As the summer winds down – a summer filled with drought, fires, floods, and other extreme weather – I’ve been thinking about the ways my consulting business engages with the topic of climate resilience. 

What am I doing to create positive change? Which of my behaviors add to the problem? How am I supporting my clients in taking productive action?

Are you a consultant, too? Here are three ideas for creating a climate-positive consulting practice.

1. Examine the climate impacts of your business model

Every type of business, including yours, creates climate costs. Your transportation, energy use, out-of-town travel, supplies, food choices, and marketing strategies all affect your carbon footprint. 

For example, traveling by airplane has a massive climate impact. Nearly four years ago, in response to the climate crisis, I stopped flying. 

This was a major shift in my business. For years I had worked on the road, serving nonprofits across North America. To reduce my climate impact, I now focus on local and regional clients, plus virtual workshops.

Pandemic upside? Fewer emissions

One unplanned benefit of the pandemic: It forced us to rethink and expand remote work. Less travel of all kinds reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Before the pandemic, a colleague near Boston was serving four to five clients at a time, typically spending one day each week in their respective offices.

After COVID arrived, she moved all this work online – with great results. 

Even better, she’s driving eight hours less each week and burning God-knows-how-much-less gasoline. 

Post-pandemic (or whatever phase we’re currently in), this remains her primary business model. It’s not only good for the climate; her life is more sane and sustainable.

Want homework? Do an informal “climate audit” of your business. What steps can you take to reduce your impact?

2. Encourage climate awareness with your clients

Nearly every nonprofit consulting topic is affected by the emerging threat (and frankly, the current reality) of climate change. A few examples come quickly to mind.

Fundraising. Given the perpetual wildfire season in the Western US and Canada, how many outdoor fundraising events – walk-a-thons, bike rides, golf tournaments, etc. – have been cancelled or rescheduled due to unhealthy air quality? 

Extreme weather can reduce our opportunities to gather in person. As a fundraising consultant, are you showing your clients how to factor these risks into their fundraising plans?

Human resources. What’s your role in helping your clients – and their employees – reduce their carbon impact? For example, are you encouraging them to subsidize public transit for staff? Or support workplace carpools? How about embracing more remote work (and less commuting) when feasible? 

An additional benefit: these actions will improve staff morale and retention, which is essential in today’s tight labor market.

Board governance. One of the board’s essential roles is risk management. While staff deal with day-to-day details, board members operate at a higher “altitude,” looking past the daily challenges and planning for the future. They need to ask questions like these:

• How might our operations be affected by extreme weather? 
• Do we have the right insurance for those events?
• Should we build a climate reserve fund to help mitigate these impacts?
• How do we reduce our impact on climate change?

Strategic planning. Pretty much anything you might include in a strategic plan – programs, finances, partnerships, organizational sustainability, facilities, and so on – can be viewed through the lens of climate resilience. 

One specific area to consider is equity, because the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect marginalized communities. It’s hard to create a comprehensive equity strategy without discussing current and future climate disruptions.

Want homework? Be bold! Seek out opportunities to initiate climate awareness conversations with your clients.

3. Advocate

First, let’s acknowledge that the US nonprofit sector is a massive industry, managing $2 trillion in revenue each year and employing millions and millions of people. We are a major economic engine and we need to claim – and use – our power. 

When nonprofit organizations come together to advocate, they tend to focus on sector needs: for example, preserving the charitable tax deduction or ensuring that nonprofits are included in pandemic relief programs. These are useful efforts, but under current circumstances, they are insufficient.

What would happen if we harnessed our collective muscle to push for stronger local, regional, and national climate protection policies?

For example, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility – at least one-quarter of whose members are nonprofit organizations – has promoted stronger climate policies for more than a decade. This is one instance where for-profits and nonprofits have joined together around a common goal.

Want homework? If you care about this issue – and I hope you do – look for ways to raise your voice, both individually and collectively.

If not now, when?

While cleaning files this week, I discovered an agenda for a climate change planning meeting I facilitated for a client … in 2004. 

The issue was urgent then. It’s even more urgent now.