# Presentation: 866783

## Securing Business Buy-In

- Presented by:
- Ellen Macht
- Executive Director

## Slide 2

## Slide 3

## The Clean Air Campaign: Who We Are

- Formed in 1996 by government, business, education, environment and health arenas
- Spearheaded by GA EPD
- Regional provider of air quality information and TDM services
- Today: 501(c)3 not-for-profit

**Notes:**
The Clean Air Campaign is an eight-year-old organization that functions as both the regional clearinghouse for air quality information/education and the regional coordinator of TDM services for metro Atlanta. Its programs and services are supported pimarily by CMAQ dollars, with matching funds provided by sponsorships from public and private sectors. 
One of the early catalysts for the formation and resulting success of The Clean Air Campaign was the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. The Clean Air Campaign two ways: 1) the “rallying cry” of the Olympics made people more focused on improving our, meaning air quality messages cut theough the clutter more easily; and 2) congestion fears prompted businesses to make changes to the way they operated, many for the first time looking at commute options programs like teleworking, transit and compressed work weeks.  
That experiment made it apparent that employers could have a profound affect on our traffic congestion and the resulting air quality problems caused by  NOx emissions - traffic congestion was almost nonexistent AND there were no ozone exceedences during the Olympic period, even though weather conditions were conducive.  
Over the years we have continued to evolve, including becoming the regional public voice for all metro air quality and TDM programs through advertising and public relations; then by merging with the formerly state-run employer service/TDM program, and in 2002, by becoming a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation in charge of regional TDM coordination and managing the majority of the CMAQ funding for TDM services. 

## How We Work:Public Awareness

- Advertising & PR
- Public Outreach
- Children’s Education

## How We Work:Programs & Services

-  Call Center
-  *1-877-CLEANAIR*

-  TMA Support & 	    Collaboration

**Notes:**
The programs side of our work has become the largest part of what we do. 
We have a 12-person team of employer outreach specialists who work one-on-one and free of charge with hundreds of public and private sector employers throughout the region. 
In late 2002, we launched our first incentive programs for employers and commuters. Since that time, financial incentive programs have continued to become more integral to what we do, with new programs under development each year. 
We have a call center that is staffed by trained transportation experts who can assist both commuters and employers
And, we provide financial support and work collaboratively with all eight regional TMAs to ensure consistency in program offerings and messages.  

## Keys to Our Success:Business at the Table Early

- Early work with business leaders
- Early Involvement (1996+)
- Conformity lapse 				(1998-2001)
- MATI Report (1998)
- Relationships nurtured
- Chamber partnerships
- Board development

**Notes:**
From the beginning, stakeholders from a wide variety of organizations were engaged in the formation and direction for The Clean Air Campaign - early Campaign leadership recognized that poor air quality affected everyone; its not just an environmental issue and sold business using a business message: business would be affected by the image problems associated with nonattainment, and those image problems could hamper our continued economic prosperity. Because of this, The Clean Air Campaign was really born out of the efforts of two organizations: Georgia EPD and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
In our early years, there was a second event that galvanized the business community’s commitment to our efforts - metro Atlanta’s conformity lapse in the late 1990s. In 1997, the Metro Atlanta Chamber created the Metro Atlanta Transportation Initiative (MATI), a region-wide task force of business, academic and environmental leaders who proposed a regional approach to transportation planning and air quality attainment. The recommendations put forth in MATI were embraced by policymakers and leaders throughout the region, and The Clean Air Campaign’s work specifically fulfilled several of the recommendations. While most of you will not face the crisis of nonconformity that Atlanta faced, the galvanizing effect of a regional “crisis” is important to note: PM, expanding nonattainment areas, 8-hour reporting could be the event that gets your business community engaged. 
Through the years, we’ve continued to engage the business community through advisory panels, task forces and prominent places on our board. By nurturing these relationships, its been easier for us to continue to knock on the doors of business to secure both financial support and commitment to our programs. 

## Keys to Our Success:Accountability

- Research & Measurement
- Measures and helps refine programs
- Listening to needs of business community
- Regional Coordination & Support
- State Air Quality Partners
- Diverse, involved board

**Notes:**
Another key to our success in engaging business is our accountability. In metro Atlanta, there is a regional research and measurement function, funded by the GA DOT, that is responsible for collecting and evaluating the work done by all the TDM organizations in the region, as well as conducting external surveys to help us all in program development and refinement. 
This effort:
 provides us with invaluable information about what consumers and business will respond to;
 allows us to demonstrate our effectiveness and develop programs that will produce results

Our success is also due to the fact that we truly do cooperate and coordinate with our stakeholders and funders: The Clean Air Campaign works very closely with the State Air Quality Partners - Georgia EPD, GRTA and GDOT, so that they can see that funds are being put to their best use and they are kept abreast of the activities and accomplishments in the region. These partners also are represented on our board of directors, which is a highly diverse mix of public, private and other non-profit representation. This diversity of interests is a significant strength of The Clean Air Campaign, as it provides a forum for all stakeholders to have a say in - and provide their expertise to - the use of the region’s CMAQ dollars.  

## Keys to Our Success:Not-for-profit status

- “We Are Not the Government”
- Independent status opens doors with employers, citizens, community at large
- Increased Sponsorship Potential
- Sponsors are used to seeing support for nonprofit as supporting a cause
- Focused on Bottom-Line Results

**Notes:**
In 2002, The Clean Air Campaign became an official 501(c) 3 corporation. This status has helped considerably in our efforts to engage the business community, both in terms of program engagement/Partnership, and in terms of sponsorship/donations. 
Why/How done?
 The early years of support/program management by EPD helped to nurture the organization, make sure it had some legs/longevity, but business community still wary of writing checks to EPD
Merger with PSG made the matter more urgent, as the effort to increase employer program growth became a larger focus in the region
 Non-profit status also assisted with sponsorship solicitation, as companies were more inclined to support a non-profit, with the accompanying tax benefits
 Being independent form the regulatory body allows us room for innovation; to think bigger in terms of our programs and services

Note to Ellen: if you are asked, there was no hesitation on EPD’s part to let the program go - they felt it was time and thought it would be best for the future growth and longevity of CAC; they knew that the gov’t connection was hindering the ability of the org to secure deep levels of biz commitment 

## Keys to Our Success:Innovative Programs

- Cash for Commuters
- Rewards SOV drivers that change behavior
- Clean Air Challenge
- Employer Competition that Rewards Employees
- Telework Leadership Initiative

**Notes:**
The Clean Air Campaign works very hard to create programs that work. While public awareness and education are very important, we’ve found that people are more motivated to change their behavior when offered the tools to do so, in addition to being educated on the problems
 In 2002, CAC created the first regional incentive programs for metro Atlanta: VIP and CFC
 CFC is the only program that we know of that provides cash to commuters for behavior change, $3/day

We also created an employer challenge last year, a competition between employers across the region - in the first year, we had an incredible 80 employers and property managers commit to participate, with participants reporting a combined more than 3 million vehicle miles kept off the roads by their employees

Not only does the measurement program I mentioned earlier help us to continuously refine our programs, but internally, our staff communicates regularly with all of our employer Partners to ensure that the programs and services we offer are useful to them and supply them with direct benefits to their businesses. Our marketing sponsorship opportunities also allow us to customize programs to meet the needs of our supporters.  

## Our Accomplishments

- High awareness
- Air quality  and Traffic top regional concerns
-  High awareness of The Clean Air Campaign and Cash for Commuters
- Partnership growth
- 400+ Clean Air Campaign Partners; 780 region-wide
- 25% increase in Platinum-level in 2003

**Notes:**
Are all of these efforts paying off? We believe they are:
Regional surveys completed by a wide variety of organizations show that air quality is one of consumers top concerns - though traffic congestion always ranks higher among business and consumer, making our TDM efforts even more important
Awareness of The CAC is also extremely high, meaning our messaging coordination and public awareness campaigns are making an impact

Our employer Partnership continue to expand and deepen. Just 4 years ago, only a handful of private sector businesses were involved in commute options efforts. Today, business makes up the largest percentage of our 400+ employer partners, and the TMAs collectively work wit several hundred more businesses and property managers. 
We are also deepening programs. Our Partnership criteria rewards participants at various levels, from Bronze to Platinum, with Platinum being the top level. This top level saw a 25% increase in 2003, from 56 to 74 Partners now offering their employees the widest array of commute options, including some form of subsidies or incentives. Among our Partners, more than 400 new programs were added in 2003. 

## Our Accomplishments

- Board engagement
- Sponsorship
- Diverse support for match
- In-kind media support

**Notes:**
Business engagement is also seen in other areas:
Our annual employer awards program, The PACE Awards, has grown in terms of competition and attendance each year since its inception in 2000. In 2003, we had more than 530 people in attendance, and we fortunate to have the Governor participate as our keynote speaker
 The metro area media has also committed to the cause. Each year, our public relations efforts garner between 200-300 stories, many focused on the employer efforts and highlighting hundreds of our employer Partners for their programs. We have also succeeded in the past few years in garnering participation from some of the region’s top business leaders in doing radio ads: names like Ted Turner of AOL/Time Warner, and Arthur Blank of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. 
Our board continues to become more diverse and engaged. Our board is led by a business leader, and directors include top executives from companies such as Georgia-Pacific, UPS, Delta Air Lines and the Weather Channel. 
On the sponsorship side, we’ve expanded our efforts in recent years to include foundations as well as top Atlanta corporations. The marketing sponsorships have allowed us to secure dollars that otherwise would not have been available. We are also able to capitalize on our media buy by working with our advertising partners to secure more than a half million dollars in donated time and promotions dollars  on top of our purchased time. 

## Our Accomplishments

- Real Results
- Cash for Commuters: 71% continue alt-mode behavior
- Lower SOV rates at Partner work sites
- Extraordinary response to Telework Leadership Initiative

**Notes:**
The research shows our model is working:
In a survey of Cash for Commuters participants, more than 70% reported that they have continued to use the alternative mode even 3-6 months after the payments ended. We’ve received almost 8,000 applications over the two enrollment periods. 

According to the employer partner employee travel survey, employees who work for the 750+ employer partners of the Atlanta TDM Framework have substantially lower drive alone rates (74.8%) compared to metro Atlanta’s commuters as a whole (81.8%).  
As the employer partnership gets stronger, the employee drive alone rates get lower.
Low Program Level – 79.8% drive alone rate
Medium Program Level – 79.2% drive alone rate
High Program Level – 70.2% drive alone rate
And, a new program we launched in late 2003 - the Telework Leadership Initiative, received extraordinary response. This program, which provides up to $20,000 in consulting time and reimbursement to employers, now has 17 participants instead of the eight originally planned, because of the quality of the applications we received. . 

## Looking Ahead

- New, revamped regional incentives
- Cash for Commuters continues
- Additional Incentive Programs?
- Expanded education
- Curriculum
- Trip reduction programs
- Increased accountability
- Participant tracking software

**Notes:**
The Clean Air Campaign is committed to continuing to expand its reach and effectiveness in getting people out of their cars. 

We are currently developing new regional incentive programs in cooperation with the TMAs. Cash for Commuters will be re-launched in the spring, and one of the many new incentive programs we plan to add is to regionalize an Add-AS-Rider program started by a few TMAs last year. Under this program, commuters are rewarded for additional riders added to carpools. 

Our education efforts are also expanding. We are finalizing a state-approved air quality curriculum for grades 4-8, and, to reach audiences we aren’t currently serving, plan to develop a school-based trip reduction program and anti-idling effort. 

We also want to continue to improve the way we track our results. For this reason, we have contracted for the creation of a tracking software that can be used region-wide to collect information about employee use of commute options, and reward those who are using alternative modes. 
This tool will also be a provided to employers free of charge to allow them to see the return on investment for the commute options they are implementing, and allow the region to see the effect of its TDM programs. 

## Q & A