Today's Wall Street Journal has a Page 1 article on the relationship between Conservation International and DreamWorks Animation SKG that's about to bear fruit in the form of Madagascar, an animated feature film that'll be released in a few weeks. CI apparently learned about the DreamWorks production in 2004 and has been collaborating with the company in recent months to insure that the film not only reaps profits for DreamWorks but also benefits Madagascar itself and its unique ecosystem.
So far, so good--a model for-profit/nonprofit collaboration. But I was struck by this passage referring to CI's chief executive, Peter Seligmann:
Mr. Seligmann met seperately with the movie's director and producer, and tried, to no avail, to persuade them to add an environmental lesson [to the film]. "I'm sure in a humorous way they could show how the fires and destruction of the habitat makes these guys"--the lemurs--"as high-strung as they are," he says.
Don't you wish you could have sat in on that meeting? With all due respect to Mr. Seligmann, this little passage is emblematic of much that I find frustrating with nonprofits' advocacy efforts. It's not enough to make an entertaining, bazillion-dollar movie that, if successful, will focus America's attention on this heretofore hidden corner of the world and its many environmental problems. No, we need to send a serious message, because this is a serious problem. (But do it humorously, of course.)
I don't know. Guys like Peter Seligmann have accomplished a lot more than I have; perhaps they have the right idea. But I can't help but feel that the ham-fistedness of so many nonprofit appeals is in the long run self-defeating. There has to be a better way.
Full Disclosure: My employer, Beaconfire Consulting, has a contract with Conservation International, and is assisting with online promotions for Madagascar. I'm personally not involved in the project, although I have seen footage of lemurs and can attest that they are damn cute.
