June/July 2008

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Survive the Energy Crunch:
Going Green is Good Business

The ‘3 R’s’ -- “reduce, re-use, recycle” – has been the watchword of the conservation movement for years. With dramatic price increases putting a budget crunch on every household, business, organization and agency, even formerly ‘non-green’ CEO’s are suddenly looking for ways to protect their bottom line.

When looking to ‘go green’ or simply to tighten your organizational belt to assure your continued profitability (or survival), try this planning process that builds on the 3 R’s:

1. Re-Think: Start by re-examining every aspect of how you do business with an eye to eliminating the unnecessary, streamlining, and adopting new procedures. How can you reduce, re-use, and recycle in the various areas of your organization? Approach this process as a brainstorming session with your employees and/or volunteers, and record every suggestion no matter how wild.

2. Re-Prioritize: Next, assign points to each activity according to how difficult it would be to complete; how expensive; the potential cost savings; and the potential negative environmental impact. Here’s a simple scorecard you can use for this exercise:

	1 (High) to 4 (Low)	1 (High) to 4 (Low)	1 (High) to 4 (Low)	1 (Low) to 4 (High)	(highest is best)
Activity	Expense to Complete	Difficulty to Complete	Negative Eviron. Impact	Potential Cost Savings	Score
Install programmable thermostats	3	4	4	3	14
Turn off computers & printers at night	4	4	4	4	16
					0
					0
					0
					0

Using this worksheet, arrange the activities in order from highest scores to lowest.

To begin implementing the activities, start with two or three of the highest scoring tasks, as these will be easiest to implement and can be used to jump start a phased, full-scale company policy of conservation. Plan to add a few more each quarter as staff adapts to the changes and you write the most effective activities into company policy.

As the savings from your activities begin to show up, report them regularly to your staff as an encouragement. We all are more faithful when we know what we’re doing is working!

3. Reward: Consider rewarding employees financially for creative suggestions that result in significant cost savings. A one-time bonus of 25-50% of a significant reduction in costs over the quarter is a great motivator to staff and still results in a 50-75% cost savings for the organization.

4. Re-invest:  As the savings begin to accumulate, set aside a percentage of the savings to paying for steps with higher implementation costs but larger potential impact.

Going green can be great for your bottom line! The Funding Exchange is ready to assist you to identify and implement cost-saving activities in your business, organization or agency. Our staff can provide facilitation for your brainstorming session; design and set up your conservation program; locate grant sources and/or write proposals for conservation funding; and assist you in long-range planning to ensure that your organization continues to thrive in this new energy-conscious climate.

Send your most creative ideas for cutting organizational expenses to us at info@funding-exchange.org, then join us in a 90-minute webinar on July 18th to learn more about cutting costs and setting up a conservation program in your organization. You’ll receive specific tips and ideas to jump-start your efforts, learn about resources for funding and technical assistance, and have a chance to ask and receive answers to your specific questions related to cutting costs in your organization.  Sign up for the webinar HERE. At $89, it’s a great investment!