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JOHN SAWHu,L
<br /> individuals,businesses,government,other nonprof- ; very satisfactory,and it also got a lot of good public-
<br /> its, universities,you name it.We'll work with any- ity for having taken that approach. i
<br /> one-from gigantic multinational companies to an
<br /> individual farmer or fisherman-who will help us What major challenges do you face as you work
<br /> achieve our mission. more in various partnership arrangements?
<br /> In recent years,for example,we've become quite
<br /> active in mitigation;that is,in helping to find solu- We have a strong results-oriented culture. One
<br /> tions that offset environmental damage. In 1992, former director of the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service
<br /> the Walt Disney Company wanted to expand its op- I described the Conservancy as "all action and no
<br /> erations in Orlando, Florida, to build its wild am- talk." We like to get things done and, as we all
<br /> i mal theme park. The state, however, was con- know, the best way to get things done is to do it
<br /> cerned about damage to wetlands. A solution was I yourself. What we have to realize is that in a part-
<br /> jointly engineered by Disney, the Nature Conser- j nership it's not our job to get things done on our ;
<br /> vancy,and local,state,and federal
<br /> agencies: In exchange for permis- «j T Te t sion to develop the Orlando site, `"` think of ourselves as <<�Cl11Yl Slllltll
<br /> which will affect about 340 acres l'
<br /> of wetlands over a 20-year period, `I'1 th a green thumb."
<br /> ! Disney agreed to purchase, pro-
<br /> tect, and restore 8,500 acres of
<br /> wetlands and wilderness in central Florida.Disney own.Our job is to help our partners by giving them
<br /> will donate this land in phases to the Conservancy I the tools they need.
<br /> and provide an endowment to make sure that we One of the fundamental challenges that every
<br /> can continue to operate it. By the way, these kinds ' manager faces-how to measure success-has be-
<br /> of mitigation agreements will become more and come even more difficult for us because of the com-
<br /> more popular in the future. They offer creative, i plex objectives of our partnerships.As I said earlier,
<br /> nonregulatory solutions that help the environment I it was a lot easier when we measured our success by
<br /> without hurting the ability of businesses to develop the number of acres we bought or the number of
<br /> their valuable assets. I dollars we raised.But the compatible development
<br /> I Another way we help break the gridlock is by us- ! initiatives that are critical to our mission don't fit
<br /> ing our expertise to help companies with site plan- neatly into those categories, and it may take years
<br /> ning and land management. Information from our to tell how effective our projects have been.
<br /> species inventory can be invaluable in helping plan- At the same time,an organization has to set goals
<br /> ners site power lines, pipelines, construction proj- and objectives annually to make sure that people
<br /> ects, or roads.A little biological homework before- understand clearly what is expected of them. One
<br /> hand can avert costly delays,lawsuits,and negative of the problems common in nonprofits is that peo-
<br /> public opinion. I ple don't have specific,measurable goals and objec-
<br /> A recent example is instructive.The Georgia-Pa- tives. So, for instance, we'll set fund-raising goals
<br /> I cific Corporation wanted to consider how it might for a program such as the Oklahoma Tallgrass
<br /> contribute to conservation but not give up all its Prairie Preserve, in which our aim was to raise the i
<br /> rights to harvest timber in perpetuity on a particu- $15 million we needed to buy the land.With a proj-
<br /> ! lar piece of property.The company called in the Na- i ect such as the Virginia shore, the goals might in-
<br /> ture Conservancy and said, "Let's think about this I elude the number of jobs to be created.
<br /> together.Which parts of this area should be perma-. Some of the objectives critical to our mission are
<br /> nently set aside, and which might be selectively I difficult to quantify, but we can still use them as
<br /> logged or logged at some future time using our nor- goals. For instance, if we are to succeed, we have
<br /> mal methods?" We talked about it and ultimately to establish programs that can serve as models for
<br /> signed a contract that gives the two organizations ! future conservation work. Our state program in
<br /> } equal rights in determining future timber harvests Hawaii set a standard in rain forest protection, but
<br /> on the property. The Conservancy and Georgia- we measured its success not just by what we ac-
<br /> Pacific each have one vote, and questions of future ! complished in Hawaii but also by our ability to ap-
<br /> harvests must be resolved unanimously.Instead of ply what we learned there about island ecology to
<br /> getting into a situation where it might have in- other areas in the Pacific.Today we are successfully
<br /> curred opposition from environmental groups, extending the Hawaiian model to Indonesia, Papua
<br /> Georgia-Pacific worked out a plan that they found New Guinea, and Micronesia. We're always trying
<br /> HARVARD BusiNEss REVIEW September-October 1995 115
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