It is very, very easy to start and run a campaign. Just follow the four steps below.
Please send e-mail if you have any questions.
(1) Identify your campaign group.
This could be any identifiable group, such as a college, department, or division at the U. Or it could be a group that is not associated with the U, such as an elementary or high school, or a small business, or a residential association.
Note that campaigns donate funds for the U of Utah to purchase wind energy credits (one credit = construction cost of wind turbines that will deliver 1 mwh of renewable energy to the grid). Because of the way in which this program is organized, the U of Utah retains ownership of the credits (this makes the program tax-deductible). Thus, while it would be reasonable to say in normal conversation that "my group is buying wind power", formal reporting purposes would require something like "my group donated funds for the U of Utah to buy wind power". This is only an issue for groups, such as businesses or schools not associated with the U of Utah, that want to make formal claims, such as to the EPA.
(2) Set your 100% target.
This should be a reasonable estimate for the electricity that this group uses. Precision is not important, just be reasonable. Groups at the University of Utah generally aim for $30/year (10 mwh) per full-time person. With full-time people counted as faculty, staff, and graduate students, etc., but not including undergraduates. The amount of electricity actually used varies widely between departments and individuals, of course, but $30 is a fair estimate of the University's total electricity use divided by the total number of full-time people. We do not track individual donations, just the total given for each campaign. This is because we expect that some people will be unwilling or unable to participate, whereas others may be willing and able to contribute more that the $30 "average" target amount.
We suggest groups that are not associated with the U of U adopt a similar philosophy, but any reasonable approach would be acceptable. Using this approach, the estimate for a local school was $5 per student.
(3) Send us an e-mail (link).
Tell us that you want to run a campaign. Give the name of your group, your total goal for the year, and a brief explanation for this estimate. We will set up the accounts and notify you when the web page is modified and ready to accept donations. We will track donations and update the web page each month.
(4) Do it.
When we tell you that the accounts and web page are set, you should notify your group and encourage participation. Depending upon the organization of your group, one global e-mail might be sufficient. We can also supply a poster that can be easily adapted in powerpoint if that would be helpful.
