month of solidarity teach-ins. The No History is Illegal website offers a "guide that includes sample lesson plans from the MAS curriculum as well as creative ideas and resources for exploring this issue with students."

Organizers of the campaign said they're launching it on February 1:

"... because February 1 is the first day on which Tucson schools must comply with this law. It is also the first day of African American History Month. And as Dr. King warned us, 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' What is happening in Arizona is not only a threat to Mexican American Studies, it is a threat to our right to teach the experiences of all people of color, LGBT people, poor and working people, the undocumented, people with disabilities and all those who are least powerful in this country."

 
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ONE SMALL STEP FOR A BETTER WORLD: BELIEVE THAT YOU MATTER

Until we confirm for ourselves that what we do matters, we won’t become positive, potent changemakers for a better world. Most of us have probably heard the old refrain “I’m just one person; what I do doesn’t matter.” Perhaps we’ve spoken those words ourselves. But two wise changemakers say differently:

"Your life does matter. It always matters whether you reach out in friendship or lash out in anger. It always matters whether you live with compassion and awareness or whether you succumb to distractions and trivia. It always matters how you treat other people, how you treat animals, and how you treat yourself. It always matters what you do. It always matters what you say. And it always matters what you eat.

“When you choose to affirm the dignity inherent in life and to uphold the beauty, the magic, and the mystery of the living Earth, something happens. It happens whether or not anyone else recognizes your efforts, and it happens regardless of how wounded and flawed you are. … Your life becomes a statement of human possibility. Your life becomes an instrument through which a healthier, more compassionate, and more sustainable future will come to be.”
~ John Robbins, in The Food Revolution


"It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result."
~ Mohandas Gandhi

For the next several days (working up to every day) try to pay attention to all the myriad ways you make a difference, from speaking kind words to a harried colleague, to showing extra patience with your child, to making choices that do more good and less harm, to speaking out, even when you’re afraid to. If you need an extra boost, write yourself a letter of support – e.g., 10 Ways That I Matter -- and hang it somewhere visible to help your member that everything you do matters.

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HUMANE EDUCATOR'S TOOLBOX: STUDENTS, COMMUNITIES WORK TO STOP HATE, SPREAD PEACE

The NIMBY (not in my backyard) concept takes a whole new twist with Not in Our Town, an organization which has launched a new documentary and a nationwide educational campaign to stop actions of hate and promote inclusive communities. Their new documentary, Not in Our Town: Class Actions -- which is running on PBS this month -- chronicles the efforts of three communities taking positive action after facing racism, anti-Semitism, and teen suicides spurred by bullying.  Screening and discussion guides are also available.

Even more exciting than the new film is the Not In Our Town campaign, which offers a website full of ideas and resources for educators, students, and concerned citizens. There's a section of lesson plans and ideas for how to use the NIOT site and videos; there are kits and suggestions for starting a NIOT school, campus or community group, as well as profiles of groups and communities taking positive action; and, in addition to grant opportunities for educators to bring the documentary to their schools, there are contests and challenges for students.

With regular headlines in the news about discrimination and bullying in schools (such as this recent story from Rolling Stone), tools like Not In Our Town are important resources for helping communities feel connected and find useful strategies for promoting peace.
 

Image courtesy of William Bender.

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HUMANE ISSUES IN THE NEWS: FACTORY FARMING

We know you want to stay informed about important humane-related issues but are short on time; that's why we aggregate the good stuff for you! Recently the news has been full of stories related to industrial animal agriculture. Here is a sampling of the most relevant issues.

• Six employees at a Butterball turkey farm in North Caroline face criminal charges after an undercover investigation reveal horrific abuse of the turkeys.
  
• A recent New York Times editorial supports proposed federal legislation that would standardize cages for egg-laying hens in the U.S. and give them slightly more room.
• A court in Washington state is holding a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) accountable for its pollution
  
• McDonald's has agreed to help end the use of pig gestation crates by pressuring its pig suppliers to stop using the small crates that confine female pigs during the four months they're gestating. McDonald's joins Hormel and Smithfield Foods, both of which recently announced that they're phasing out the use of gestation crates.
• Recently the Humane Society of the United States released undercover footage of abuses of pigs at two major pork suppliers.
• Late last month the Supreme Court overturned a California law that would have required euthanizing downed livestock at federally-inspected slaughterhouses.
• In a survey conducted by Meatingplace, about 80% of poultry companies reported that they don't sterilize the cages or trucks transporting the birds to the slaughterhouse, which allows an accumulation of bacteria.
• A mysterious "manure foam" on pig farms in the Midwest is causing the barns to explode, killing the thousands of pigs inside and injuring workers.
• Several states have introduced "ag-gag" bills which would prohibit taking photos or video of farmed animal abuse.

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