The following are a few brief examples that illustrate the Beldon Fund's program strategies. More information on the work of the full range of Beldon's grantees can be found on each organization's website. Click here to see a list of grantees.
Creating a Force for Change: Minnesota Environmental Partnership. Begun in 2000 with Beldon Fund support, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP) grew from a small informal hub to become a powerful state-wide umbrella organization. MEP now coordinates the advocacy efforts of more than 80 environmental and conservation groups. In recent years MEP has helped member organizations develop more effective organizing tactics, communications, and outreach. Above all, it has transformed a disparate state environmental community that had little or no clout into a united – and effective – force for change.
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Learning from a Disappointing Project: An Unsuccessful Effort to Build a Statewide Environmental Advocacy Coalition in Florida This example offers insight into a funding strategy that did not pan out as expected. Florida was one of five “key states” where the Beldon Fund sought to build support for sound environmental policies by creating a statewide advocacy coalition united around a common agenda. The strategy achieved varying levels of success in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Carolina. But Florida was a different story. Beldon faced tougher problems that eventually defeated its effort to promote change.
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Moving State Policy Reform Using All the Tools in the Toolbox As the Beldon Fund’s Human Health and Environment strategy took shape, one of the key questions it faced was how to help environmental advocates reframe environmental policy reform so it appealed to a broader public. In 2002, Beldon began formulating an answer, using Maine as a testing ground for a state-based funding strategy that sought to use “all the tools in the toolbox” to reframe the public debate of government regulation of toxic chemicals.
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Engaging Non-Traditional Allies: Nurses. In its effort to raise awareness of environmental health hazards – and mobilize support for policy reform – the Beldon Fund sought to engage new allies from outside the traditional environmental community. After initially casting a wide net, Beldon found particular traction among nurses. Prior to Beldon’s funding, most nursing organizations were not involved in environmental health issues, particularly the dangers posed by toxic chemicals. But by making grants to nursing organizations directly rather than supporting environmental grantees to reach out to this constituency, Beldon was able to engage nurses as full partners. Direct funding also allowed nurses to define environmental health issues through their own lens, and led to a deeper commitment and greater sense of ownership among nursing organizations.
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States as Laboratories for Federal Policies: The SAFER Campaign. Created in 2005 with support from Beldon and the John Merck Fund, the State Alliance for Federal Reform of Chemical Policy (SAFER) is a multi-state collaboration that transformed a previously fragmented environmental health advocacy community into a powerful engine for change with growing national clout.
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New Allies Lead an Effective Corporate Responsibility Strategy: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Beldon support helped transform a small advocacy effort based in California into a national corporate responsibility campaign with far-reaching impact. Led by the Breast Cancer Fund, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics calls attention to the health dangers posed by harmful chemicals in cosmetics and other personal care products. The campaign has attracted powerful spokespeople - including nurses, actresses, teen advocates, beauty queens and breast cancer survivors. And it has extended its reach by joining forces with Beldon’s environmental grantees.
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