Profitable Change (or why your advocacy group is probably poor)

The No Kill Nation blog has today an excellent piece on the history of HSUS and how its back flip from considering the best outcome for feral cats to be death;

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Feral cats should be humanely euthanized if they cannot be [adopted]. For feral cats, this traditional approach remains the only practical and humane solution.
Shelter Sense, Volume 15, Number 5, May 1992

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To their position today;

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Effective strategies for permanently reducing the homeless cat population are essential and Trap-Neuter-Return, when properly implemented, offers such a solution.
Feral Cats: Frequently Asked Questions: 2008

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May be about to be mirrored in changes in their position towards ‘fighting’ and ‘dangerous’ dogs, following the backlash they received after defending the killing 150 dogs and puppies earlier in the month.

So why would a group like the HSUS be flipping their position on so many hot topics?

Profitable Change

No matter what the subject matter, there is one thing that is nearly always the same amongst groups advocating for change they’re poor.

A new idea is often unpopular simply because it’s new. No matter what science you have to back it up, when you present a new idea to the public they roll it around in their heads and feel perturbed – then reject it because it challenges what they know, they know.

Groups advocating for genuine change usually find themselves slogging away, beating their drum on a shoestring and only supported only by similarly minded people. Then, one day they grow big enough that they crack it, or they get some break like the media jumping on board or the issue becoming particularly topical.

That’s when the idea suddenly becomes ‘Profitable Change’. Those groups who until this point have been waiting in the wings either actively or passively resisting, now ‘see the light’ and suddenly jump into action.

They champion this ‘new’ idea. Rewrite the history books and begin to advocate on its behalf. The public, having ‘heard the idea somewhere before’ are emboldened and congratulate the revolutionary thinking. And that’s when the $$$ start really rolling in.

The Lesson? There’s no money in bringing change to market; but there’s plenty to be made if you’re the group that’s second in line.

The HSUS gave the term ‘No Kill’ a whirl earlier in the year because it was getting a lot of media and industry interest. Feral cat supporters became so numerous that they could no longer be ignored. Puppy mills = Oprah. Now, pit bulls are getting their turn in the spotlight simply because the backlash to their position has been so severe that the HSUS had no choice but to review it.

Advocacy groups make their money from following popular opinion, not creating it.

So how do you make YOUR idea into a Profitable Change?

Keep beating your drum. It’s hard to think that eventually the very groups working against you now, will turn tide and profit handsomely for doing so, but that’s ok. In fact, make it easy for them when the time comes.

Because we’re working for the animals and results are results are results.