Nature's Keepers : The Remarkable Story of How the Nature Conservancy Became the Largest Environmental Group in the World

From Booklist
This generally admiring portrait of the Nature Conservancy, the organization that preserves genetic material and uniquely functioning ecological systems, emphasizes the inner workings of the organization, focusing on nine personalities within its ranks. Journalist Birchard outlines the history of the group from its birth pangs in 1950 to the 2003 natural-gas scandal that led to a series of stories in the Washington Post. Most of the profiles are of upper management, including ecologist Robert Jenkins, who changed the conservancy's directive to a qualitative, rather than a quantitative approach; president Patrick Noonan, who made corporate America an environmental partner; and Gregory Low, who encouraged the organization to work on "landscape-scale" operations. The narrative isn't entirely linear, as many of those profiled overlapped in service; manager John Sawhill, for example, is profiled in two separate places within the book. Ultimately, Birchard, by combining interviews, meeting minutes, speech transcripts, and reports, does a remarkable job of providing a coherent picture of "the largest environmental organization in the world." Rebecca Maksel
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Review
"Nature’s Keepers is a remarkable book about a remarkable organization—and a ripping yarn about groups and people who make a difference against all odds. Beyond that, it is a matchless tale of a half century of organizational growth and renewal—replete with missteps and subsequent vaults upward. Told as a series of nine fast-paced sagas of extraordinary leaders, it holds lessons of the utmost importance for every variety of reader."
--Tom Peters


Book Description
With more than $3.7 billion in assets and annual revenue of $800 million, the Nature Conservancy has generated staggering growth that would be the envy of any business. Incorporated in 1951 by a small circle of concerned ecologists, the Conservancy has grown financially into the world’s largest environmental organization. It has one million members–up from 500,000 in 1990–and 3,500 employees operating in 50 states and 28 countries across the world. Nature’s Keepers offers readers an inspirational leadership tale and  management chronicle, as it goes behind the scenes and details the inner workings of the Nature Conservancy. Highlighting the efforts of nine extraordinary leaders, Nature’s Keepers examines the organization’s culture and management, strategy and decisions, and courageous and ingenious individuals who have dedicated their lives to conservation. Author Bill Birchard reveals how the Conservancy’s sometimes controversial business practices ¾ entrepreneurial approaches to preserving ecosystems while meeting human needs¾have earned the praise of management gurus such as Peter Drucker. The Conservancy’s way of operating, though not free of failings, is both widely emulated in the nonprofit community and greatly respected by business scholars and CEOs nationwide.


From the Inside Flap
With more than $3.7 billion in assets and annual revenue of $800 million, the Nature Conservancy has generated staggering growth that would be the envy of any business. Incorporated in 1951 by a small circle of concerned ecologists, the Conservancy has grown financially into the world's largest environmental organization. It has one million members—up from 500,000 in 1990—and 3,500 employees operating in 50 states and 28 countries across the world.

The story of the Nature Conservancy is a story about people building a top-tier institution—one of the most successful organizations in the world. Although ultimately it is a story of success, it is also a story about men and women confronting crises and challenges. Nature's Keepers captures the behind-the-scenes story of people taking courageous steps to transform and improve the way they work—and continue to log achievements that count. It reaffirms that people who weather and profit from difficulties, sometimes the most daunting or nerve-racking of their careers, separate organizations that thrive from those that do not. Indeed, the people appearing in Nature's Keepers emerge from crucibles of learning that force them to rethink behavior, rewrite rules, reconfigure processes, and reinvent the way they work.

In Nature's Keepers, the leaders of the Nature Conservancy overcome countless challenges—mission confusion, conflicts of organizational culture, an obsolete business model, weaknesses in governance, "ad hoc" management, homegrown international expansion, a crisis in public accountability—and time and time again transform and improve their organization. Their riveting story offers lessons and role models for creating an organization that has the drive, commitment, and spirit to succeed. As Nature's Keepers shows, the Nature Conservancy's practice of supporting innovative approaches has produced successful leaders determined to mold, rather than just manage, the world they leave to their children.


From the Back Cover
Learn the Management and Leadership Lessons of the World's Largest Environmental Organization

"Nature's Keepers is a remarkable book about a remarkable organization—and a ripping yarn about groups and people who make a difference against all odds. Beyond that, it is a matchless tale of a half-century of organizational growth and renewal—replete with missteps and subsequent vaults upward. Told as a series of nine fast-paced sagas of extraordinary leaders, it holds lessons of the utmost importance for every variety of reader." —Tom Peters

FROM THE PUBLISHER