Applying for a Rare Pride Campaign: Frequently Asked Questions

Running a Pride campaign at your site

What is a Pride campaign?

A 2-year intensive marketing and outreach campaign designed to change behaviors threatening the environment. Pride campaigns incorporate everything from social marketing to public relations; education to stakeholder engagement; and supporting alternative livelihoods to influencing legislation. Pride campaigns are run by a local conservationist trained and supported by Rare and their organization, and they target specific segments of the community with messages of environmental pride.

Download Rare's training brochure which provides details on the program and University partners.

While each campaign targets a specific site, Rare launches them in groups of 10-12-all focused on a common issue-so that implementing partners can share learning and test solutions for broader scalability.
 

How do I know if Pride is the right tool for my site?

Pride has been proven effective in more than 50 countries with populations ranging from 6,000 to 200,000. It uses a universally shared value, community pride, to motivate change -- transcending geographic, cultural, and political boundaries. However, there are some key factors that our years of experience and research have shown to determine whether or not Pride will succeed at any given site.

• The threat, and the solution, must be local in nature: While most environmental threats are influenced by a complex array of factors at the local, national, and even international levels, Pride campaigns are focused furthest downstream – to the average local community member with the power to both contribute to and prevent such threats as forest fires, pollution, habitat destruction, unsustainable agriculture, poaching, etc. The strength of this local link in the causal chain determines the potential effectiveness of a Pride campaign.

• Pride works best in small, developing areas with high biodiversity, but low media saturation. Pride tools are not designed to compete with large, urban commercial advertising-filled environments. They are grassroots in nature and heavily integrated in local culture and customs.  

• The sponsoring organization should be committed to communications and constituency building long term: a 2 year Pride campaign can produce extraordinary results – new parks created, legislation enacted, behaviors changed, etc. – but marketing never stops. Just as Coca Cola continues to advertise even though it has the most recognized brand in the world, a commitment to instilling the values of conservation in your community over the long term is critical to sustain momentum. Pride works best for organizations that find a way to include community outreach into every annual budget and strategic plan.

• The campaign can be integrated into broader, complementary projects in the region: Pride targets a limited number of social, economic, and political factors impacting conservation at the community level. But as noted above, there are usually multiple converging forces behind any given environmental threat. Rare works with every campaign manager and sponsoring organization to ensure that Pride is well aligned and integrated with the work of other partners, government agencies, and stakeholders in the region. The presence of other partners and willingness of the sponsoring organization to engage with these partners is crucial to Pride’s success.
 

What is the time commitment for a Pride campaign?

In total, Pride campaigns are 2 years in duration, and consist of both University and field-based training.
 

What languages is the training offered in?

Rare offers training in English at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.; in Spanish at ITESO (Insituto Tecnico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente) in Guadalajara, Mexico; in Bahasa Indonesia at the Bogor Agricultural Institute; and in Mandarin at Southwest Forestry University in Yunnan Province, China. While campaign managers are required to speak one of the above mentioned languages, campaigns themselves have been run in more than 15 languages to date.
 

What is the Rare/UTEP Master's in Communication?

In partnership with the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP), Rare has launched a first-of-its-kind training program that provides conservation practitioners with an M.A. in Communication upon the completion of the 2-year Pride campaign if they are eligible.

Administered by regional university partners in four languages, and globally accredited by UTEP, the degree is awarded to Pride campaign managers who complete all coursework, as well as implement a successful Pride campaign at their site. The new Master’s degree is overseen by UTEP’s Department of Communication, which has a strong commitment to grounding cutting-edge research and theory in real world applications. This makes UTEP an ideal partner for Rare, which has always required equal emphasis on academic rigor and field-based results.
 

Partnership with Rare: Roles and Expectations

How does Rare support a Pride Campaign?

Rare provides full training and technical support for the life of the campaign, as well as a robust support platform for all Pride alumni organizations with resources, tools, and communications for use in the long term. Support from Rare includes:

• Accredited, university-based training for the campaign manager

• Providing the campaign manager and implementing partner organization with a copy of several proprietary manuals and CDs for project planning, implementation of 40+ outreach and education activities, and measuring impact

• Two, one-week monitoring visits by a Rare technical expert, regular teleconferences, extensive review and revisions to all project plans and monthly reports, 24/7 email and Skype assistance, and a dedicated mentor from Rare

• Support for executive director in building a long term communications and outreach strategy, as well as to integrate Pride tactics and outcomes into larger organizational strategy

• Alumni Project Grants: All implementing partner organizations that have completed Pride campaigns are eligible for Alumni Fund grants to support follow up work at the site or train others in Rare’s methodology.

• Regional Workshops: Rare offers periodic workshops in each region to foster learning and innovation around community-based conservation issues. Both current and alumni implementing partners are invited to these workshops and are often involved in leading sessions or presenting case studies.

• Mentoring Program: During the campaign, each implementing partner is assigned an alumni mentor. Post-campaign, implementing partners can become mentors themselves and take part in a global program of top Pride leaders.

Rare provides different levels of financial support, as well as equipment packages and travel stipends, to each implementing partner, depending on capacity. Please discuss your needs during the in-person interviews and phone conversations with Rare during the application process.

What is the role of the implementing partner organization?  

At a minimum, the organization is required to provide salary and support for the campaign manager, as well as access to transportation. Rare also expects each implementing partner organization to make a firm commitment to integrating local constituency building into their daily and long term planning processes. The campaign will not be as effective without the full support of the organization, nor will impact be sustained once Rare technical support ends. 

View a list of Rare's implementing partners
 

I do not have a local organization to sponsor me. Can I still apply?

No, we only accept campaign managers that are currently employed and supported by a local conservation or government organization -- those working in natural resource management, such as parks and forestry departments. Institutional support has proven critical to sustaining impact.
 

What is a campaign manager?

A campaign manager is the person responsible for planning and executing the 2 year project. The campaign manager is officially an employee of a local conservation organization, but dedicates 100% of his or her time to the campaign.
 

What makes a good campaign manager?

Campaign managers come from diverse backgrounds. That said, in over 35 years of running Pride campaigns we have found that successful managers share the following attributes:

• Motivation: Highly motivated individual, with a clear vision as to how Pride might reduce specific environmental threats and a long-term commitment to his or her site, organization, and a conservation career.

• Site Experience: Long-term resident at the site, with excellent comprehension of local community structure, cultural norms, threats, and potential allies.

• Employment Background: Employed at the sponsoring organization for a minimum of three years, with good employment track record and a proven project management experience. Organization has made provision for transportation and someone to assume current duties (if in conflict with Pride Campaign)

• Understanding of Pride: Campaign manager has good grasp of the intricacies of the Pride program, the scope of the challenge, how skills gained will enhance his or her professional effectiveness, and recognizes and agrees to timeline.

• Educational Background: Has studied at an institute of higher learning within the past five years. Must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in order to receive the Master’s degree. Good computer literacy; open, honest, and aware about the challenges of studying at the university level, but excited about the opportunity to do so.

Want more information about what it takes to be a successful campaign manager? Read this overview.

Does Rare implement Pride campaigns? 

No. Our implementing partner organizations run the campaigns with training and support from Rare.
 

Our organization does not have enough funds or capacity to support a full-time staff member only dedicated to the Pride campaign. What can we do?

A full time campaign manager is absolutely essential to a successful Pride campaign. We want to work very closely with organizations to run the best campaign possible, and therefore ask for full organizational commitment to this principle. Rare does not provide the funding to cover the salary, benefits or local transportation costs of the prospective campaign manager.

If you have identified a candidate, but do not have the funds to pay for a full time salary, we still encourage you to apply. Your application is the first step in investigating a partnership with Rare.
 

I am not interested in the full Pride training. Does Rare have a short course or tools available that I can use to build my own social marketing program without making this level of commitment?

Rare does occasionally present short workshops in conjunction with international conferences. These are announced on our Web site periodically.

Join Rare's mailing list to recieve the bi-monthly Rare newsletter.
 

Overview of the Application Process

What is the application process?

There are five stages in the application process:

Step 1

Fill out and submit the online "Expression of Interest form". The Expression of Interest forms vary based on what program you are interested in applying for. To see the complete list of programs as well as accessing the forms click here. Once Rare recieves the completed form, a staff member will review it and respond within two weeks. 

Step 2

Conduct a preliminary phone conversation with Rare: If you meet the initial criteria (as noted on the Expression of Interest), a Rare staff member will contact you via phone to further explore the value Pride can offer your community, as well as your potential fit with Rare. 

Step 3

Complete the full application: If we determine a high potential for effective partnership, you will be sent a full Pride application, which calls for greater detail about your organization, site, your proposed campaign strategy, and your proposed campaign manager. Full applications are completed with the support of Rare staff in each region.

Step 4

Conduct phone and in-person interviews with Rare: Partners must identify a staff member who can be dedicated full time to running the 2-year campaign. An assessment of the campaign manager is a critical part of the application process. Rare will arrange an interview with the Executive Director of your organization, as well as your proposed campaign manager, to ensure full stakeholder alignment. Rare may also ask for references.

Step 5

Confirm campaign funding and sign "Campaign Agreement": If you are among the applicants chosen, and you demonstrate ability to provide the necessary funding at the local level, Rare will begin locating matching funds for your campaign, and a Campaign Agreement will be finalized and signed.  Your campaign manager will then be enrolled in the university training course if eligible and will receive all necessary support and materials to begin preparation.
 

What if I want to run a Pride campaign that doesn’t fit in any of Rare’s current current program themes?

Rare is continually developing new programs around the world. We welcome your ideas for Pride campaigns and encourage you to submit your campaign ideas here. We will keep your information on file and keep you up-to-date on new programs in your region as we develop them.
 

When are applications due?

For more information about due dates, please contact Senior Associate, Global Partnerships, Kate Mannle at kmannle@rareconservation.org
 

What are the key criteria in an application?

A number of factors go into the admissions process:

• The importance of the site – Being a site with recognized high biodiversity value is a pre-requiste for applying to the Pride program. United Nations World Heritage Sites, biodiversity hotspots, national or regional protected areas, or areas recognized by international conservation bodies as a priority (or that are soon to be placed on endangered lists)

• Clear threat to the site that fits with theme – negative human activities are occurring in or around the site that threaten the site’s biodiversity. The principle threat at the site should align with the proposed program theme.

Some of the criteria we use to determine admission include:

• A strong implementing partner  who views Pride as integral to their long-term site conservation strategy, is committed to achieving project success n the community and is dedicated to supporting its selected Campaign Manager.

• A quality campaign manager who is rising star at the lead agency partner organization, personally motivated to run a Pride campaign, academically strong and a critical thinker, influential in the community, and capable of executing for results.

• Has a Theory of Change that demonstrates a high likelihood of behavior change linked to a clearly defined target audience with appropriate incentives and measurement.

• A high potential for conservation impact indicated by a specific and measurable conservation result that has a direct link to the focus threat, a logical Theory of Change, and the potential for sustainability.
 

How long does the admissions process take?

The timing is dependent upon many factors. Many applicants have a clearly defined site, threat, campaign manager, and funding resources, so the process takes less time. In cases of new implementing partners we will work with you to help define the issues and identify supporting resources over an extended period of time.  The application process can take anywhere from six to nine months to complete.
 

Does the local implementing partner need to have an international partner?

Most of our implementing partners have international affiliates; however, this is not a requirement.
 

How Rare Supports the Campaign Manager

Once campaign managers return from the university training to their sites, do they still carry their usual workloads?

Managing a Pride campaign is a time-intensive undertaking. In order to achieve the objectives and advance conservation efforts at a given site, the campaign manager must be dedicated full time to Pride campaign implementation only. It is critical that the organization’s Executive Director and the campaign manager’s supervisor agree to this requirement up front.
 

What happens at the university training site?

Please see our training brochure for more details.

Are there any jobs available at Rare?

Yes, there are a number of positions available and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Please click here to connect to our employment site.