Opening new sources of support.

• Author: Stein, Kalman
• Position: Includes related article - Leadership in Environmental Initiatives - Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership

On Earth Day last April 22, Citibank's 45,000 employees took part in a charitable campaign for Earth Share, the nation's pre-eminent federation of environmental organizations, in which the company pledged to match its workers' donations dollar for dollar. Apple Computer employees sat at their workstations and made their charitable pledge to Earth Share tight on their own computers. And Nissan Motor Corp., recognizing the importance of protecting our world's environment, invited Earth Share to be a new charity in its employee charitable campaign this spring.

These developments are dramatic evidence of the increasing interest employers have in finding ways that their companies can demonstrate a commitment to preserving our planet. And while some firms might be taking such measures because "it's the right thing to do," many others are responding because their employees' concern for the environment is growing.

For many major corporations, including Fortune 500 firms, a method for strategically positioning themselves as leaders in the environmental cause while at the same time addressing the diverse concerns of employees, investors, and executives alike has been possible through the easy, inexpensive retooling of a venerable corporate mechanism: the workplace giving campaign. By opening their charitable drives to Earth Share, these companies not only demonstrate their own sensitivity to ecological issues but respond to the well-documented desire of employees for expanded payroll-giving opportunities. When employees have a chance to broaden their charitable-giving horizons, environmental groups are among their favorite choices.

Earth Share represents 39 nonprofit environmental organizations with operations in all 50 states and overseas. These agencies strive to protect the health of the planet and all of its inhabitants by eliminating pollution of the air, water, and soil, preserving natural resources, and providing environmental education and recreation.

Earth Share's affiliates report many substantial accomplishments:

* They've mobilized 160,000 volunteers to clean up more than 3,000 miles of U.S. coastline, removing 850 tons of debris from our nation's beaches.

* They've developed more than 1,600 recycling programs at state and local levels.

* They've created a model state law on preventing lead poisoning in children that has been adopted by a number of states and is part of the federal government's primary prevention guide on eliminating...