Climate Solutions Accelerator

Organizing to Urgently Address Climate Change

The Context
The Climate Solutions Accelerator (the Accelerator) and Causewave go back to the beginning of the Accelerator’s birth as a non-profit organization. Founded as Rochester People’s Climate Coalition (RPCC), the organization assembled in 2014 to lead the local People’s Climate March. There was so much energy in our community to address climate change that the group quickly assembled into an all-volunteer led coalition to organize collaborative climate change efforts across the nine-county Genesee-Finger Lakes Region.

The Challenges
From the beginning, the leaders of the accelerator knew that there was a significant need to address climate change in our community and do so in a way that effectively and strategically harnessed the energy of the numerous people and groups working on climate change initiatives. Given the urgency of addressing climate change, they knew they needed to move quickly through the process of formalizing the organization, getting the necessary funding, and establishing an operating plan.

Working in Partnership
The Accelerator and Causewave starting working together when the Accelerator (then RPCC) was a startup organization. Together we have worked through a series of strategically chosen programs to help the Accelerator move through its stages of organizational growth. Causewave and the Accelerator met a couple of times in 2016 and 2017 using the Coffee and Consult program to collaborate on those early organization formation questions. When the group formally became a 501c3 in 2017 we once again partnered to establish the Accelerator’s organization philosophy, defined by an Intended Impact and a Theory of Change. This process helped clarify the Accelerator’s purpose and approach to achieving its goals. Starting in 2018, Causewave assisted the Accelerator in the development of their Brand Platform - a process that helped define who the Accelerator is and what they do, their key audiences; ultimately, creating a framework from which important decisions are made and communicated. Later that year, we worked with the Accelerator to restructure its membership program, clarifying the role membership plays in supporting the organization’s mission and financial goals. More recently, the Accelerator partnered with Causewave to develop a strategic marketing plan to help fuel its growth and subsequent rebranding efforts.

And our partnership continues today as together we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through transitioning to carbon-free electricity to power our community. Together we convened stakeholders from 20+ prominent local institutions to work through Causewave’s Community Impact Initiative process, ultimately leading to a campaign that will launch in 2021.

Impact
In six short years, including the challenges from a pandemic, the Accelerator has established itself as a leader in the efforts to address climate change. Abby McHugh-Grifa, Executive Director of the Accelerator, shared this, “Causewave has supported our organizational growth and maturation over a period of many years, guiding us through the process of transitioning from an informal, grassroots network of climate advocates to a well-respected and effective nonprofit. At the outset, we were well-intentioned but woefully inexperienced. Causewave helped us channel that energy by guiding us through the process of developing an initial theory of change, intended impact statement, brand platform, membership model, and communications plan. During those early years, they provided the encouragement, structure, and direction we needed, at a price we could afford”.

And when reflecting upon the community impact initiative work she commented, “The Causewave team has not only brought their own considerable expertise, but also facilitated partnerships with top-level marketing professionals and secured their commitment to donate considerable time and effort to our project. The quality of the creative content is well beyond what we could have produced on our own, and Causewave's role in coordinating the logistics is a huge value add for our small organization”.

We’re proud to have an ongoing relationship that supports an organization that has grown and transformed to address one of our community’s most urgent threats. And that’s all really great news for our community’s fight against climate change!