More Power to You Podcast

Steve Raabe, OpinionWorks president, joins the More Power to You podcast to discuss the progress, politics and public opinion around restoring the Chesapeake Bay. We discuss how public sentiment in the Chesapeake region has evolved and also how it has remained consistent; how Bay restoration can transcend the usual partisan divides; compare how environmental awareness in the Chesapeake region compares with other parts of the country; speculate on the impacts of the Trump Administration's proposed cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and close with Steve's prediction about the Bay's health ten years from now.

Baywide Survey Tool

Steve Raabe of OpinionWorks and Kacey Wetzel of the Chesapeake Bay Trust have given a webinar for the Chesapeake Stormwater Network on the topic Achieving the Goal of Citizen Stewardship.  This webinar details an innovative Baywide public opinion tool, developed by OpinionWorks, that helps local governments and non-profit organizations make better-informed decisions to engage the public on Bay restoration.  The webinar details current attitudes of the general public on a wide range of stewardship practices, their likelihood of adopting each practice in the future, and other factors that will help drive their actions.

Listen to the archived webcast here.



Understand the attitudes and perceptions of the public.  
Know how to engage your audience.

OpinionWorks is a team of talented researchers and writers promoting the public good, focused on environmental stewardship, healthy behaviors, access to education, culture and the arts, human services, economic development, and customer satisfaction.

We believe that understanding people's priorities will result in better public policy, stronger non-profits, more effective communications, and more satisfied customers.


Measuring Constituent Engagement

OpinionWorks specializes in measuring constituent engagement for non-profit organizations such as Lutheran World
 Relief and Physicians for Peace.  This work includes measuring donor and volunteer engagement, pinpointing a distinctive brand identity, and identifying the organization's unique opportunities for a higher public profile.


 Measuring Citizen Stewardship

OpinionWorks is privileged to have been selected by the Chesapeake Bay Trust in 2015 to develop and conduct an innovative Chesapeake Behavior Index, an EPA-funded initiative to measure progress towards a new goal of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

The updated Watershed Agreement, signed by the six Bay states, District of Columbia, and Federal Government in 2014, for the first time includes a goal for Citizen Stewardship.  The signatories to the Agreement understand that the health of our waters requires much more than regulatory action, legislation, or large capital projects.  For a healthy Bay, we need the individual participation of the 17 million residents who live within the drainage area of the Chesapeake.

Each resident is a steward of his on her own actions – at home, in our own yards, at work and school, as we move around our neighborhoods and towns, and beyond.  Small actions by each of us will add up to much healthier waters, leading to safer places for our kids and pets to swim; local fish, crabs, oysters, and clams that are much safer to eat; and a Bay that returns to a healthier condition that some can remember from decades ago.

Once developed, this Index will be a public instrument that will keep everyone informed of progress towards the Citizen Stewardship Goal:

Increase the number and the diversity of local citizen stewards and local governments that actively support and carry out the conservation and restoration activities that achieve healthy local streams, rivers and a vibrant Chesapeake Bay.